Baked Mini Carrot Cake Donuts

The donut pan is back in action, y'all! It's been exactly five weeks since it's big debut and I couldn't possibly wait any longer to try my hand at another miniature creation! I can see why Jessica wrote a whole cookbook about them. They're so darn cute!

It didn't take me very long to decide what flavor I wanted to work with. Carrot is basically blowing up the interwebs at the moment, with Easter and Mother's Day around the corner, so that's what I stuck with. Also, it was the best way I could incorporate honey, cinnamon, and ginger for my Mystery Dish this month!

Kat from I Want Crazy was our host, and she gave us boxed cake mix, peeps, oats, ginger, honey, wine, shallots, coconut, shrimp, cherry tomatoes, kiwi, dried fruit, and cinnamon. We were required to use three of the ingredients.

Originally I had thought of going with oats, honey and cinnamon, and maybe making some sort of healthy breakfast cookie. But, I made cookies in December and I want to try and make something different every month, rather than a variation of one thing. Long story short, I went with carrot cake donuts.


I was easily able to incorporate ginger and cinnamon, as they are the quintessential spices for carrot cake. And the honey I used to sweeten the cream cheese for the icing. I'm still trying to figure out how I have lived before trying this combination. It is delicious.


I didn't have enough for the donuts because of all my, ahem, taste testing. But it's okay because that's a few less calories for me, since you know, I do eat the whole batch when I make these. 4 dozen may sound like a big number, but they're mini so it's all good.

Baked Mini Carrot Cake Donuts

Yield: 4 dozen

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup buttermilk
pinch of vanilla powder (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
3/4 cup finely grated carrots

For the honey cream cheese glaze:
2 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons honey
pinch of vanilla powder (or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract)
4-5 teaspoons unsweetened almond milk

Finely chopped walnuts, for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a mini donut pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.

In another bowl, whisk together sugar, egg, oil, applesauce, buttermilk, and vanilla until well-combined. Add dry ingredients and gently whisk until just incorporated. Fold in grated carrots.

Spoon batter into each mold, filling it 3/4 full. Bake for 8-9 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into one of the donuts comes out clean. Let donuts rest in pan for 2-3 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

While donuts are cooling, prepare the honey cream cheese icing. In a small bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat together cream cheese, honey, and vanilla until well-combined. Add milk, one teaspoon at a time, until you reach the right consistency for dipping.

Dip the donuts bottom side up into the glaze. Flip them back over and sprinkle with chopped walnuts.

Check out what the rest of the Mystery Dish gals came up with this month!

 

1. Coconut Shrimp with Thai Chili Ginger Sauce by Joyful Healthy Eats

2. Sangria Poached Pears by Baking a Moment

3. Baked Mini Carrot Cake Donuts by Culinary Couture

4. Funfetti Cookies with Peeps Marshmallow Frosting by I Dig Pinterest

5. Carrot Oatmeal Cookies by Yummy Healthy Easy

6. Gooey Oatmeal Cranberry Bars by I Want Crazy

7. Honey Lime Coconut Oatmeal Cookies by Blahnik Baker

8. Chocolate Almond Date Balls by The Well Floured Kitchen

9. Tropical Kiwi Fruit Muffins by The Pajama Chef

10. Nesting Peeps Cupcakes by The Dessert Chronicles

11. Carrot Cake Cookies by Chez CateyLou