Baked, sugar-free and almost gluten-free, these delicious baked donuts!
“Baked donuts!” Exclaimed my husband! Yes, why not..If everything can be made diet friendly why not donuts! Everyone’s making them these days and I’m going to try make them not just sugar-free but also with barley and oats flour!
And so the date was set, I had often made donuts the traditional way, but anything fried had been banned since my husband had decided to put his health before everything else…It did test my cooking knowledge, but it’s been a fun, learning process!
Most of the flours in the house have been replaced, Stevia, palm sugar and date syrup take up more space than any other sweeter, the deep-frying pan hasn’t seen the light of day for close to two years now! And most weekdays are all about grilled meats and veggies! And of course an array of fresh vegetables and fruit juices.
So the other day when a friend at the gym spoke about his carving for Chocolate Donuts, I realised I hadn’t cooked these goodies in a while! A date was set for the coming weekend.The husband was out-of-town and it was the perfect time to experiment!
Out came the silicon donut baking tray and my instant yeast. I’ve been using DCLs instant yeast for the last 5 years and am pretty pleased with the results as you will see from the pictures!
The recipe has been adapted from the recipe posted by melskitchencafe but I’ve substituted the all-purpose flour for a mix of barley-oats-all purpose flour in equal proportion and added a bit of baking powder to help it rise!
These are best eaten straight out of the oven! I don’t use a microwave, but I guess zapping them if they’re cold would be the next best alternative!
Time taken: 2 hours
Preparation time: 1-1/2 hours
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Skill level: A level-headed person with a lot of patience
5 cups flour (I’ve used a mix of oats, barley and all-purpose flour, all mixed in equal proportion)
2 teaspoons sugar
6 tablespoons sugar substitute (I’ve used Stevia)
Freshly grated nutmeg
2 eggs at room temperature
200 grams sugar-free chocolate compound
100 grams roasted sliced almonds
Method:
1. You need to start with the yeast. If you don’t have a cooking thermometer, (I don’t) warm the milk to a point where you can immerse your finger in it, it should be hot but not stinging hot. Pour it into a mixing bowl, add the yeast, sugar and mix it well. The yeast feeds on this sugar to bloom, so this can’t be substituted.
2. Now add the eggs, freshly grated nutmeg and stir well.
3. Add the flour, you can either use the dough attachment or use your hands to mix the flour in. I’ve used my hands.
4. Knead the dough till it sticks to the edges of the bowl but comes away clean from it too. It should be sticky, light and stringy. I’ve used the butter at this point and not earlier on as was used in the recipe. It helped keep the dough off my hands.
Make sure you leave enough space for the dough to rise! And it will if you’ve used the right temperature of water. Mine overflowed 🙂
5. Place the dough in a greased glass bowl in a warm place to proof. It will rise to almost double the quantity so use a bowl for the right size. Also if you cling film the dough ensure its not to tight, check on it in 30 minutes and if need be loosen the film as you go along.
The dough rose a bit too much and was out of my glass bowl! 🙂 I love this net…you know you’re going to get a good bake if you see this beauty!
6. Once the dough has risen or in an hour, push it down again. This can now be used to make the bread of your choice. I’ve also made a cranberry, walnut and raisin bread from the same bread mix.
7. Grease your silicon donut mould or donut cutter and silicon mat.
This has been shot mid-way between the second proofing…the dough was flat when it was first filled into the mould.
8. At this point you can pre-heat your oven to 180 degree Centigrade
9. If using a donut mould, pull small balls of dough and shape it into a log, place it in the mould and join where the dough meets. If you’re using a donut cutter, roll the dough on a floored surface, to about 1/2 inch in thickness and cut the donuts using the cutter, place them on the silicon mat, make sure you keep enough space between two donuts as they will double in size during the second proofing.
10. Place the donuts in a warm place, cover then and let them rise a second time. About 20-25 minutes.
11. Bake the donuts in a pre heated oven at 180 degree centigrade for 10 minutes. Till the top is just about golden
Baked and ready to be dipped into chocolate ganache!
12. Meanwhile, in a double boiler melt the sugar-free chocolate compound and keep it ready. In a bowl place the sliced almonds.
13. Once the donuts are done, take them out and dip them in the chocolate and scatter the sliced roasted almonds on top. Enjoy your sugar-free healthy donuts!
WHY BARLEY:
Supports the immune system
Rich in vitamins and antioxidants
Improves digestion
Gives a lot of energy
The dough can be made and placed into the refrigerator at the stage of the second proofing. That way you can bake a fresh batch of donuts just before breakfast or lunch!
