molasses doughnuts
December 4, 2011 I think it’s time I start spelling donuts, doughnuts. Technically, that is the official spelling. And technically, these are officially the best doughnuts I’ve made to date. And since we’re being all kinds of official, I should finally stop being lazy with the spelling.
This flavor was spurred by a Christmas classic. My dad’s, grandmother’s recipe for molasses cookies. I’m pretty sure it’s thee official recipe, that you can find almost anywhere, but over the years my dad has done little things to perfect it.
My dad makes dozens upon dozens of these cookies to ship out to family + friends as a little early Christmas present. When my brother + I were younger, molasses cookie night was one of my favorite nights in the whole year. There was so much raw dough eaten, and brown sugar straight from the box! Whenever I’m home for the holidays, my dad and I like to whip up a fresh batch.
Since Chris + I won’t be in Ohio until Christmas Eve, I came up with a new way to get my yearly molasses fix.
Where did these little baby doughnut holes come from?? I recently learned this from the Two Peas & Their Pod. You can use a mini muffin tin to make doughnut holes!! I have a 24 mold mini muffin pan, that held one full batch perfectly.
They’re not completely sphere-like, but covered in sugar they look more doughnut-hole-like than muffin-like. This is especially great when making a lot of doughnuts, since the pan only holds SIX.
Chris’s work Christmas party was this past Friday, and I was on dessert duty. Instead of taking hours to make batch after batch of 6 doughnuts at a time, I made 3 full sized doughnut batches and 2 batches of the minis. This means I only had to run the oven for 3 cycles, instead of 5! I baked the minis with the full sized doughnuts. It worked perfectly and the minis were a hit! All 48 vanished within minutes, and I was only sent home with 4 large doughnuts.
I also gave a few to my official taste tester, Kelsey. I delivered them to her door and about 10min later got an email saying the following:
HOLY FLIPPING MONKEY TAILS!!!!!!!!!!!! The chocolate donuts are delicious per usual --- BUT THE MOLASSES .......OH THE MOLASSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think they may be your best invention yet. They seriously made me dance around the house. I want to stay up all night eating molasses donuts + sipping hot cocoa by a fire.
Her reaction made my night!
These little gems are very cake-doughnutty, not just cakey. There is a difference! I wish I could invite you all over for samples. A popped amaranth + doughnut party!?
Dad, you would be so proud!
Molasses Doughnuts [makes 6-8 depending on pan size or 24 minis in a muffin pan]
- 1/2c GF oat flour
- 1/2c sweet rice flour
- 3T coconut flour
- 1/4c sucanat
- 3T sunflower oil
- 2.5T blackstrap molasses
- 2 large eggs
- 6T unsweetened almond milk
- 3T pumpkin puree
- 1.5t vanilla extract
- 1t cinnamon
- 1t ground ginger
- 1/4t ground cloves
- 1/2t salt
- 1t baking powder
- Preheat your oven to 350* + grease your donut pan with butter, coconut oil or cooking spray.
- In a medium sized bowl mix together all dry ingredients.
- In a small bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients.
- Stir the wet into dry, until just combined. Do not over stir.
- With a spoon or spatula transfer the batter to your greased pan, filling about 1/8-1/4” from the top.
- Bake for 20-25min.
- Test with a toothpick for doneness. You want a slightly moist toothpick. Not gooey but not bone dry. The tops of the donut should be golden brown and slightly firm.
- Let them cool in the pan for 5min then turn out onto a cooling rack. Loosen around the edges if needed.
- Add toppings when cooled.
tips/substitutions: You can sub brown rice flour instead of sweet rice flour, almond flour instead of the coconut flour, or 1T oat flour + 2T more rice flour instead of the coconut flour. Use any type of unsweetened milk you like. You don’t taste the pumpkin in these, but it’s added for texture. If you don’t have any, sub 2.5T unsweetened applesauce instead. Pure cane sugar can be subbed for the sucanat. High altitude, set your oven to 375* and decrease baking powder to 3/4t. The mini doughnuts took about 15min to bake. You can grind your own GF oat flour from certified GF rolled oats, or GF oat groats. Bob’s Red Mill packages GF oat flour.
Topping
- 1/2c sucanat
- 1/2t cinnamon
- ~3T butter, melted
- Combine the sucanat + cinnamon in a bowl.
- When cooled, lightly dip the donuts into the melted butter then directly into the cinnamon/sugar mixture.
- Place on a cooling rack to dry.
In case everyone at the party wasn’t a molasses lover, I also made triple chocolate doughnuts.
I’m seeing chocolate peppermint with a candy cane topping in the near future!
And now it is technically time to hit publish and officially time to zone out + watch TV.
Mondays are better with donuts doughnuts! Have a good one!
Ashley
Reader Comments (57)
Ahhhhh. Love de blackstrap molasses!
They look fabulous!
I just posted about Eggnog Cupcakes with an Eggnog/Rum glaze and next up shall be these molasses ones...they look great! and I LOVE molasses/gingerbread flavors. YUM
These look SO GOOD!!! I love molasses, and all of your other doughnut recipes have been amazing, so I know I'm going to love these! They are definitely going to the top of my "must make" list!
By the way, a popped amaranth and doughnut party sounds like the best idea ever!
I've been sort of obsessed with molasses lately -- for the iron content and the sweetness! They look so delicious -- thank you for making them gluten free! I'm getting a donut pan for my husband for Christmas (mostly so I can bake him donuts) and these will be on my list of donuts to make!
