The Apple of My... Stomach

Today has been such a great day: there was that extra hour of sleep (Thanks, DST!), I got to gchat with John for an absurdly long time this morning, and I met my wonderful friend, Jehan, for lunch. So, this evening, I decided to top it off and try a Pinterest recipe for my lovely English Department colleagues. (I've been planning making them for a bit since I actually had to go home to Pennsylvania to find apple butter for the recipe.)

I love doughnuts, but I don't eat them often because I'm a bit paranoid about fried foods (exception: my Mickey D's french fry addiction). The great thing about this recipe is that it's pretty darn healthy. There's only one egg, the butter is optional, and there's no frying involved! 

You can find the original recipe at Feastie. I'm copying it below with my notes, changes, and suggestions, but please know that the original recipe is not my original content. 

You'll need:

Dry ingredients (in one bowl):

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Wet ingredients (in another bowl):

• 1 large egg
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup apple butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (I omitted because we were out.)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup apple cider
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt (I used non-fat, generic vanilla yogurt.)
• 2 Tbsp canola oil

Topping:

• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. 
3. In another large bowl, whisk together the egg, brown sugar, apple butter, vanilla extract, honey, apple cider, yogurt, and canola oil. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient mixture and whisk until just incorporated. Don't over-mix - a few lumps are okay. 
4. Using a tablespoon or cookie scoop, fill a 24-hole mini muffin pan with the batter; fill each hole only 3/4 of the way, or you'll end up with huge mini muffins (maxi muffins?). Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes and cool on a wire rack. 
5. While donut holes are still warm, melt butter in a microwave safe dish. Combine cinnamon and sugar in another dish. Using a pastry brush, very lightly brush a tiny bit of melted butter onto the top of each donut hole, then dip the top of the muffin in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll the donut hole in the cinnamon sugar to coat the sides and top. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note about baking: I don't have a mini-muffin pan, so I used a regular cupcake/muffin pan, filled each about 3/4 full, and baked for 15 minutes instead of 10. Instead of the texture of a cake-y doughnut, they have, more or less, the texture of a muffin. I only rolled the top in cinnamon sugar. I think coating the sides and bottom would have been sugar overkill (if there is such a thing).  Still delicious, still autumnal and fantastic!