Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

My friend Katie and I have been drooling over the pinterest photos of baked donuts all summer. I was especially excited since I do eat fried food. So one Saturday morning when the weather had turned a little cooler we got together with a couple other girls to make one of the recipes. The other girls worked on some crafts while Katie and I made the donuts.

Here is a link to the recipe. This is the first time making donuts of any sort and by the last batch we had it figured out just right.

Here are some of our lessons learned to help you!

1. Make sure to let the dough rise enough both times (after you make the dough and then again after you cut the donuts). If you need it to rise quicker I know there are great tips online to speed up the process.
2. Don't roll out the dough too thin or they won't be as fluffy. 1/4 inch is about right.
3. Donut holes are better than donuts. For some reason they turned out better. AND you can feel better about yourself by only having nine a few donuts holes and no actual donuts.
4. You can reroll your leftover dough from where you cut out your donuts to make more.
5. No need to dunk the dough in butter. We are making these healthier than frying them after all. Brushing or spooning a little butter over works just fine.
6. 8-9 minutes ended up being the magic time for Katie's standard oven. They taste WAY better if you do not over cook them at all so err on the side of less time.
7. This one might be obvious but they taste better warm and right out of the oven. Not so great warmed up a day later...

These were yummy and up to our expectations by the last couple batches once we had it down pat. It made a ton so if you don't have guests or a big family might be best to cut in half.

Next time we want to try some baked pumpkin spice donuts! Mmm pumpkin!

I also got to take some wonderful food photos on my new 35mm fixed lens! Her kitchen doesn't get a lot of natural light and see how great they turned out. No flash. I tell you, I LOVE LOVE this lens. I did a lot of research before I bought it and it really is perfect for food photography and places with low light and should be great for kids!