Mini Baked Peppermint Mocha Doughnuts

First I made cheesecake bars, then there were shortbread cookies, and now here I am with another peppermint holiday dessert, this time doughnuts! For those of you who hate peppermint, I promise this is the last one (at least for a little while)!

These go a step further than basic peppermint by adding chocolate and coffee flavours to resemble one of my favourite Starbucks’ holiday drinks, the peppermint mocha. (Although I’ve since discovered white peppermint mocha frappucinos and that is now my new favourite drink – try it!)

Though I don’t often make doughnuts because they’re better eaten fresh and I don’t usually have a big group of people to feed fresh doughnuts to, I do love them because they’re so cute and easy to eat, plus they’re a little better for you than their full-sized, fried counterpart.

These little guys have a coffee chocolate base covered in a peppermint white chocolate glaze with a sprinkle of crushed candy canes on top. They’re so festive looking and reminded me a lot of a peppermint mocha!

These had just the right amount of subtle coffee flavour for me, but you could add more coffee or espresso powder if you want a strong coffee taste. Or you could eliminate it and just go with a chocolate base if you don’t like coffee. Similarly, you could eliminate the peppermint extract from the icing if you’re not into minty things – I know some people who tried these weren’t really a fan and I assume it’s because they either don’t like coffee baked goods or minty baked goods or the combination of the two. If you’re not sure if you do, just leave out the coffee and peppermint and you’ll have a chocolate doughnut with a little crunch of candy cane that will be just as good!

In other news, my holiday preparations are in a lot better shape than the last time I wrote – all but one of my gifts I ordered online have now arrived and I’ve finished my shopping for all but two people. I’m sure people who finished their shopping in November would scoff at that, but it’s pretty good for me! I’m also done with school for the semester (though I’ll still have work to do from home over the holidays) and am looking forward to spending lots of time with my family and boyfriend and doing lots of Christmassy activities over the next week!

Mini Baked Peppermint Mocha Doughnuts

Idea inspired by Starbucks’ peppermint mocha; glaze recipe my own; chocolate doughnut recipe adapted from Buns in My Oven

Makes 24 mini doughnuts

Ingredients:

For the Chocolate Coffee Doughnuts:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon instant coffee

1 large egg

1/2 cup buttermilk (or regular milk with a teaspoon of white vinegar added)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

For the White Chocolate Peppermint Glaze:

1/4 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract - optional for peppermint flavour, but you could leave out and just use the candy canes if you like

1-2 tablespoons milk

Crushed candy canes (about 1/4 cup total)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F.  Lightly spray a mini doughnut pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa, salt, and instant coffee.  In a medium bowl, whisk the egg, then whisk in the buttermilk, vanilla, and vegetable oil.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until just incorporated.  Transfer mixture to a ziplock bag, snip off the corner, and squeeze the batter into the doughnut pan, only filling each mold halfway full (they will puff up when baking).  It's a lot easier to fill the molds by squeezing it out of a bag, trust me.

Bake in preheated oven for 6-8 minutes, until cooked through and the top springs back when touched.  Remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack.

Prepare icing by melting the chocolate chips in a small bowl in the microwave, then stirring in the icing sugar and peppermint extract (if using).  Add 1 tablespoon of milk, stir, and add up to 1 additional tablespoon of milk until desired consistency is reached (I used the full 2 tablespoons, which makes a thin glaze).

Once doughnuts have cooled, dip the top of each doughnut in the icing, then set back on the wire rack, which should be placed over a baking sheet or sheet or parchment paper to catch drippings.  I like to coat each doughnut twice to ensure there is enough glaze.  Only coat a few doughnuts at a time the second time, then sprinkle crushed candy cane over the top while the icing is still wet so it sticks.

These are best served immediately and eaten on the same day, but note that after about half a day, the candy canes may start to melt into the icing.

Coconut Lime Berry Cake with Lime Whipped Cream

The other week we had a family gathering for my Grandma’s birthday and I volunteered to be in charge of dessert. Usually, choosing a dessert for a celebration like this takes me forever because I have to go through my hundreds of bookmarked recipes to decide what would be most appropriate for the occasion, what I would have time to make, what would be the least expensive, and what would appeal to the most people. But this time I had to make my decision pretty quickly as it was already noon and the celebration was that night. Fortunately, I had been eyeing this coconut lime berry cake on Two Peas and Their Pod for a while, just waiting for the chance to make it, so it immediately sprang to mind and I got started right away!

It turned out I made the perfect choice! The cake was so moist and flavorful, but also tasted so light, which was exactly what everyone wanted after eating a big meal. The three flavours (coconut, lime, berries) worked so well together and matched the season perfectly. I thought the fresh berries stood out the most while I was eating it, but others said they mainly tasted the coconut and lime, and Ryan said he tasted all three in different stages. I decided to whip up a lime whipped cream I’d seen on How Sweet It Is, and it was the perfect addition to the cake to make it worthy of a celebration, but I also think the cake would have been delicious on its own.

