Sweet Potato Doughnuts...

Sweet Potato Doughnuts... a baked version that's super delicious! I love baked doughnuts.. and I really like my doughnut pans. I love being able to make doughnuts without frying. And this recipe is super simple to make. You can easily have fresh doughnuts in a matter of minutes... well, ok, maybe just a bit longer if you are making the sweet potato puree from scratch. 

Ever since I saw a pumpkin doughnut recipe on King Arthurs' blog, I wanted to make them. I've been really enjoying sweet potatoes this year... more so than any other year. When I noticed that sweet potato could be used in lots of dessert recipes, I  started experimenting with it more. While I love pumpkin, I've been wanting to limit the use of cans in my cooking and baking... or eliminate it at as much as possible anyway. And because making my own pumpkin puree from scratch can take quite a bit of work and time, I've sort of switched to steaming sweet potatoes instead. This way, I don't have to buy a large pumpkin and can just use 1 or 2 sweet potatoes instead. And because I use my pressure cooker to steam the sweet potatoes, I find it hardly takes any time to make some fresh puree to have on hand. I'll freeze it, too.

In any case, I decided to turn the original pumpkin doughnut recipe into a sweet potato doughnut. It worked wonderfully well! I also managed to cut the sugar amount to 1 cup  for the batter... from the original 1 1/2 cup that was required in the recipe. I figured that extra 1/2 cup could go towards the icing. And I'm glad I made that change. Maybe, next time, I'll cut the sugar amount a tiny bit more:)....  

These doughnuts are super soft and  melt- in- your mouth tender. They are best eaten when the glaze has set and the doughnut has had a chance to firm up a bit(they are quite soft when warm). Actually, I liked them a bit cold, after refrigerating them a bit... but that's just me.  I decided to play around with icings and sugar coating, and I posted  how I glazed my doughnuts...  but there are plenty of other choices, such as a maple, mocha, chai, orange, cream cheese, praline, brown butter, caramel icing, etc... so it's  best if you make something you like. My husband really loved these doughnuts. His verdict: "Wow, these doughnuts are good!  Hope you enjoy... 

Tip: If you don't have a doughnut pan, these can be baked in a muffin tin... increase baking time to about 18-22 minutes( or so)... the only thing is they just won't be doughnuts:(

You will need: inspired by King Arthur blog ~ makes 18-24 doughnuts, depending on pan and how much batter is used in each doughnut well. I made 24 doughnuts... some definitely skinnier than others:). 

Note: The amounts of icing/glaze was just right for my 24 doughnuts(I did have some cinnamon sugar leftover), but if you only want to use one type, you may need to double or even triple amounts, if needed.  Feel free to experiment with other flavors of choice.

1/2 cup extra light olive oil

3 ex-large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups sweet potato purée (can use pumpkin)

1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice*

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 tsp almond extract, optional

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

2 TBS cornstarch (can use flour)

* you could also use 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon+ heaping 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg+ heaping 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Coating: of choice, or make your own

Powdered sugar (not shown)

Cinnamon/sugar

 3-4 TBS sugar( superfine, is better)

1/2-1 tsp ground cinnamon, or to taste

melted butter, optional

Powdered sugar icing: my favorite

1 cup powdered sugar

1/8 tsp flavoring of choice(maple, vanilla, etc), optional

1-2 TBS milk(or water)

Chocolate/espresso icing: only if you want a more chocolate dominant flavor

1/4 cup half and half, heated

1/3 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup powdered sugar(or as needed)

1/2 tsp ground espresso, optional

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 deg F. 
• Grease donut pans.

1. Cook sweet potato until fork tender... use what ever method you prefer ( I used this method as for my sweet potato brownie). Process sweet potato into a super smooth puree.

2. In a large bowl, beat/( I whisked), oil, eggs,sugar, sweet potato puree( or pumpkin, if using), pumpkin pie spice(or equivalent), salt, baking powder, almond extract( if using) until smooth.... 

3. Add in flour and 2 TBS cornstarch(or 2 TBS extra flour, if using).... stir until just smooth.

4. Place donut batter into a large ziploc bag, cut one corner( about 1/2 inch) and fill donut mold about 1/2-3/4 filled.... depending how thick or thin you want them. 

5.  Bake for 12-18 minutes depending on how high you've filled your doughnut wells .... or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

6. Let donuts cool before adding any coating.... though the cinnamon-sugar coating can be added when doughnuts are warm(that is, if you are not using any melted butter), as the sugar tends to stick more when doughnuts are warm.    

Make Sugar coating, Icing, Glaze: add coating after the doughnuts have cooled at least 5 minutes, or until no longer fragile... when hot, they are super soft and can break easily.

1. Combine ingredients  for the topping/coating(s) of choice. 

For cinnamon/sugar coating~You may need some melted butter to brush doughnuts if you want a thicker  cinnamon/sugar coating... the cinnamon-sugar tends to only stick to the bottom of the doughnut, when doughnut is still slightly warm. 

 For chocolate glaze~ I heated some half and half and then added the espresso and chocolate... allowed it to sit for a bit until chocolate melted, then added the icing sugar... you can add the sugar in stages, until you get your preferred thickness. Dip or pour glaze( with a teaspoon) over doughnuts.

 For the icing coating~ you can add flavoring of choice, if you want or skip . Add milk a bit at a time until desired thickness is achieved. Dip or pour glaze( with a teaspoon) over doughnuts.