Bananas are on sale, but you aren’t enthusiastic about yet another banana loaf? Why don’t you use a Ziploc bag to pipe the batter onto doughnut trays?! You can even use your most favourite dense cake recipes.
My most favourite thing, at the moment, to use would be the butter vanilla emulsion I found at Bulk Barn. I use it in lieu of vanilla essence.
This recipe was adapted from I Am A Food Blog. What really intrigued me was that no butter/vegetable oil was used, which is one of the 5 basic elements of baking science. (Flour, liquids, fat, eggs, and sugar) The texture of the doughnut was nowhere near a cake; it was dense, but not in an unappetizing manner. I added 1 more banana (i.e. 1/2 cup of banana) in lieu of 1 egg, to maintain moistness. (I’m also sure you can substitute many ingredients to “vegan-ify” this doughnut! Eggs with flaxseed paste, almond milk for milk + vinegar to make “buttermilk”.)
Pastry textbook referenced, for basic baking principles: Mastering the Art and Craft: Baking & Pastry, 2009. (CIA)
When I re-attempt this recipe next time, I am going to add a tiny amount of salt (approx 1/4 tsp) AND add 1 tbsp shortening to the batter to see how it can change the texture/flavour. While it’s good, I find the texture has got room for improvement; it’s not really a “cake doughnut” yet. (I will update later with a Version 2 of Banana Doughnuts.)
To make the doughnuts successfully, make sure you do not over-mix the dough, once you add the flour; my KitchenAid was not behaving since I had to stop it from stirring and scrape down the flour — I turned off my mixer and resorted to gently folding with a spatula instead. (If your budget allows, splurge on the flex-edge scraper blade!) Always sift the flour before-hand to knock out any air-particles.
Biting into a cinnamon-spiced banana chocolate chip doughnut.
Oven: 400F. Makes about 24 doughnuts.
INGREDIENTS
In a bowl, beat together A:
1 1/2 cup bananas, mashed into purée (I used 3 large)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup “buttermilk” (1/2 cup organic milk + 1/2 Tbsp vinegar)
2 tsp vanilla
One bowl, sift together B:
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Optional: 1/4 cup of chocolate chips + 2 tbsp of chocolate chips for good luck
- Always grease your pans with shortening. I tried it both with cooking and shortening tonight. Shortening won; doughnuts came out way easier.
- Once A is prepared, gently & slowly fold the flour mixture B in 3 batches.
- Easiest way to ensure you don’t overfill your batter is to use a disposable bag.
Notice how I cut the left corner off — not too big/not too small. You can use a bigger Ziploc bag; I used a sandwich bag.
To fill the pan, I piped the batter around the round centres twice.
I filled it with varying volume to see how it turned out:
- Bake for 11 minutes or until golden brown. Your doughnuts will continue to cook in the pan. Put the pans to cool for a minute before cooling the doughnuts on the rack.
It’s actually a lot of fun to watch your doughnuts rise in the oven. I made these doughnuts kind of old-fashioned — without any frosting or glazes.
If you live close to the 124th Street farmer’s market in Downtown Edmonton, you must check out Moonshine Doughnuts and try their strawberry wasabi doughnut. Have you attempted making any doughnuts lately?
Cynful Kitchen 