I will definitely be keeping this recipe in the back of my mind for the next time I need an easy and crowd-pleasing summer dessert!

Coconut Lime Berry Cake with Lime Whipped Cream

Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod, originally from Everyday Food, May 2011

Makes one 9 x 13 cake, about 12 servings

Ingredients

For the cake:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ¾ cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup packed sweetened shredded coconut
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk (or mix ¾ cup milk + ¾ tablespoon lime juice if you don't have buttermilk)
2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 cups mixed berries, such as raspberries and blueberries
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice

For the whipped cream:

1 cup cold whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 tablespoon lime zest

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9-by-13-inch baking dish (I just lined mine with parchment paper).

In a large bowl, whisk together 1 3/4 cups flour with the baking powder, salt, and coconut.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and 1 cup sugar on high, scraping down bowl as needed, until light and fluffy, for about 4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined. Add vanilla and mix until combined. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions of the buttermilk, and beat until combined. Stir in lime zest and juice. Pour batter into dish and smooth the top with a small rubber spatula.

In a medium bowl, toss berries with 1 tablespoon flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, and the fresh orange juice. Scatter berry mixture over the batter.

Bake until cake is golden at edges and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes before slicing.

While cake is baking, make the lime whipped cream. Chill the bowl of an electric mixer before using. Once bowl is chilled, add cream, vanilla, and sugar. Beat on high until cream stiffens, about 5-6 minutes. Gently fold in lime zest. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve cake warm or at room temperature, with lime whipped cream dolloped on top of each slice.

Peach Blueberry Pancakes with Warm Cinnamon Peach Sauce

After enjoying peaches for dinner and then dessert, there was no way I could leave out what is probably my favourite meal of the day – breakfast! I’ve tried an awful lot of different pancake recipes in the short time that I’ve been cooking, from basic blueberry or chocolate chip pancakes to somewhat fancier kinds like lemon poppyseed and carrot cake. But for some reason, I had never thought to try putting peaches in a pancake. I have no idea why, because these pancakes turned out to be one of the best kinds I’ve ever tried!

The original recipe for peach pancakes that inspired me looked absolutely amazing, but I had a bunch of blueberries to use up from the chicken salad with peaches and blueberries I had made earlier, so I decided to throw them into the pancakes too because blueberries pair so well with peaches. I also love adding fruit sauces to pancakes so I made a quick peach sauce by simmering some diced peaches with a bit of sugar, water, and cinnamon.

It was absolute torture trying to quickly photograph these before eating them because they smelled so good and Ryan was already eating his and calling out to me how good they were, so when I finally got to eat mine I devoured them in seconds! The sweet bursts of flavour from the peaches and blueberries really paired well with the warmth of the cinnamon and spices in both the sauce and pancakes. These were a little more labour intensive than most pancake recipes, mostly because I'm ridiculously slow at peeling peaches, but the end result was definitely worth it!

You could try serving these with a blueberry sauce instead of peach sauce if you want blueberry to be the predominant flavour, or leave off the sauce and simply top them with some fresh fruit or a light dusting of powdered sugar. I also think these would be delicious with raspberries in place of the blueberries, or you could leave out the extra berries and just let the peaches shine all on their own. Any way you choose to serve these, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!

Peach Blueberry Pancakes with Cinnamon Peach Sauce

Adapted from Like Mother Like Daughters

Serves 4 (about 12 pancakes)

Ingredients:

Sauce:

1 cup diced peeled peaches

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup water

Pancakes:

1 egg

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

2 tablespoons oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup diced peeled peaches

1/2 cup blueberries, plus more for serving

Directions:

To make the sauce, add the diced peaches, cinnamon, sugar, and water to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer while pancakes are cooking. Stir occasionally, mashing peaches if smoother sauce is desired. If sauce gets too thick, add a bit more water.

To make the pancakes, mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg) together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, blend the egg, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir just until combined. Gently fold in peaches and let sit 5 minutes. Batter will be lumpy.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and grease lightly. Drop batter by the 1/4 cup full onto the skillet. Immediately sprinkle blueberries evenly over pancake. (You could add the blueberries directly to the batter with the peaches but it will be harder to ensure they’re evenly spread, so I preferred adding them after). Flip pancakes once pancakes puff and bubbles have formed, but before bubbles break. Turn and brown on the other side, pressing down gently to make sure batter cooks evenly around the fruit.

Serve immediately with the peach sauce poured over top each stack of pancakes, and sprinkle with additional blueberries. Serve with maple syrup, if desired.