Doughnuts - again, easier this time!

Yes, you read that right:  DOUGHNUTS - again!!!  No attempt at a witty title this week, folks.  Just sticking to the facts and letting them speak for themselves.  If you don't like doughnuts, well, that's fine, I guess.  But you might want to get that checked out.  I mean, who doesn't like doughnuts?  I have pretended I didn't like doughnuts at times when I was "watching what I was eating."  I probably said things like,  "Ew, fried dough, who wants that kind of luscious chewy goodness in their system?  Cake doughnuts aren't good either - I mean, crumblysweetsoft deliciousness is really not my thing."

In the last few years, I have embraced the fact that I love doughnuts.  I even made a meatloaf sandwich using a fastnacht earlier this year...after I had already eaten two covered with powdered sugar.  An excellent example of complete and total lack of moderation.  An excellent example of what not to do...but they were delicious.

After seeing about a hundred Dunkin Donuts stores on a trip to New England recently, I decided it was time to make doughnuts again, but to try a baked version.  I wanted them to be soft and more cakey than the fried ones had been, and less granular than previous baked attempts.   And I wanted them to be not only free of gluten, but sans grains as well.  And I wanted to NOT use white sugar.  All at one time!  Just to see if I could do it.

NOTE:  IF YOU ARE NOT IN POSSESSION OF DOUGHNUT PANS, DON'T DESPAIR!  MANY PERFECTLY NORMAL FOLKS ARE NOT.  YOU COULD PROBABLY USE MUFFIN TINS OR JUST FORM GLOBS OF DOUGH ON A PLAIN COOKIE SHEET.  I WOULD PROBABLY TRY THE SECOND ONE, JUST BECAUSE THEY WON'T BE MISTAKEN FOR MUFFINS THEN.  IN EITHER CASE, BE SURE TO GREASE THE PANS VERY GENEROUSLY.

My recipe is adapted from one by Silvana Nardone, author of Cooking for Isaiah.  All of her recipes are gluten-free and dairy free, and they are delicious (the ones I've actually followed, that is).  She uses the same flour blend for all of her baked goods.   I did away with that entirely and adjusted everything else accordingly.  So, it's really not like her recipe at all, but that was what I started from, so, as always, I like to give credit where credit is due.

Ingredients
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup arrowroot starch
2/3 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 large eggs
1/4 cup coconut oil (in liquid form - melt it and allow it to cool if yours has solidified)
1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350.
Generously grease (I use palm shortening - no taste, and okay for high heat) two doughnut pans.
Whisk together all the dry ingredients.  Be sure to break up any clumps of almond flour and coconut flour.
In another bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients, adding the oil last.  Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix with a whisk or wooden spoon until well blended...no clumps!!
Use a spoon or carefully pour the batter into the doughnut pan, taking care to spread the dough evenly in each round.  Fill each one about 2/3 to 3/4 full - you'll end up with 10 - 12 doughnuts.
Bake until they are slightly golden and they spring back when pressed lightly - about 15 - 20 minutes.  Set your timer for about 8 minutes and rotate the pans, then check after another 8 minutes, adding time if necessary.

You can dredge them in powdered sugar if you want:
Pour about 1 cup of powdered sugar on a plate and dredge each doughnut once, tap off the excess, then dredge them all again while still warm.

OR

You can brush them with melted butter and dredge them in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon.

OR

You can devour them plain.

Cheers (you can clink with doughnuts too!)!
 
~S