Baked Apple Doughnuts + Maple Glaze

I have been pining after a doughnut pan for about a year now. It seemed so unnecessary, but I had to have one. There are so many doughnuts we like, but these from Seattle and these from Memphis (also these!) take up about twenty-five percent of my thoughts on some days. How to procure them and how I can make them myself are the running topics in my brain.

I finally got my pan, and today I made my first batch. It's about as easy as making muffins, but it looks like a bigger deal to end up with real doughnuts in the end. I've seen a lot of apple cider doughnuts lately, so I juiced a bunch of free apples, made my own apple butter, and went to work.

Baked Apple Doughnuts

Quick Apple Butter

1 pink lady apple, peeled and chopped

juice from half a lemon

1/4 cup apple juice or cider

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

pat of butter

Put all of the ingredients in a saucepan on medium-high heat. Stir so that nothing burns and the liquid is dispersed. Let the mixture cool for a bit and then smash it up with a potato masher or blend. Set aside.

Apple Doughnuts

1 tbsp. canola oil

1 cup AP flour

1/4 cup cane sugar

2 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2/3 cup apple cider or juice

1/4 cup apple butter

1 egg, beaten

2 tsp. non-hydrogenated shortening

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and brush the doughnut pan with canola oil. Whisk the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Mix well. Spoon into pan but do not fill to the top. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Maple Glaze

1 tbsp. cream cheese

1 tbsp. maple syrup

2 tsp. milk

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Whisk the 4 ingredients together in a bowl. Dip the doughnuts, once cooled, in the glaze and place them on a baking rack so that glaze sets without pooling.