You know how much I love tantalizing my tastebuds with my famous 80/20 approach: 80% perfection and 20% delicious imperfection.

This Tuesday is Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday” in French). And what better than a baked donut to satisfy our sweet tooth without impacting the scale? My donut recipe is a no-fry zone but you will still enjoy every bite of it, I swear!

For this recipe I prefer to use fresh baker’s yeast, but since it is not always easy to find, you can also use dry baker’s yeast that you will need to rehydrate in a little warm water (not hot, as the heat will kill the yeast). You will know your yeast is proofing when you see some foam or little bubbles. Just follow the directions on the back of the packet and it should work fine.

Don’t hesitate to post your photo on instagram and tag me @valerieorsoni to get rewarded with some cool stuff 🙂

Baked Donut Recipe

Ingredients for 10 donuts:

• 3 cups flour (or gluten-free baking flour)
• 5 fl oz vegan milk (or the real thing if you really like it)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1.5 tbsp butter or vegan alternative
• 1/2 oz (14 gr)  baker’s yeast
• 1 organic egg
• Confectioner’s sugar
• Salt

Steps:

• Prepare the dough – In a medium pot over low heat whisk 1/4 cup milk, sugar, and butter. Remove from heat. Using a stand mixer, mix the flour and the yeast. At slow speed add the egg, a pinch of salt and the warm milk. Knead for 5 minutes or until the dough does not stick to the mixing bowl any longer.

• Let the dough rise – Leave the dough in the mixing bowl (remove the attachment) and cover it with a wet kitchen towel. Leave to rise for 60 minutes or until it has doubled in volume. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and transfer to a lightly floured cool work surface. Using your fists, pound on the dough to remove excess air. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 1″ thick dough. Use a round cookie-cutter to cut as many circles of dough as possible and place them onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Leave to rise for 30 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/360F.

• Bake your donuts –  Brush the donuts with the remaining milk and then bake them for 10 minutes. Prepare 2 bowls: one with cold water and one with confectioner’s sugar. As soon as you take the donuts out of the oven, quickly dip them into cold water then roll them quickly in the confectioner’s sugar. Leave them to cool for a few minutes.

Bon appétit!