I’ve never made a big deal about Valentine’s day, and it has never seemed like that important of a holiday to me. However, the concept of celebrating love is actually beautiful. My granny has always said, “Find the extra in the ordinary.” While these holidays can be seen as Hallmark created holidays, I find they provide us with the opportunity to make something more of the day and celebrate the special people in our lives. Some Valentine’s days I’ve been in relationships, and others I’ve been very single. I recently began to view the holiday as a day to acknowledge all the love in our lives, and not just the romantic kind. Whether sending friends a little note, baking a sweet treat, or giving a loved one an extra shoulder massage, there are so many ways to celebrate the day.
Since I am always looking for an excuse to bake, Valentine’s Day presented the perfect opportunity to make something sweet. I debated long and hard about what my Valentine’s Day 2016 recipe would be, and finally settled on these vanilla donuts. I thought about recreating the heart-shaped rice crispy treats I made last year, but when I realized the circular shape of donuts reminded me of x’s and o’s, it seemed like a very appropriate choice.
I made these donuts for the first time a couple of years ago for a large family holiday dinner. People in general, myself included, seem to love everything mini, the size itself makes it instantly more appealing. I also like that it isn’t the same commitment as eating a full-sized version. When I read the original recipe for the first time, I remember being surprised at the amount of vanilla extract called for… I promise, it’s worth it. The smell of the donuts and rich vanilla taste is a treat in itself. It looks like a lot of ingredients but everything goes into one bowl, making for less clean-up than expected. My cousin gifted me donut trays for my birthday a couple of years ago, and they have proved themselves to be something very useful, and worth investing in for fun baking. I don’t expect to make donuts on a weekly basis, but they are perfect for special occasions. The original recipe makes full size donuts, so you will end up with a lot of mini’s! I frosted half of mine, and froze the other half to be frosted on another occasion.
I decorated the donuts with a simple chocolate glaze, mini chocolate chips, and some of the little white balls I had leftover from my birthday cake. I used sprinkles in the past, but these would also look great with a simple coating of powdered sugar, or just the plain chocolate. I honestly loved these donuts without the chocolate as well, but they looked a little naked for presentation.
So, have a very happy Valentine’s Day! I hope you have a special day with those all those you love.
- ⅓ cup refined coconut oil, plus more for brushing the trays
- ¾ cup organic cane sugar
- ¾ cup white or brown rice flour
- ⅓ cup garbanzo and fava bean flour (or use all brown rice flour)
- ½ cup potato starch
- ¼ cup arrowroot
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon psyllium husk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
- ¼ cup vanilla extract
- ½ cup hot water
- Chocolate Glaze:
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon refined coconut oil
- Preheat the oven to 325'F and brush 2 donut trays with coconut oil.In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flours, potato starch, arrowroot, baking powder, psyllium husk, salt, and baking soda. Add the coconut oil, applesauce, vanilla, and hot water and continue to mix with a rubber spatula just to combine. Using a tablespoon, drop batter into each donut mold. Use a toothpick to spread the batter evenly around each of the molds.
- Bake for 5 minutes, rotate, and continue baking until the doughnuts are golden brown, about 8 minutes more. Let cool in the molds for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the donuts in the mold and lift them out and place on a baking sheet. Wash out mold and fill with remaining batter.
- While the donuts are cooling, prepare the chocolate glaze. Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in a double broiler, constantly stirring. To glaze the donuts, simply dip each donut in the chocolate, and use a toothpick to remove any chocolate that remains in the hole.
- Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit.com, by Erin McKenna’s BabyCakes Covers the Classics
Those donuts look just beautiful. And I love that they’re baked too. That’s such a sweet-hearted way to look at Valentines Day I love it 🙂
Thanks Amy, you’re too sweet!
How great are these! That first photo is so enticing. And I agree about the mini sizes. I probably end up eating twice as many though…oh well. I’m all in for any day that encourages us to express our love, especially in baked good form. Happy Valentines Day!
Oh, I totally justify eating more since they’re mini! Happy Valentine’s Day, Kathryn!
These are too cute!! Love the combination of flours you used in these— I’ve been wanting to try garbanzo and fava bean flour. Now if only someone would bake these for me on Valentine’s Day…. 😉
Thanks, Liz!! I ended up with so many mini donuts I would have been happy to share 🙂
These donuts are so cute!! Healthy to boot too…which means I can eat the whole batch in one day 🙂
Your comments always make me smile! It’s fine to eat a lot because they’re mini… right!?
I LOVE your granny’s saying! I’m going to totally use that! 😉 And I love these donuts!! Anything mini just makes me swoon… plus since they are small I can eat more of them! Yay! I could go for a dozen of these beauties right about now! Cheers, dear and happy (early) Valentine’s Day!
Happy Valentine’s Day weekend to you!
These donuts are SO pretty and totally adorable! Anything mini always gets my vote! Love that they are healthier too!
Thanks, Kelly! I also love all things mini 🙂
THESE look SO GOOD! I can’t wait to share them on my Valentine’s Day round-up and with my gluten free friends!
Thanks, Emily, and thanks for including my donuts in your round-up!
That’s a beautiful message 🙂 Love the donuts! Hope you had a great Valentine’s day!
Thank you so much, Mary! I did, I hope yours was wonderful as well.
Love the view on love and V-day! I very much share the sentiments and now totally embrace the opportunity to show my loved ones how awesome they are! Go Liora go!
Thank you, thank you! Happy belated Valentines Day!