Easy, Nutritious Donuts. Seriously.

We love donuts. I love baking yummy treats for my kids. I googled "soaked wheat donuts" and found this recipe.

I pretty much followed the recipe, but I soaked my flour in buttermilk. I did not use lemon juice or vinegar and I added a little more buttermilk than the recipe called for because the dough seemed a little thick. I have found that soaking whole wheat baked goods in buttermilk makes a much better flavor than using water and an acid medium such as vinegar or lemon juice. I rolled the donuts to a little less than 1/2" thick. (My version of the recipe below). You can read a bit about why I soak wheat flour here.


My big boy was my photographer. And, yes my shirt is 13 years old. Why do you ask?



The pic above was right before we put them in the oven. The donut holes were a huge hit! The recipe yielded 14 donuts and a dozen or so donut holes. I used a pretty large biscuit cutter for the donuts. The cutter was about the size of an English muffin. And I baked them anywhere from 9-15 minutes on the convection setting.


For the toppings, I made the chocolate sauce in the recipe above, cinnamon and sugar and powdered sugar. For the sugared toppings, I dipped the donuts in melted butter and then the sugas. Divine. Truly.


The donuts were divine, but they were definitely had more of a cake donut type texture. Even my non-wheat loving hubby liked them. I should have gotten a better profile shot of the donuts after they were baked. I assure you, they rose nicely.


And my big kiddos after donuts...as I was snapping this pic they said, "better than Shipleys!!" Totally unprompted and hilarious. Love these kids!

Recipe with my adaptations (see original recipe here):

Soaked Wheat Donuts

4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour4 tsp. baking soda1/2 tsp. salt1/2 tsp. nutmeg1 tsp. cinnamon3 egg yolks
1 cup organic cane sugar or sucanat5 Tbsp. butter or coconut oil, melted1 to 1-1/2 cups buttermilk 
Donuts:
Combine the flour, sugar, coconut oil and buttermilk. Let the dough rest for 12-24 hours. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. (I let mine rest overnight, like 8-9 hours and no one died). 
Roll out dough to approximately 1/2″ thickness. Cut out donuts with cutter, ring or shape into desired shapes.
Bake on an ungreased baking sheet  at 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes.  Allow to cool.
Topping Options:
For chocolate:
1 cup chocolate chips 
1/4 cup milk 3 Tbsp. organic all purpose flour (or arrowroot or cornstarch)
Melt chocolate chips slowly on the stove in a pot or a double boiler if you like things fancy. When all of the chocolate is melted slowly stir in the milk and flour.  Mix until smooth.  Remove from heat.
Dip the donuts in the warm chocolate.
Store donuts in an airtight container at room temperature for short term storage.  Store in a freezer for long term storage.
For powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar:
melt about a stick of butter, dip warm donuts in butter and then in desired sugars. Divine. 

First Day of School

I've homeschooled Gramm for the past 2 years...3 years if you count preK, which was basically us reading books all year. It was super fun. This year I am teaching Gramm and my precious, energetic twins. A second grader and two kindergarteners. Today was our first day. We started out with a yummy breakfast (oatmeal bake, maple yogurt with blueberries, milk). I came up with a new tradition this year. On the first day of school, my babydad and I give each child their own cup, plate and bowl. I chose each pattern based on what each kiddo is interested in at this time. The kids all love their new dishes. And, by the time they graduate from high school, they will each have a fun and memorable set of mismatched dishes.

This child. My heart!!!

My dear friend made this really cool board for our crew...I hope to remember to take pics of my kids in front of it every school year. Romy boy missed out this year because he was napping. 

Gramm wanted to hold Vivi for this pic because she'd had a earache all day. 

This boy listening to history on the backporch...Story of the World, ancients. He is loving it. 

My high school bestie and her boys graced us with their presence for the evening. This chunky monkey (on the right) is 3 months younger than Roman.

A few homeschooling details for any of you who are interested: 

• we have been blessed with the ability to hire a wonderful helper two afternoons a week. Hello, mental health for mommy. 
• I never, ever, ever thought I would homeschool my kids.
• I had major anxiety this weekend over the first day of school.
• The twins loved school and may be the easiest students ever. They asked for more work today and even specifically requested certain subjects. Then again, I may be speaking too soon. 
• this is our first year to homeschool without a co-op. So far, so good. You know, one day in and all. 
• when I was in the throes of twin toddlers, I picked out a great private school for them to attend. I was still loosely planning on them going to school until sometime in June. Mamas, don't plan your life based on the crazy hard toddler years. Things change. 
• I'm tired and going to bed.