There are lots of donut recipes popping up that look pretty darn good. I did take my crack at one awhile ago, with some sweet potato donuts. Those were delicious, but they did require a little more hands on time. With a donut pan, it seems you pour the batter in–a little less work. Alas, a donut pan is one of those toys I haven’t yet acquired. But I wanted that texture..that crispy outside and slightly gooey inside without all the work. So off I went to create this!
This suited my lazy mood–the dough came together in about 5 minutes! Then all I had to do was grease the cast-iron and bake it. It’s great for dessert or breakfast…we had it for breafast all week. And then…I made another! The first time I made this I had an entire can of pumpkin puree, and 3 super ripe bananas. The second time I made it, I had less than half of a can of pumpkin, 2 bananas, and one mango that really needed eating. So here are 2 versions. I can’t decide which I like better. I like it toasted, that’s for sure.
Health wise:
- These happen to be vegan (I happen not to be).
- Using spelt flour ups the protein content to make this a more a balanced breakfast. Yes, eat a donut pie for breakfast. As you can tell, I can’t decide on what to call this
- Super high in fiber, both versions
- No refined sugar
- Ingredients for version 1:
- 2 cups spelt flour
- ½ cup spelt bran (or other bran)
- ½ cup flax meal
- 1 T cinnamon
- 1.5 t baking powder
- 1.5 t salt
- ¼ +1/8 cup coconut oil (+a little more for greasing)
- 2 T vanilla
- ¼ cup almond milk
- ¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
- stir 5 squirts of liquid stevia–not drops, squirts, into applesauce
- 3 mashed bananas (=1 and ⅓ cups)
- 1 and ⅔ cups unsweetened pumpkin puree
- Preheat the oven to 375
- Grease the cast-iron (I used a 12″)
- In a large bowl, put all wet ingredients, and puree with an immersion blender
- Fold in dry ingredients and mix to combine
- Pour into cast iron, and smooth with a spatula
- Bake for 40-45 minutes
Version two happened because I wanted to make another…and because I didn’t have the exact same amount of pumpkin/applesauce/bananas on hand. I also had one very ripe banana. And then I remembered all that frozen fruit we bought…so then theTropical Donut Piehappened. Yes, sometimes, these things happen. This one has a nice tartness with the addition of the raspberries. The mango adds some sweetness, so I used less stevia. With everything pureed, the change isn’t too dramatic. It might sound like like a bit of an odd combination, but I often use pumpkin because of how moist it is for baking…not because I want to focus on it’s particular flavor (though I do like it). Onto version number 2:
Ingredients:
- 1 and 1/3 cups pumpkin
- 1/2 cup apple sauce (unsweetened)
- 3 squirts stevia
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1/4 +1/8 cup coconut oil
- 2 bananas
- 1 mango, skinned and cubed
- 2 t vanilla
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 1/5 tsp baking soda
- pinch salt
- 2 cups spelt flour
- 1/2 cup flax meal
- 1/2 cup spelt bran
- 1 cup raspberries
How to version two:
- Follow same instructions…except include the mango in your mixture to puree
- Pour half of the mixture, smooth with a spatula
- Put the raspberries onto the the poured layer
- Cover with remaining batter, and smooth
- Bake!
- ENJOY
And don’t be afraid of improvising in the kitchen! I think my favorite part is the crispy outside you get from the cast iron pan. I wish more cast iron bake ware was readily available…there’s something about that crispiness!
