Healthy Treat for Today: Whole Wheat Donuts
By
My dad…whom my boys call, Papa, is famous around here for buying us donuts when he comes to town. It’s become a big deal…one that the boys won’t let Papa forget about. (”Hi Papa…did you bring us donuts?…oh, and we’re also glad you’re here…”)
One Saturday morning…I decided to make homemade (and healthier) donuts for the family. I got up early…ground wheat into flour…mixed up the dough, rolled them out, fried them up…and made a special hot fudge sauce to drizzle over them. I put them on a pretty platter…poured glasses of fresh milk…and called the boys down for breakfast.
I cheerfully and excitedly greeted them with flour on my face and my hair all frazzled from all the work of making these fresh off the stove donuts…
And my three year old lit up and said, “Oh!! Did Papa make us DONUTS?!”
Huh. I go to all this trouble…and Papa gets all the credit.
<sigh> :)
Well, they liked my donuts just as much Papa’s…and I loved that these were a pretty healthy treat!
(Papa really got a big kick out of that story, of course..)
I hope you’ll get a big kick out of this recipe!
Whole Wheat Cake Donuts (or should I call them, “Papa’s Special”?)!
3 ¼ cup whole wheat flour
2 t. baking powder
½ t. cinnamon
¼ t. salt
¼ t. nutmeg
2/3 cup rapadura (dehydrated cane sugar juice) or sucanat
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
Oil for frying (I use palm shortening or coconut oil)
Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir in eggs, vanilla, milk and melted butter. Knead dough a few minutes to make sure all ingredients are mixed thoroughly.
On a floured surface, roll dough to ½ inch thickness. Cut with donut cutter, or biscuit cutter. Heat oil in skillet or electric skillet…enough to cover the bottom of the skillet about ¼ inch. Place donuts into the hot oil to fry for 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove from skillet and place on a paper towel lined plate. Sprinkle a mixture of rapadura and cinnamon, or sprinkle organic powdered sugar over the hot donuts.
Yum! Anytime I want a special breakfast treat for my family…these donuts work for me!
They look great! Can you come over and make me some? :)
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gerna Reply:
March 7th, 2010 at 6:58 am
gee you dont have to come over, just tell me when you are cooking yum yum
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Mmmmmm…. donuts (said in my best Homer Simpson voice)
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These look SO GOOD! I’ve been looking for a whole wheat recipe for donuts, so THANK YOU! Can’t wait to try it!
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My youngest loves donuts and her “Papa” also gets donuts when he comes to visit. I’ll have to try these… how much wheat berries makes a cup of flour? We just purchased a vita mix and I’m so excited to try it on flours, etc..
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How great, they look delish! Now I need to know more about grinding wheat into flour… can you share some knowledge on this? I’d much prefer whole wheat in our diets and wouldn’t even know where to start… where do you buy grain? Am I sounding like a silly, city girl yet?
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These look yummy and if you want to make them even more healthy, consider investing a little money into a donut maker (teflon, no grease or oil required). You can find one at Target for about 15.00. My grandmother had one when I was growing up and we loved her homemade wheat donuts (and buckwheat pancakes).
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BTW, I goofed on the Target item, it was for putting out the batter, not for baking the donuts, but I found one on eBay for 19.99 plus 13.95 shipping. That was after a quick search. They resemble a waffle iron and can make six donuts at a time.
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Those look so good and it is a recipe that I can actually use! So many recipes start with “open a can of”.
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Those look REALLY good!!
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Oh, those look so yum! Cute story, too. Now if only I could get my family used to the taste of whole wheat flour . . .
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I’ve only made homemade donuts once, and they were fabulous. They include mashed potatoes in the recipe, but maybe I’ll try these ones!
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Ok, so I just made this recipe and OH MY! It is tasty! :)
May I ask what your dough is like when you’re done mixing/kneading? Mine was raw-ther sticky and I’m wondering if I squinched on the flour (I had some “little people” help, so I was kinda distracted). They turned out SO YUMMY! Thanks again for posting the recipe!
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Hi! I greatly enjoy your site!! Here recently whenever I want a “good” treat for my family I check your recipes first and you never cease to give me great ideas. However, I don’t only come for the food. :-) I appreciate your open honesty, love of family and home and encouragement to the others of us out here…
God bless you,
Anna
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Made these this morning…they were soooo good. Way better than I had expected from a homemade doughnut. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
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I must say, these are so good! I used all organic ingredients and man! These to me are better than store bought donuts!
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We made your donuts this morning and I just had to compliment you on the recipe. Even my teenagers really liked them. And the best part….they are so filling. This was a treat for us since we usually don’t fry anything. Thanks! I love to make meals that my family enjoys and remembers. I’ll be saving this recipe!
