Almond and coconut baked doughnuts
A healthier baked doughnut that features whole grains, lower sugar, and my favorite flavor combination: Almond and coconut. YES, PLEASE.
I have bad news and good news: I was diagnosed last week with gestational diabetes. Luckily, I’m in my third trimester and don’t have much longer to go, so what’s a few weeks of monitoring my blood sugar and trying to eat really healthy foods?
I did eat half of one of these doughnuts and it didn’t send my blood sugar soaring (thanks whole grains, coconut sugar, and healthy fats!), so that was another piece of good news. Obviously, if you have diabetes of any kind, you know what works best for your body or are working with your doctor to figure that out, so not everyone will be able to say the same. But I was glad to know that at lease some treats aren’t off the table.
What has made this so hard isn’t the dietary restrictions or even the blood sugar monitoring.
What’s hardest is the added layer of scrutiny over my body when pregnancy already casts a harsh, glaring spotlight. Every routine thing you eat, drink, use on your skin, or take for a headache feels so consequential. And anyone who’s had disordered eating in the past can tell you that it takes a lot of work to STOP feeling like these minor choices are so meaningful.
Ugh. It just feel like I’ve lost myself a little more with this diagnosis. I resigned myself 8 months ago to making all of the changes you have to make when pregnant for the greater, temporary good and I wish it didn’t feel like ever day meant cutting out one more thing that brings me joy.
And now i’ll stop complaining. There are real problems in the world.
But! Lack of a delicious, healthier doughnut option doesn’t have to be one of them!
A couple of notes:
We’re aiming for a batter that is thicker than pancake batter, but thinner than cookie dough. Depending on how much liquid you get from your banana and egg, you may want to add more flour. Start with an extra Tbsp and keep adding until you’re happy with the density.
These doughnuts are okay without the topping, but the extra sugar, almonds, and coconut really take them to a new place. I really don’t recommend skipping them.
The brown sugar and coconut oil topping makes a pretty dense mixture and a lot of the topping will fall off. BUT, it’s delicious. If you’d like something a bit smoother and more glaze-like, you can swap in 6 Tbsp powdered sugar, enough water to make a thin glaze (start with ½ tsp and add slowly), and a few drops of almond extract.
Almond coconut doughnuts
Yield: 10-12 doughnuts
Time: about 35 minutes, mostly active
½ large, very ripe banana, thoroughly smooshed
½ cup milk (any type will do!)
3 Tbsp full-fat yogurt (Greek or otherwise)
1 large egg
¾ cup coconut sugar
½ tsp almond extract
3 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
1¼ + 1/4 (if needed) cups Whole Wheat pastry flour (regular whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour work too, but the texture is slightly denser)
1¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp cardamom
Topping:
3 Tbsp coconut oil
3 Tbsp brown sugar
½ cup toasted coconut slivers
½ cup toasted almond slivers
½ tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375.
Grease your doughnuts pans with coconut or other neural oil and set aside
In a large bowl, smush the banana as much as possible. Add the rest of the wet ingredients except the coconut oil and whisk together.
Add 1¼ cups flour, baking powder, salt, shredded coconut, cinnamon, and cardamom. Mix well.
Add the coconut oil and mix well. If the mixture is too runny (if it looks like pancake batter), add the remaining ¼ cup of flour 1 Tbsp at a time and mix again.
Fill each doughnut tin about 2/3 full.
Cook both pans (if using 2 doughnut pans) in the same oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the doughnuts just spring back when poked lightly with a finger. Rotate and pans after 5 minutes to ensure even baking.
Let cool.
In a separate small bowl, combine the coconut oil (that should still be rather liquid) with the brown sugar and cinnamon and mix. If the mixture seems too liquid and not spreadable, chill it in the refrigerator until slightly more set.
On a baking sheet, combine the coconut flakes and the sliced almonds and let brown in the cooling oven, abut 6 minutes or until you begin to smell the nuts.
Spread a small amount of the sugar and coconut oil mixture on each doughnut and sprinkle the toasted nuts and coconut over the top, pressing lightly to get them to stick.
Coconut and cardamom alfajores
You may think you don’t need another holiday cookie recipe, but these are subtly spiced, barely sweet, and super easy. Win, win, win!
First of all, who’s had Alfajores before? If not, get thee to an Argentinian bakery because they. are. delicious. This South American staple uses dulce de leche in between two soft, cakey, vanilla cookies and is then rolled in shredded coconut.
