three more ways to love ya

I know, I know. It's getting really out of control around here with donuts. As I've said before, donuts are my weakness and they're the one thing I have a really hard time saying "no" to. I even created a whole donut category in my recipe section... I can't believe I have that many various donuts on here! I told my sister the next time I make donuts, I'm going to bake them so that there are some non-fried versions.

I visited my sister Tracy (who has an awesome design blog, btw) in Maryland recently and made a double batch of these babies. It was a true "Donut Day" since we made three types of donuts. An updated, (and easier to eat) version of the Samoa donut called the Coco-Caramel Chocolate Donut, a honey-dip glazed and chocolate frosted. I just love this donut dough. It doesn't require the same amount of rising time that the dough from Flour does. And the end is result is a fluffy, airy donut that holds whatever toppings your heart desires.

In the Samoa donut, the caramel and coconut were mixed together and thickly applied to the top of the donut. In these Coco-Caramel Chocolate Donuts, I made the caramel softer (thank you heavy cream) and kept each component separate. First, I spread the soft caramel all over, then generously sprinkled toasted coconut and drizzled chocolate all over. I also didn't dip the bottom-half of the donut in chocolate (like I did with the Samoa donut) but you are more than welcome to do it. Can't hurt!

The chocolate glaze from the Samoa donut is more of a ganache and is delicious! It tastes like rich chocolate and stays a bit soft (unlike store-bought donuts that harden). That's why I also used it on the Boston Cream donut. 

The honey-dip glaze is unbelievably good, but there's a reason it looks a bit grainy here. My sister had run out of confectioners' sugar so we whipped up our own, but didn't blend it long enough. If you use store-bought confectioners' sugar, it should look silky smooth

Chocolate Frosted Donut, Honey-Dip Donut, Coco-Caramel Chocolate donut

Recipe barely adapted from here and honey-dip glaze from here

Makes 13-14 donuts

Recipe Notes

- Per usual I added vanilla to the caramel topping, added heavy cream to keep it soft and upped the salt a bit.

- This recipe isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s not complicated, just labor intensive. Plan on it taking 3 ½ to 5 hours before these are completed.

- It’s important to let the donuts cool completely otherwise the topping will slide off. I was surprised at how long it takes them to cool, since they’re only in the hot oil for 4 minutes, but it took at least a half hour for them to cool down.
- The original recipe only made 6 donuts... not sure if they threw a lot of dough away or just made them super thick, but I rolled mine out to a half-inch (as directed) and used the same size donut cutter that was recommended and was still able to get 13 donuts out of mine. Who knows?
- If you're going to make one entire batch of just the Coco-Caramel Chocolate Donut then use 2 Cups of coconut, but if you're going to only do a partial batch than use 1 Cup instead. 

Ingredients:

For the dough:

1 ¼ Cups milk, heated to 110°F

2 ¼ tsp. (one package) active dry yeast

2 eggs

8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

¼ Cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. salt

4 ¼ Cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough

2 Quarts peanut or canola oil

For the topping:

1-2 Cups shredded sweetened coconut (see recipe note)

11 ounces soft caramels 

4 Tbs. heavy cream

pinch of salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the chocolate glaze:

4 oz. dark chocolate chips

½ Cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of salt
½ Cup heavy cream
½ Tbs. unsalted butter
rainbow sprinkles (optional)

For the honey-dip glaze: 

1/3 Cup butter, melted

2 Cups confectioners’ sugar

¼ Cup honey

¼ Cup hot water, plus extra if needed
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

For the dough:
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine warm milk with yeast. Stir lightly and let the mixture sit for 5 minutes, until foamy. 

2. Attach a dough hook to the mixer and beat the eggs, butter, sugar and salt into the yeast mixture. Add half of the flour and mix until combined and then gradually add the rest of the flour, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

3. Grease a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl, rolling it around to get a bit of oil on the dough. Cover the bowl and place it in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.

3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and roll out to a ½-inch thick. Use a floured donut cutter (or 3½” and 1½” cookie cutters) to cut out the donuts.

4. Gently place the donuts on a parchment-lined baking sheet with plenty of room between each one (I used 2 baking sheets so the donuts would have plenty of room). Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until puffy, about 45 minutes.

5. Pour oil in a heavy-bottomed pot, or Dutch oven, over medium-high heat until it reaches 350°F on an oil thermometer.

6. Carefully add the donuts to the oil, a few at a time. Fry, flipping once until puffed and golden brown, about 4 minutes total. Transfer donuts to a wire rack to drain and cool. Make the toppings while donuts cool.

For the Coco-Caramel Chocolate Donut:

7.  Preheat oven to 350ºF and spread the coconut on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

8. Melt caramels, heavy cream and salt in a double-boiler by placing a medium bowl over a smaller pot of simmering water. Cook, stirring constantly, until the caramels are melted. Remove from heat and add the vanilla.

9. With the back of a spoon (or offset spatula) spread caramel on the top of each donut (this will act as the “glue” for the rest of the coconut). Dip the caramel side of the donut into the toasted coconut, pressing lightly so that it adheres.  

10. Make the chocolate glaze by mixing chocolate, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a bowl. Bring cream and butter to a boil in a small saucepan, then pour the hot cream over the chocolate mixture. Let it sit for 2 minutes before whisking smooth.  

11. Use a fork to drizzle the tops with chocolate, or put it in a pastry bag to evenly drizzle the lines. Let donuts sit until the chocolate hardens a bit (but it will still be soft to the touch), about 20 minutes. Donuts are best eaten the day of. Enjoy!

For the Chocolate Frosted Donut:
- Once the doughnuts are completely cooled, follow step 10 for melting the chocolate glaze. Dip half of each donut into the chocolate glaze and set over a rack to cool and harden a bit. If using sprinkles, immediately apply them after dipping each donut, otherwise they won't stick when the chocolate has cooled. 

For the Honey-Dip Glazed Donuts:

- To make the glaze, in a medium bowl stir all the ingredients together until smooth. Add more water if needed, until the glaze is a thin, pourable consistency. Dunk the doughnuts into the glaze, ensuring it covers all sides of the donut. Set on a wire rack to cool, harden and catch any drips. Enjoy!