Chocolate Chip Baked Buttermilk Doughnuts with Maple Glaze

New obsession heeeere we go.

It all started with the doughnut pan that has LITERALLY been calling my name from inside Crate and Barrel for 15 years…or at least since March 2011.

After almost a year of doughnut-pan-lusting (is that weird?) I finally decided to bite the bullet and buy the darn thing.  And now I am head over heels, truly, madly, deeply in love.  Baked doughnuts are where it’s at and I want to quit my job and open a doughnut shop and live happily ever after, amen.

Speaking of amen, I TOTALLY gave up Facebook for Lent.  Now accepting bets for how long that will last.  Hopefully longer than my sugar cleanse.

But seriously, Boston?  For such a coffee-loving city, WHERE ARE ALL YOUR DOUGHNUTS???  Love ya Dunks, but you’re just not cutting it.  Unless there are some hidden gems that have not yet been brought to my attention, there is no place to get some good old-fashioned just-made cake doughnuts, and that is so not okay with me.  I’m about to start a doughnut revolution with my 6-doughnut pan.  Who’s with me??!

These doughnuts were inspired by an unbelievable Chocolate Chip Pancake cupcake I recently tried at Cakeology.  I also happened to stumble upon a Baked Buttermilk doughnut recipe on Health.com, and a star was born.  Made with whole wheat flour and minimal sugar and butter, you can have these doughnuts for breakfast and still feel good about yourself 🙂

A chocolate chip-studded buttermilk-pancake-esque doughnut topped with maple syrup glaze?  Come to mama.

Chocolate Chip Baked Buttermilk Doughnuts (slightly adapted from Health.com)

yield: 12 doughnuts

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup honey (next time I’m going to try & replace the honey with maple syrup)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Coat a doughnut pan with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, salt, and sugar.  In a separate bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat buttermilk, eggs, honey, butter, and vanilla until smooth.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix on low until just combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Spoon the batter into a large ziploc bag and cut the corner off; this is a much easier way to control how much batter goes into the doughnut pan.  Fill each well 2/3 full (if you have a 6-doughnut pan like me, you’ll have to bake in two batches) and bake for 8 minutes.  Doughnuts are done when the top springs back when pressed.
4. Allow the doughnuts to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Top with maple glaze (recipe below).

Maple Glaze

In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, 1 teaspoon milk, and 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar, depending on the consistency you want.  Whisk until smooth.  Dip cooled doughnuts into glaze (top with sprinkles if you want!) and allow to set for 15-20 minutes.