I do not recall exactly when my love affair with donuts began. All I know is I love donuts in nearly every form. I love the fraternal twins of the donut world – the classic sugared and the traditional glazed. I love plump round donuts that hold delightful little bites of custard or jelly. I love oblong donuts filled with veins of pastry cream.
I love the beauties coated in frosting and their cousins adorned with sprinkles. I love the heart-shaped ones that show up around valentine’s day. I love the red, white and blue sprinkled ones at 4th of July as much as I love the orange and black sprinkled ones at Halloween. I love them all. Well, except for the plain ones. I’m with this girl when it comes to plain donuts.
There was once a box of donuts in the office, and I overheard someone remark, “LeAndra will want the sprinkled one.” What? How could my co-workers see past my “I’m sick of ego-driven nonsense, let’s just get this sh!t done” attitude and into my fun, loving, sprinkle-adoring soul? I guess donuts bring out the best in us all.
And about donuts in the office, I think this pretty much sums it up: “Mr. Scorpio says productivity is up two percent, and it’s all because of my motivational techniques, like donuts and the possibility of more donuts to come.” –Homer Simpson
Despite my love for them, I eat a donut maybe once or twice a month. I am rapidly aging, and my metabolism simply can not keep up with a donut-based diet. Unlike donuts, I begin most every morning with a cup of coffee. So when I came across a cookie recipe that combined the two, I was sold.
The recipe was a bit vague, as well as a bit large with an original yield of 100 cookies! It did not clarify if cake donuts or fried donuts would make a better cookie. I opted for fried because, like plain donuts, I do not like cake donuts all that much. As for the yield, I halved the ingredients with the exception of the eggs and the vanilla.
I was not sure how to best halve an egg, so I used two instead of the three called for in the original. In regards to the vanilla, I once read doubling the vanilla in a recipe often improves its taste. I cannot vouch for the scientific accuracy behind that idea, but I like vanilla so I rarely halve it when messing around with measurements.
The recipe calls for espresso powder for the coffee flavor. I happen to be partial to Savory Spice Shop’s Baker’s Brew Coffee Spice. It combines coffee with cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, mace and ginger. I am beginning to love that spice mixture as much as I love donuts.
As I draw this segment to a close, I think it is important to note I am not alone in my love for donuts. June 1 is National Donut Day. We spell their name not one, but two, ways: do you like donuts or doughnuts? In fact, we think they are so special that we keep them behind glass cases. You know what else we keep behind glass cases? Diamonds! And the delicious flavor of donuts can be enjoyed in both vodka and beer (though preferably not at the same time).
In the event you are adamantly opposed to eating donuts for health reasons, take into account the advice of Lewis Black: “If you stop eating donuts, you will live three years longer. It’s just 3 more years that you want a donut.” If you are still opposed, you can paint donut sprinkles on your nails for what it likely the only healthy donut fix.
I thought few things could go together as well as coffee and donuts. Then I baked them in a cookie. Enjoy!
- For the Cookies
- 2¼ cups all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1½ sticks butter
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1¼ cups packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso power or coffee spice
- 2 eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2½ tablespoons corn syrup
- 6 ounces donuts or donut holes, cut into small pieces
- For the Glaze
- 1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
- ¼ cup strongly brewed coffee
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
- Cream together the butter, the sugars and the espresso powder or coffee spice until light and fluffy.
- In a small bowl, lightly beat together the eggs and the vanilla extract. Slowly add this mixture to the creamed butter and sugar mixture.
- Add the corn syrup to the mixing bowl.
- Slowly add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
- Use a large spoon or spatula to gently fold in the pieces of donut.
- Place the cookies by rounded tablespoons onto parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-12 minutes or until lightly browned.
- When cool, glaze with a mixture of confectioners’ sugar and strongly brewed coffee. Sift the confectioners’ sugar in a bowl to remove lumps, then stir in the coffee. Pour a spoonful of glaze over each cookie.
Oooooh, I’ve never seen that spice at Savory! I’ll have to check it out…I do have a $5 credit to burn
Doughnuts IN cookies? I’m not sure I should even mention this to my sweets & doughnut loving husband…
Every time I go in there I walk out with something I’d never heard of prior to visiting! I love how you can buy spices in different volumes too. The Bakers Brew and the Honey Powder are my favorite sweet spices so far.
BTW…I love your site’s new look!
Thank you! I think seeing your site’s new look motivated me to finally pull the trigger on a new look here. I never liked the pink all that much.
These sound delicious!