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I made these for my family this morning. My 3 year old was so excited. It was nice to be able to make a “healthy” donut with organic ingredients. I still wish there was a way to make them without frying. They are SO filling. Thanks
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Laura, my post today is dedicated to you! We loved the donut recipe and the boys are enjoying the book too.
Thursday Blessings!
Heather
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This is very bad. Now you have me thinkin’ about nothin’ but doughnuts! And I don’t have enough coconut oil left to make them. Anyway, when I do have some, can you give me some thoughts on what to do with the used oil when I am done? I assume I can’t use it for cooking at that point. Do you just throw it in the trash can? Is there some other good use for it?
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Hi there! I just wanted to let you know that I love your doughnut recipe and have used it several times, now. This last time I incorporated the soaking method I picked up from a blog I know you’re familiar with (www.passionatehomemaking.com), and it came out beautifully.
I posted about it in my personal blog (http://joyfulmelody519.blogspot.com , not the blog I’ve linked here), and I linked to your recipe, so I thought you’d like to know!
Have a very blessed Resurrection Sunday :) Take care.
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THANK YOU FOR THIS RECIPE! I just made them and they were FANTASTIC! The kids were excited that I’d actually offer them donuts for breakfast (with a glass of raw milk, of course). I did substitue 1 cup all purpose flour for the dry mix, and freshly ground kamut, soft and hard wheat berries for the whole flours. I also used buttermilk in place of milk. I will roll thinner next time since they do puff up a lot in the oil. Next time I may try soaking the flour and buttermilk overnight. Also adding dried blueberries to the batter and maybe some orange zest. YUM!
Will plan how to incorporate these as a birthday donut cake for my 8 year old!
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These were GREAT! The whole family loved them and they were fun to make!
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Made these this morning before going out to shovel :) Yum, yum! Wonderful with coffee in front of the fire :)
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Laura, Just an idea for you. I made the whole wheat doughnuts for my family this morning. Instead of cutting them into a traditional doughnut shape, I left them as circles and used… you know that needle thing you use to squirt flavors into meat??…. yeah, that thing, to squeeze in some jelly filling. They went over VERY well. Just an idea.
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Laura Reply:
January 22nd, 2010 at 9:58 pm
Yu-hum!
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I just made the donuts and they were good! The first time I’ve ever made homemade donuts! I rolled my dough too thick so they were really thick after frying. Then I got my oil too hot and ended up burning half of them! We are getting used to whole wheat flour and the thicker texture of it (our journey to healthier eating) but everyone thought we should have them again!
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Laura, THANK YOU! I made these today for a Valentine’s Day treat and we were all moaning while we ate them! Haha…the best doughnut we have ever had, and we don’t feel sick or as guilty! BONUS! I only made up half of the dough and that was a perfect amount for four of us. I froze the other half, I hope it will work well? I also topped our batch two ways: Alton Brown’s Chocolate Glaze and another dipped in homemade syrup & cinnamon. YUM! God Bless you and your sweet family!
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Do you add the sugar into the dry mix and additional on top? What about the spices; in the mix or for on top? Thanks.
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Laura Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 9:45 am
Yes, add the sugar and the spices into the mix. Anything you put on top would be in ADDITION to what the recipe calls for.
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can i sub sucanat?
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Laura Reply:
June 13th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Yes…I need to edit the post to say that!
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Could you freeze these? Can you fry them and then freeze them, or do you just freeze the dough? These look yummy, but I doubt my husband and I can eat all of them at once! Thanks!
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Laura Reply:
June 13th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
I’ve never tried freezing them, but I’m pretty sure it would work. Yes, I even think freezing the dough would work. I may try that and post about it sometime! Thanks for the idea!
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My boys and just made these this morning as a late breakfast. I was surprised as to how fast they were to make not to mention how delicious! I’ve never made homemade doughnuts before, so I was a little intimidated. We will definately be making these again.
And as a side-note, I was FINALLY able to use my grandma’s very old doughnut cutter (the kind with the removable hole cutter) after having it for almost 20 years!
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This always seemed complicated, but it actually looks like a really simple recipe. If I ever need to fix a breakfast dish for company, they would love this!
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I made a veganized version of these for a party and they were a huge hit, they went faster than the white flour ones! I love the gratitudesday idea, btw. Cheers!
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My little brother (who’s 23) helped us move some furniture a few weeks ago, right after you posted this recipe…
I decided to try out a new recipe for breakfast that Saturday and I’m glad I did… Not only did they get eaten up pretty quickly by 3 hungry guys, but I learned a new way to use my coconut oil. I just ordered some since you recommend Tropical Traditions so highly and they had a great special of BOGOF, so I am now convinced that coconut oil is the way to go.
Thank you for this recipe! They were delicious and healthy and I will be making them again!
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