baked s'mores donuts.

two worlds of my favorite things collide with this here treat i've concocted -

S'MORES & DONUTS.

juuuust fuhgeddaboudiitttttttt!!!!!! 

i'm quite shocked that i haven't made any sort of marshmallowy chocolatey recipes for the blog yet. i freaking LuuUuuRRrrrVvVe all things marshmallow + chocolate. 

so naturally, s'mores have been one of my favorite things since the beginning of time. if you know me, you know.

gimme all the chocolate mallow-filled santas and easter bunnies and pumpkins and all those individually wrapped bundles of fluffy, chewy, mallowy goodness. those things are great..just great.

i was SO pleased that this recipe turned out so well, because the last time i came up with a baked donut recipe it flopped SO badly. it pretty much turned out like a bunch o gross bagels that i couldn't even pass off as bagels if i tried. 

so hoorayyyy for successful recipes! especially when such recipes involve magical ingredients like homemade maaaaarshmallllloooow fluffers and chocolatey cake donuts. 

boil that suga! ^^^ this is what your sugar, water, and light corn syrup will look like when its ready to add to the egg white fluff. hot, sweet candy!

you don't actually need the regular marshmallows...i just put those in the photos for funzies. because marshmallows are cute little fat plumps of sweet, sweet joy.

mmm mmm mmm fresh baked chocolate do-dos. i used coconut oil instead of butter and i think that reeeally took everything to the next level. just that slight hint of coconut in an extra chocolatey donut is so delightful to me. i added a bit of graham crumbs to the batter, too. i thought it added a nice extra bit of texture.

these s'mores donuts are peter-approved! he is hard to please with sweet treats, but he tasted one when it was freshly frosted and said it was reeeeeeeeally good. yessssssss alleluia!! that is like the ultimate win for me.

Baked S'mores Doughnuts

Makes 6 baked doughnuts (this is the pan I use)

Time: 45 minutes

Marshmallow Fluff Frosting (recipe makes a LOT o' mallow - store in airtight container in the fridge)

  • 3 egg whites
  • 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
  • 3/4 cup light corn syrup
  • 2/3 cup white sugar
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • pinch of salt

In the bowl of your stand mixer (using the whisk attachment), whisk together the egg whites and cream of tartar for one minute until fluffy. In a medium sized sauce pan, heat the sugar, water, and corn syrup on medium heat. Whisk frequently until combination thickens and bubbles. Heat until about 235 degrees F on a candy thermometer.

If you do not have a candy thermometer, you can tell when the mixture is hot enough when it feels thick when stirred, the white sugar is completely dissolved, big clear bubbles form (see photo above), and a thin thread of sugar will form off the tip of a spoon when scooped and slowly drizzled downward back into the pan. (I tried to take a photo of this technique - too hard to deal with the camera and boiling sugar with a ticking time bomb of borderline hard candy)

Pour the hot sugar liquid into the egg white mixture in the mixing bowl. Add the vanilla and salt and whisk on medium/high for about 5 minutes, until stiff marshmallowy peaks form (see photo above). 

Scoop the marshmallow fluff into a container and place in the fridge.

Chocolate Doughnuts (this recipe makes only 6 baked donuts - double the recipe to match the amount of marshmallow fluff)

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup cake flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup fine graham cracker crumbs
  • 1/3 cup buttermilk
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 TB. cocoa powder
  • (1) 1.5 oz. Hershey's milk chocolate bar
  • 4-6 honey graham crackers

Grease the donut baking pan(s) and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small food processor or blender, grind up 3 graham crackers until a fine crumbly powder forms. Set aside 1/4 cup of the crumbs.

In a small sauce pan (or in the microwave), melt 1 Hershey bar with 1/4 cup coconut oil.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the egg and brown sugar with a whisk. Add the melted Hershey and coconut oil mixture and stir it all together.

In a separate mixing bowl, combine flours, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder, and graham crumbs and stir with a spoon. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring in between additions. Lastly, add vanilla and buttermilk and gently fold the mixture together until everything is combined and a thick wet batter is formed.

Add spoonfuls of batter into the donut pan until 3/4 full. To keep the donut pan extra clean, place all batter in a freezer bag and cut one of the corners off to squeeze the batter easily into the donut forms.

Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately turn over onto cooling rack. Cool completely.

Give the cold marshmallow fluff a stir, and use the back of a spoon to frost the donuts. Sprinkle the fine graham cracker crumbs all over the marshmallow fluff. Top with roughly chopped bits of Hershey bar and graham cracker.

ENJOY! S'MORES FOREVAAAA.

WELCOME SUMMER!

 

qp

whitney's salad.

my good friend whitney makes this amazing salad.

i try to recreate it sometimes, but its just not the same :)  a few weekends ago, i made "whitney's salad" for lunch and snapped a few pics to share its deliciousness with the internet world. hope this isn't a secret family recipe or anything.......

i wanted to call this "the whitney," but that sounds more like a sandwich..? so "whitney's salad" it is.

so many different textures and good flavors combined. nom nom nom.

this salad is just so satisfying and scrumptious!!!! whitney is an awesome chick who i used to work with and then lived with for a few years and we went to nyc together last fall. she's da queen of making super quick dinners that always looked really yummy to me. and she'd often make a similar salad to this one. with perhaps a glass of red wine and some loud dixie chicks/classic hits on the side.

hi whit! great salad making skills you've got!

this is just my interpretation of the whitney salad that i'd see and eat sometimes, but i think the main differences are that:

she would use butter lettuce,

probably no tomato because i don't think she fancies them much, 

no avocado? but she likes those. i also think that avo texture rounds out this salad perfectly.

the key whitney-style ingredients are: the banzo beans, salami, peperoncinis, and TJ's fat free balsamic dressing. she introduced me to that dressing and its quite amazing. she always puts the absolute perfect amount on salads, too...how you do dat whit?

Whitney's Salad

Serves 2 // Serve immediately

Time: 10-15 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups fresh spinach, washed and chopped
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
  • 1/2 cup cubed salami
  • 3/4 cup garbanzo beans, rinsed
  • 1/4 cup diced peperoncini (i use this kind)
  • 2 tsp. peperoncini juice
  • 1/4 of a green bell pepper, sliced
  • 1/2 a tomato, diced
  • 1/2 an avocado, sliced
  • 1/4 cup Trader Joe's fat-free Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
  • salt & black pepper, to taste

Instructions-

Chop and slice all veggies and ingredients as listed above and place in a large bowl. Add peperoncini juice and the balsamic dressing and toss to coat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

thanks for the awesome salad inspiration & friendship, whitdawg! love.

 

 

qp