DIY Donuts

So on my last work trip. I was sent to Pittsburgh for a total of 19 hours. Although this is a beautiful city that I had never been to before, the only things I wanted to do was sleep, be boring and look up cute cat videos on Instagram.

Depressing? Absolutely not. Old lady AF? You freakin’ betcha. I own that s***.

Before I decided to put my sweatpants on and do a face mask, I went downstairs to snag a bottle of water—you know, stay hydrated. Well, I ended up getting into a life chat with a total stranger who couldn’t stop raving about “The Strip” and how awesome it was. “Yeah, it’s rad and cool people go there,” he said. “You should go,” he insisted. (By the way, this is the part where I pretended to be interested in the small talk because, let’s be real. I wasn’t leaving that hotel.)

So there I am, awkwardly standing there pretending to engage while this dude bro is chatting it up. Little did he know was the only thing going through my brain was whether or not Naked & Afraid was on TV— and will it be the Mississippi Bayou episode?

Suddenly, I see a magazine with the words, “Peace, Love & Little Donuts” on it.

“DONUTS,” I say out loud, fully cutting the dude off. He was thrown off at my sudden burst of enthusiasm, but then saw what caught my interest. “Oh yeah, that place is great. It’s on The Strip, too, actually!”

Done. My mind was made up. I was officially going to The Strip.

Fast forward to me sitting on a stool at the most adorable donut shop I have ever set foot in. In front of me are half a dozen donuts (#noshame) all covered in fancy toppings: Oreos, lemon glaze, sprinkles, smores and, oh my God, BACON. Who comes up with this stuff?

As I sat there contemplating whether or not I would save any for my coworkers, I thought about the evolution of donuts. I thought about how delicious they are while how terrible they are for you. Good vs. evil. I just wished they resulted in negative calories versus Type 2 diabetes.

That’s when it came to me: DIY donuts. Do they even exist? Because the only homemade donuts I’ve ever tasted reminded me of styrofoam. But what if someone could perfect this do-it yourself delight without having to go to a shop in Pittsburgh?
I HAD TO KNOW.

Cut to: me back in my hotel room with sweatpants and a face mask on. Only this time, I’m eating a maple bacon donut while scrolling through Pinterest, reading reviews, and browsing countless dessert blogs. What did I find? Only the most delicious sounding recipes that I had to create for myself in order to show you all whether or not I could do it myself.

Worried about the outcome? DO-NUT WORRY. Check out my final thoughts on a recipe I borrow from Sassy-Kitchen (doesn’t that name make you feel fierce?)

PISTACHIO MARSCARPONE GLAZED DONUTS:

ACTUAL DONUT:
8 oz. shelled pistachios
1 cup all purpose flour (I used gluten free)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
6 tablespoons ghee or butter, melted and cooled
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
3/4 pistachios

MASCARPONE GLAZE:
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons almond or hempmilk
2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup pistachios, roughly chopped

I took all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, cardamom) and mixed them into a bowl. Then I added the other ingredients, minus the pistachios. For the pistachios, I blended them with my nutri bullet to create a sort of meal. Added that to the mix.

Threw the batter into a Ziplock baggie and cut off one of the edges to create a DIY batter dispenser (felt supes fancy). I used a donut pan for the oven, but you can always just create the circular shapes yourself.

Then I threw in those babies for 10 minutes. Let them cool for another 10 after baking.

Now, onto the glaze.

I combined all the ingredients into a separate bowl, minus the 1/4 pistachios. I set those to the side and chopped the crap out of them.

Lastly, I dipped each donut into the glaze and topped them with the chopped pistachios.

FINAL VERDICT:

They were a litttttttttle dry— HOWEVER, that’s an easy fix if you add more glaze. So if you decide to take on this particular DIY donut challenge, just double the ingredients used for the glaze. Don’t just drizzle, POUR or dip. Then, it’s BOMB.COM

Thanks Sassy, for providing an excellent delight <3

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Kimmy Saracino is a contributor to Newdie Mag and does so much more. Check out her website www.kimmysaracino.com