To Bring Sunshine: Baked Double Chocolate Cake Doughnuts

Joy the Baker's Double Chocolate Doughnuts (link in post)

These baked double chocolate cake doughnuts were made with the intention of bringing some cheer, in the form of rainbow polka-dot sprinkled beautiful chocolatey goodness, to a friend. Anytime a friend of mine experiences something wonderful or less than wonderful, I think: "I'll make them food!" It's my way of saying: "yay!" or "I'm thinking of you."

Click through for recipe and to learn which baking fear I overcame today.

These guys were easy to make and came out adorable, don't you think? Joy the Baker provided the recipe, which was easy to follow and only required me to be worried once. When I put the dough into the pan, it was a little sticky and I had to use my fingers to mold it into the doughnut shape. I pictured it being a little more seamless than that. But, whatever! Came out great. I decided to use different sprinkles than Joy used in her recipe, because those round crunchy ones are my absolute favorite things in the sprinkle department. (Um, also I already owned them.)

Be warned: these taste basically just like a cupcake in the shape of doughnut. Joy said in the first line of her post: "Cupcakes in disguise… also known as Double Chocolate Baked Doughnuts." Sometimes, I ignore warnings. I was like: "these are gunna be doughnuts!" And then I tasted them, and was like "this isn't what my imagination imagined!" But THEN I re-read the original description and was like, "oooooooooooh, she told me that!" THE POINT IS. These are good. But if you want a cakey doughnut, it's a little airier than that.

And me? I'm into doughnuts, the yeasty fried racket.  But that calls for a totally different recipe! However, since this recipe was so easy and didn't use a ton of ingredients and Joy the Baker has a million ideas about other flavors, I will definitely use her doughnut recipes again. Because um, brown butter pistachio doughnuts?? Yes, please.  (She relies a lot on brown butter in her baking; I 100% support that. Brown butter is my biggest crush.)

Next time I make doughnuts and there will be a next time, I'd love to try a clear sugary glaze on a denser chocolate base (think Dunkin Donut chocolate munchkin). AND, I'll definitely try a fried version, probably just rolled in cinnamon and sugar.

OH. Finally! As for that fear I conquered. I made my own buttermilk. (The milk & lemon version.) It was so easy and I don't know why I was so afraid. There's something about adding lemon juice to milk and hearing the word "curdle" that totally got my goat. But, I did it. And I needed it for this recipe, which worked, so apparently I was successful.  BOOM. Killed it. Fear conquered.