If crepe making is a new tradition in our house, donut baking is one that has been going down for years. Especially during our year of homeschool (last year during COVID), donuts were a way to break up the days and surprise the kids with something special for breakfast-afternoon snack-nighttime snack. They’re easy to make and oh-so satisfying when they emerge from their pan looking surprisingly like…well…donuts. Gets me every time.
I don’t approach these donuts carefully. I mix some of the dry ingredients alone. Same for the wet. Then combine. I’m not cute with this. As long as only two bowls get dirty, I’m happy. If you approach this with more care, let me know if you think it affected the results! For now, I will assume that my lazy, helter skelter approach is just fine. Here’s the basics:
Chocolate Donuts
DRY BOWL:
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn baking soda
1/2 tspn salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
WET BOWL:
8 tablespoons butter (I put this in first and melt it because…lazy…shrug)
3/4 brown sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1 tspn vanilla
1 tspn vinegar (I used acv which is surely not what they intended but it worked)
NOW MIX THE DRY INTO THE WET…TADA!
Okay, now a couple notes. First, these bake for 10-15 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Be sure to grease and flour your donut pan. Second, let me tell you about my crazy baking technique.
When I consider baking, the only thing that causes me to baulk is the clean-up time. I LOVE baking and it really is one of the most relaxing things I can do for myself. But the pile of dishes after? Not so much. So I have always approached my baking time in the weirdest way possible. I clean as I go. Does anyone else do this? The way I do it is that I leave my dishwasher open and as I use each measuring cup, utensil and bowl, I immediately rinse and load it. Without exception. What results is that by the time I slide the donuts into the oven, the only bowl left has the final batter in it. Add that to the dishwasher and I’m done. This is maybe crazy, but it is the only way for me.
I am careful not to make these donuts too often. There is a fine line between tradition and boring. I save them for a day when we need them. In this case, we needed to recover. From the exhaustion of me working at a school and the kids attending. The bear-tired need to hibernate in January after a hard fought five-ish months of work “out there”. The desire to reconnect with our home during a year that pulls me away from it too often.
Is food magic?
Nah.
Maybe.
Yes.
Here in the kitchen, pulling the donuts out of the oven, I am a homemaker again. The endless, tiring days of work melt away. Our home fills up again. A well-loved tradition reminds me that we do gather here often. That we are doing well even when it feels like we are just kicking the ball a little further down the road. We are doing well.
So that is what I offer you today. Delicious, lazy, MAGIC donuts. Use them well, friends.
