I have had a mini donut pan for a while now and usually when I break it out it is to simply make some plain donuts with a simple glaze on them. I haven’t made any in a while and with the fall weather starting to come around, I was thinking of something warming and spicy this past week when I happened to stumble upon this recipe from a Pinch of Yum for naked gingerbread mini donuts. The donuts themselves are a simple gingerbread dough and there is a wonderful maple glaze to put on them to really top things off. This make a great dessert or snack and do not take long to make at all, taking only about 20 minutes to put everything together, bake them and glaze them.

Baked Gingerbread Mini Donuts

For the Donuts:

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Pinch of allspice

Pinch of ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup applesauce

1 tablespoon milk

2 tablespoons melted butter

For the Glaze:

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons milk

1/2 cup powdered sugar

For the donuts, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, salt and brown sugar until they are blended. Stir in the egg, applesauce, milk and melted butter until they are well incorporated and the batter forms. Pour the batter into a gallon-sized plastic bag and cut the corner off. Alternatively, you can use a piping bag if you have one on hand. Pipe the batter into a greased mini donut pan, filling each donut space to about half full. You may have to make 2 batches depending on the size of your donut pan as this will make 18 to 24 mini donuts. Bake the donuts in the oven until they are firm, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and carefully take each donut out of the pan.

For the glaze, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter with the 1/4 cup of brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring he mixture to a boil and boil it for about 2 minutes. Add the maple syrup and 1 tablespoon of the milk and bring the mixture back to a boil. Add the powdered sugar and use the last tablespoon of milk to help thin out the glaze if needed. Keep the glaze over low heat (higher heat will make the glaze start to crystallize) and dunk each mini donut into the frosting to coat it. The frosting will set almost immediately. Serve the donuts when complete.

This is a very simple way to make a really tasty treat. The donuts had that great ginger flavor and the maple glaze on the top went perfectly with the donuts. I got about 18 donuts out of my mix, but I think you can make them smaller and get a little more if you like. The mini donut pans are fairly easy to find today in many shops, and if you are looking for one you can find one here. They are pretty inexpensive so you can pick one up often for ten dollars or less if you want one. I’ll have to remember this recipe since it’s so easy to do and it is a good one to do with the kids. I apologize for the sloppy picture, but trust me they turn out better than my picture may look!

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!