the donut lady — all aflutter

MY LITTLES’ class is quarantining this week, so we’ve been kicked back to home learning. That combined with some seriously dreary weather called for a major shakeup at our house. So I pulled out my decade-old secret weapon…Well, actually it’s Jessica Seinfeld’s secret weapon that I co-opted for my big guy’s second birthday nearly 10 years ago and BLEW some toddler minds. I’ve been making them ever since with almost the same response each time (my big guy just snatched almost a dozen off the cooling rack on his way to MTB practice). Some of our little friends used to call me “the donut lady,” a name that stuck for years. I’ll totally take it. These sweet little rings bring an instant giant smile. And… they have vegetables in them. SSSHHH! Don’t tell my boys, it’ll spoil a decade’s worth of epic mama trickery.

SO MY super secret recipe actually comes from Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious cookbook from 2007. It’s a fantastic book designed to help you sneak veggies into everyday foods that kids like. If you have picky littles (or bigs) or you’d just like some creative ways to add more veggies to your cooking, it’s totally worth picking up a copy. In the meantime, here’s the recipe, only very slightly modified from the published version. It’s super quick to put together and if you don’t have a donut pan, you can def use muffin tins, though the exciting part where your kids think you’re letting them have donuts might be *slightly* diminished.

INGREDIENTS

Nonstick cooking spray
1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup sweet potato puree (I use canned for this, too)
1/2 cup milk of your choice (I use almond)
1 large egg white
1 tbsp butter or oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup AP flour or whole-wheat pastry flour (I sub GF and it’s perfect)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar (I’ve never bothered with it because they’re sweet without)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350. Coat a donut pan or muffin tin with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, pumpkin + sweet potato purees, milk, egg white, butter or oil, and vanilla. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and spice and mix until completely incorporated.
If using a donut pan, pour the batter into a Ziplock bag (or pastry bag if you have one) and cut a little tip off the bottom corner on one side. Squeeze the batter through into the donut mold. Bake until the tops are lightly brown and a toothpick comes out clean, around 15-20 minutes. Turn the donuts out onto a rack to cool. When cool, dust with the confectioners’ sugar if using.
You can store in an airtight container at room temp for up to 2 days or freeze for up to a month. But… I challenge you to make these last 2 days in the eye line of any kiddo.

THESE little guys smell so amazing while they’re baking and the sweet potato puree gives them such a sweet and delicious flavor. I’ve made them in big donut pans, mini donuts pans, muffin tins… you name it. I once added spooky spider rings to the middle of each for a good allergy-friendly classroom Halloween treat and the kids absolutely devoured them. So go bake a batch and you, too, could forevermore be known as “the donut lady.'“ xo