Warm weather always makes me want to make menus for light, fun reads. I haven’t made a picture book menu in a while, so I thought it would be fun to make recipes inspired by each of the books from the IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE series. Let’s start with rainbow sprinkle baked donuts inspired by IF YOU GIVE A DOG A DONUT!
Originally, my plan was to make apple cider donuts as a nod to the apple juice from the story, but I’ve already make apple-flavored donuts multiple times before (like apple cider donut holes and crullers). I wanted to try something new, so I decided to make birthday cake flavored baked donuts, drawing my inspiration from the rainbow sprinkle donut on the cover of the book. Plus, I’ve wanted to by a donut baking pan for years, so this was the perfect excuse!
The recipe I use here is a variation on a recipe from Sprinkle Bakes, tweaked to suit my needs. The final product reminded me of a cupcake in all the best ways. If you’re someone (like me) who loves the cake part of cupcakes and would happily eat one frosting-free, you’ll love these donuts. In fact, although I put icing on top to match the illustration on the book cover, I think they’re better without it. If I make these again, I think I’ll leave them plain. And the rainbow sprinkles mixed through the batter are so much fun!
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Rainbow Sprinkle Baked Donuts
“If you give a dog a donut, he’ll ask for some apple juice to go with it. When you give him the juice, he’ll drink it all up.”
— If You Give a Dog a Donut
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups cake flour
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp whole milk, divided
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 Tbsp butter, melted
- 1 tsp cake batter flavoring or vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles, divided
- 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- a donut pan
Makes 16 donuts
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a donut pan with cooking oil and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the cake flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat in the 1/2 cup milk, eggs, butter, and flavoring until just combined. Stir 2 tablespoons of sprinkles into the batter.
- Spoon about 2 tablespoons of batter into each donut well (this recipe makes 16 donuts, so you’ll need to bake in batches). Bake for 8-10 minutes until donuts spring back when firmly tapped with a finger. Flip and rotate the pans halfway through if you’re using 2 6-donut pans instead of 1 12-donut pan.
- Allow to cool for 3-5 minutes. Gently remove the donuts from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- When the donuts are completely cooled, mix the powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons milk together in a small bowl. Drizzle over the donuts. Top with remaining sprinkles.
- Serve with apple juice while reading IF YOU GIVE A DOG A DONUT!
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