Banana Doughnut Muffins with Banana Frosting

Now I'm going to tell you about one of my favorite things.

It's after baby/toddler falls asleep in the next room, and I am sitting on my couch blogging.

Yeah, I blog from a couch.  What about it?

I'm writing and uploading and thinking about whatever delicious thing I just ate, and then I hear something.

A cough, a whimper, the scuffle of blankets and pillows.

The pat pat pat of tiny, footy-pajamed feet.

The door skreeks open, but since the bottom half of it is blocked from my perspective I can't see anything.  It's like a ghost just opened the door.

And then he emerges, my tiny little human being.  All PJ'd out and blinking in the lamplight, rubbing his fat cheeks.  His unfocused eyes go straight to my couch (he knows I am a creature of habit) and zero in. 

He toddles over, seeming about to collapse any minute, calculating just enough energy to get to my arms.

He throws himself into them, is hoisted onto my lap, immediately burrows into my chest and, seconds later, is sound asleep.  Soft and heavy and warm and cuddled in just right.

It interferes with blogging, I'll tell you.  Sometimes I have to put it off for a whole day.  Sometimes I go lay him down in his bed again so I can get back to work.

Sometimes I hit save, put in a movie, and hold him with me for hours.

And that is one of my favorite things.

(It's also why I blog from a couch.)

Banana Doughnut Muffins with Banana Frosting (adapted from Cooking for Isaiah, by Sylvia Nardone)

This recipe is another victim of my lack of a doughnut pan.  Who needs a doughnut pan?  I said.  What a silly contraption, I said.  I can make doughnuts any way I want without a doughnut pan, I said.  Well, that's true of raised, yeasted doughnuts but it turns out for some of the cakier variety, you do need that pan.  But silver lining is, they turn out great in muffin form!  And it just FEELS healthier, right? 

makes 12 doughnuts

1 1/4 c flour (or GF flour mix, which is what she uses)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Frosting
1/4 cup butter
2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup mashed banana (about 1/2 banana)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350.  Line a muffin tin with papers. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, bananas, vanilla and oil.  Stir in the dry ingredients until just combined; fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full.

Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 12 to 15 minutes.  Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and let cool on a rack until room temperature.

Meanwhile, to make the frosting, in a small bowl beat together the butter and confectioner's sugar until fluffy.  Beat in the banana, cinnamon, vanilla and lemon juice.  Spread the frosting over the cooled muffins.

Hippie Trip Doughnuts

It's that time of the month again. No, not THAT time. It's Daring Bakers Challenge time! The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.



Now this was not a very detailed challenge, in fact it was purposefully vague. Just...make doughnuts.



But I didn't want to make just any doughnuts. A few months ago I made these cake doughnuts, and while they were good, I wanted to make some really! Good doughnuts. Extraordinary doughnuts.



But lets be honest. When you want to 'transcend' yourself creatively, sometimes its easier with the use of a mind-altering substance. Artists are famous for this (not that I'm an artist. I am, you say? Oh, you. I don't know...).



Of course, I don't dabble much in mind-altering substances. In fact, I've made a commitment not to. I think they are a bad idea in general.



So what can a creative person do to get out of the conundrum of having a stuck, fitzy brain when they want a soaring, freed mind, but without using controlled substances?



Mooch off those that do!



These cereal-y doughnuts are inspired by a local doughnut shop called Voodoo Doughnuts. They make the most incredible doughnuts - and not just flavor-wise. I have never seen anything so creative.



And honestly, this being Eugene, they make very little effort to hide that the reason so many of their ideas are so outside the box is because of a little extra-creative inspiration. Possibly in smoke form.



Certainly some of their doughnuts (and this is not an insult) look like something a disoriented teenager threw together from his parents cupboard to battle the munchies. One of them is actually sprinkled with Tang powder and has mini-marshmallows stuffed into the middle.



Mm. They fried up so nice and crisp and golden. And the dough recipe called for barely any sugar at all, so it provided a bready, almost salty contrast to the super sweet glaze frosting and cereal.



Happy Halloween.

For Daring Bakers recipes, click here.

Brigham Young's Old-Fashioned Doughnuts and Mother's Day Cake

Lots of pictures in this one. I'd best skip the talky and jump straight to it! What's that you say? Why are you posting so many photos? It almost looks like you got carried away with the camera? Well, I must say I got carried away eating too so I guess it all evens out.

The first is a strawberry champagne cake - made special for my mom for mother's day. DELICIOUS. I haven't included the recipe because it's just the champagne cupcake recipe I did a few weeks back, with strawberries layered inside and on top. Really, really great combo though. Suspect, however, that the red pearl dust was ill-advised. Live and learn right!

















And second item! Old fashioned, home-made doughnuts. Don't know why they're specifically called Brigham Young's dougnuts, but it seems like a recipe those old pioneers might have used. And guess what! Those are my favorite kind. They were delicious, but be sure to eat them the first day, they get stale fast!







Brigham Young's Old-Fashioned Doughnuts

5 1/2 c all purpose flour
2 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 1/2 t ground nutmeg
2 c buttermilk
2 large eggs, beaten
1 1/4 c granulated sugar
6 T butter, melted
oil, for frying
granulated or powdered sugar (optional)
ground cinnamon (optional)

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. In another large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, and sugar. Add melted butter to liquid mixture and whisk again. Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture and gently stir together with a spoon, not an electric mixer. Dough will be sticky. Let it sit 5 minutes before rolling.

In a large pot or deep fryer, heat several inches of vegetable oil (recipe says to 375, but I just warmed it until water splatted when flicked on it).

Roll out dough on a well-floured board (VERY WELL-FLOURED!) until 1/4 - 3/8 of an inch thick. Cut with a 2 inch doughnut cutter. Form scraps into a ball, roll out and cut again until all dough has been used.

Carefully place 3 - 4 cut pieces of dough into the oil. When doughnuts start to crack on top, turn. Cook on the second side until golden and cooked through. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Repeat until all remaining pieces of dough are cooked.

Doughnuts may be served plain, or while they are still warm, roll in sugar or a mixture of sugar and cinnamon.