Am I back?

 

It has been a year since I blogged.  A whole year.  I wasn’t sure I would come back to blogging.  I have still been baking, cooking, creating, loving….but haven’t felt the words to blog.  I was thinking about getting back into it in January, just not sure what would be my back to it post.

Then….came the email.  “Show us what you would make with our Girl Scout cookies”  The calling….yes, I had some great ideas.  And so I said yes,  I would love some cookies to play with, to create with, to BLOG with. 

I ran some great (in my mind) ideas by the husband and boys….and came up with these.

Samoa Baked Doughnuts

Looks good right?!   Good enough for a comeback?  :)

I love how easy baked doughnuts are, no need to mess around with oil and frying.  I love a good fried yeasty doughnut, but there is something about a baked cakey doughnut that just makes me happy.  And we all want to be happy.  These will make you happy.  I promise.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup AP Flour

3 TB Unsweetened Cocoa

1/2 cup Sugar

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Baking Powder

1 TBSP Coconut Extract

1/4 cup Milk

1 Egg

3 TBSP Canola Oil

1/4 cup Hot Water

Preheat your oven to 350 deg.  Gather your ingredients. 

I will tell you all about that Coconut Jam in a bit.  It’s divine. 

Directions:

Mix your dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. 

In a large-ish measuring cup, whisk together the milk, egg, oil and coconut extract.  Pour into the dry ingredients and whisk all together until there are no traces of flour.  Mixture will be thick.  Add 1/4 cup of hot water.  Whisk together slowly as to not splash. 

Pour batter into prepared (spray with baking spray) doughnut pans.  Fill wells about 1/2 way full.  I like to pour my batter into a piping bag and then pipe in the batter….less mess.  Makes approx 9-10 doughnuts depending on your pan size.

 

Wilton makes a great heart doughnut pan….thought that would be fun for Valentine’s Day…aka love day.

Bake the doughnuts for about 9-10 minutes.  Should be springy when touched.   Gently remove from the pan and onto a rack to cool.

While the doughnuts are cooling mix together the following for the chocolate glaze.

1/4 cup Melted Butter  (so worth it.)

1 1/2 cups Powdered/Confectioners Sugar

2 TB Unsweetened Cocoa

2 tsp Coconut Extract

1-2 TB Hot Water

Mix all ingredients together, except the water.  Add water one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. 

Then…..take about 4 tablespoons of the delicious Coconut Jam and put in a microwavable dish.  Microwave the jam for about 15 seconds until slightly melted.   You can find this jam in most Asian markets.  It seriously tastes like a coconut caramel….awfully decadent, and incredibly delicious. Look at it…

Be sure to chop up about 4-5 Girl Scout Samoa cookies too.  And have a few tablespoons of shredded coconut out too.

Time to assemble these doughnuts….

Gently dip the doughnut into the glaze – put back on to the rack so the glaze can do it’s thing and drip down the sides (yum).  Work on two at a time so that the glaze stays wet enough for toppings to stick.  Sprinkle the glaze with a bit of shredded coconut, and chopped Samoa.   Work on two at a time until all have toppings.   Then…..you cannot miss this step….drizzle all the topped doughnuts with the melted Coconut Jam. 

Next…it’s really easy….call down your children, husband, anyone, to enjoy these with you.  They wont be disappointed.

A huge thank you to Girl Scouts of Western Washington for allowing me to participate in their Girl Scout Cookie Contest.

If you need to find out where to get your hands on some Girl Scout cookies to make these….they made this really awesome cookie finder page for you.  Cookie sales are from Feb. 28 – March 16.

You can also find Girl Scouts of Western Washington on Facebook and Twitter.

Hope you get your hands on some Samoas and make these…..seriously.

ps….doughnuts are the new cupcake.