This is great...I have molasses in the cabinet and need inspiration on what to make with it..thanks!! :) Stay warm-I heard it's suppose to be in the single digits today..fire up the oven and get to baking!!:)
Yum! What tasty looking donuts. I love the little triple chocolate ones, there so pretty!
These look amazing! I'm definitely trying the molasses doughnuts today - I have all the ingredients!
Just wondering, what kind of sprinkle topping did you use on the chocolate doughnuts?
Mmm! Going to have to try this for sure! I love molasses & donuts.
Wow, these look AWESOME! I'm a huge fan of molasses, too, and these look like a wonderful excuse to eat molasses cookie-like things for breakfast :)
Ashley: I might be proud, but not until you pass the official taste test. I need to be made into a true believer. Not drinking the cool aid just yet, but I can't wait. Love, Dad
This looks fantastic! I need a donut pan.... :)
I am such a sucker for molasses cookies, so these doughnuts leave me panting. Great idea!!
i was JUST thinking yesterday that a molasses cookie doughnut thing would be sooooo good...you read my mind! and now i can't wait to try this :)
Gingerbread cookies were the first cookies my eldest son fell in love with...tradition calls for them every Christmas. Turning them into a doughnut is genius! This weekend the boys and I will be busy making our first Gingerbread House...finally broke down and bought the mold I have been eyeing for years at Lee Valley. Visions of gingerbread are dancing in my head! lol
These look great! I think I would prefer them to the traditional cookie form too. Love the sucanat on top!
What is this "cool aid" papa Sherman speaks of?!?! Hilarious that you posted my email!!
I can't wait to try these! I recently bought some carob molasses from a nearby middle eastern grocer and it's been my new obsession. If you ever come across it, I highly recommend it! Its like regular molasses with a sorta of chocolatey finish.
It's KOOL-aid! And did you really just say that?? ;)
1. it's kool aid, he spelled it wrong 2. we weren't even allowed to drink kool aid 3. it's some sort of weird expression...like he's not buying into the craze until he tries it first 4. he is so good at embarrassing me, even via the internet
Aw, have fun building the house. I think I only built one once, and it was a huge mess but so fun. :)
You can make them in a regular muffin pan as well as the mini muffin pan! :)
It was some sort of sprinkle shaker from Trader Joes! Got it last time I was home in Ohio.
Yeah...it's SO COLD!!! I have a newborn photo shoot today with a million things to drag in + out of the car! eek!
Hope you enjoy them!! Makes the house smell amazing as well. :)
What a fun cupcake!
Is there a way to make these non-gfree? Like, could I use regular flour in place of ALL of the flours you use, or is that wrong?
I'm not positive on this, but here's what I would try: Use unbleached/unenriched white flour [possibly whole wheat pastry flour] instead of the flours I used. Only use 1 egg instead of 2 [I use 2 to help hold them together since there is obviously no gluten in the GF flours], but increase the oil to 4T instead of 3T. The batter should be kind of like a thick pancake batter. It should be easily poured or spooned into the doughnut pan. If it seems too thick or thin, adjust slowly with more milk or flour. The bake time may also change. Check them at 15min and go from there. Again, I'm not positive on these changes! Let me know if you give it a go!
those look ridiculous!!! i need molasses like..right now.
These look delish & the baby ones are so cute :)
The expression comes from The Jonestown Massacre, in which a cult all drank poisonous Kool Aid to kill themselves en masse.
While I'm being pedantic, donut is also a correct spelling. http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/doughnut?region=us
Yummy! I love molasses(and it is so good for you! Love that about it, it's just a bonus that it tastes great :D) These look delicious. Thanks for all the substitutions, it makes it a lot easier!
I might go home and make these tonight. My first ever doughnut pan was just delivered and I'm itching to use it. Thanks for the inspiration, these sound amazing!
"Blackstrap molasses" sounds like some backyard moonshine or something! It looks like you need a "caution" warning when using it :)
I admire people who can bake lol. I suck at baking, and it stresses me out. Being a fellow Denver-ite, I wish I could steal these from you :)
I really like that spelling of doughnuts the best. It feels fancy. Also, I want to come to that popped amaranth and doughnut party. Really, really.
I am dying to make these. Love all things molasses.
Thanks! And PS - I made these today, and they are simply delish! Well done :)
Those look sooooooooooo good! I asked for a donut pan for Christmas. You inspired me!
I have a whole jar of molasses I haven't even opened. Now I'll DEFINITELY have to put it to use!
I love Kelsey's email, that would've made my day too! These look unreal!
Well great. Now I'm hungry. ;)
You're dad wouldn't mind handing over that cookie recipe, would he?
I LOVE black strap molasses, and use it often in my cooking. Love this!
These look amazing! I've been wanting a donut pan for so long, and just went to the thrift store recently and found a mini donut pan [brand new] for 75 cents!! Score!
That's awesome!!!!
That's how I feel too. :)
Oooh, I hope you had fun baking!!
You're so welcome!!
These scream Christmas to me! I think I may just have to make them for Christmas mourning brunch :). They look perfect!!!
Wow, these look SO fantastic! I love molasses, but I've never had it in doughnut form! Cannot wait till my oven gets fixed to try this out!
A donut pan is on my christmas list! All your donut recipes look so good!!