In the US version, we often swap the softer cookie for a crispier vanilla shortbread, which I prefer. Also, I decided to skip the shredded coconut on the outside and opt for a coconut-flavored shortbread because, while I love the taste of coconut, I don’t always love its texture.
I started with this Coconut Shortbread recipe from Food52, but simplified the method, dialed down the sugar, swapped two egg yolks for one whole egg, and added a tiny bit of cardamom for a warmer, spicier flavor that felt right for the holidays.
You know what else feels right for the holidays? Shortcuts. In this version of the recipe, we use only one bowl and mix up cold fats with the rest of the ingredients in a food processor instead of a mixer.
AND, this part might seem like sacrilege to some, but I used jarred dulce de leche. I know, I know. Bad food blogger, bad! I like this one the most and found it at World Market, but you can also find it online. If you feel like making your own, here are some options:
Smitten Kitchen’s stovetop dulce de leche
Displaced Housewife’s olive oil dulce de leche
Live Well Bake Often’s oven-baked dulce de leche
The Spruce Eats boiled condensed milk dulce de leche
Here we go!
Coconut and cardamom alfajores
Yield: 24 cutout cookies; 12 sandwiches
Time: 90 minutes (about 30 active)
½ cup (1 stick) butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
6 Tbsp coconut oil (solid)
½ cup cane sugar (can substitute granulated sugar if necessary)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup coconut flour
1/4 tsp cardamom
¼ tsp sea salt
1 15-oz jar of dulce de leche
Cube the butter and add it to a food processor. Add the coconut oil (making sure it’s solid). Run the food processor until the butter and coconut oil have combined and are smooth, about 30 seconds. You may have to scrape down the sides.
Add the sugar, vanilla extract, and egg. Run the machine until the ingredients are well combined. Again, you may have to scrape down the sides.
Add the dry ingredients and pulse just until the dough comes together. I often need to scrape the sides once. The end result of the dough should be a crumbly wet dough that’s in large and small sandy chunks that come together easily when pressed. The dough should be wetter than a pie dough, but slightly more crumbly than your typical sugar cookie dough.
Divide the dough roughly in half and place one dough chunk on a sheet of parchment paper. Using the paper or your hands to form a ball. Place another piece of parchment on top of the dough ball and roll out to a ¼-inch thick disk. Repeat with the other half of the dough. Chill both dough disks in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
When the dough has chilled for about 25 minutes, preheat the oven to 325.
Working one disk at a time, remove the top parchment sheet from each half and use it to line a cookie sheet. Cut out as many shapes as possible and gently transfer them. Re-roll the dough to cut out more shapes. For the cookies that will be the base of each sandwich, score gently with a fork. For the top cookie, cut out any shape you like from the middle.
Bake the cutout cookies for 14-17 minutes, turning once during baking to ensure even cooking. The cookies are done when they just begin to brown. Let cool.
When the cookies are cool, top each bottom portion with 2-3 Tbsp of dulce de leche and top with a cutout cookie.
Cherry rye muffins
Cherry rye muffins are just healthy enough to feel virtuous without sacrificing flavor or texture. I promise these are worth heating up your kitchen for!
It’s been a minute since I posted something to the blog here and I have no excuse except that… I hate July. Don’t get me wrong, there is A LOT to love about summer. Produce, herbs, ice cream, pick-your-own blueberries, swimming, beach days, later nights, more sunlight, BBQs, a slower pace, vacations, etc. But the bugs and sweat and general malaise that overtakes me when that weighted blanket of humidity settles over the northeast, make it nearly impossible for me to stay productive.
However! I’ve soldiered on behind the scenes and heated my kitchen countless times to get these muffins exactly right.
The rye flour, to me, is just enough to taste the nutty flavor without changing the texture or inhibiting the rise on these muffins.
I also added just enough baking powder and soda to get a good amount of leavening without leaving a weird bitter aftertaste from too much rising agent. A note about rising agents: I’ve been adding the rising agent at the end and letting the batter bubble slightly after learning this technique from the America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook. Does it make a huge difference in these muffins? I’m not sure. But it certainly doesn’t hurt.
I’ve also combined fresh, sweet cherries for moisture and seasonality, but added some unsweetened and unsulfured dried cherries for a concentrated cherry flavor. I haven’t tried omitting either from the batter, but in the coming months, I’m sure frozen cherries could be subbed for the fresh.
How to check fruit desserts for doneness: This can be tricky! When there’s a lot of fruit in a batter, checking with a toothpick or cake tester can be misleading because if you stick it into a piece of fruit, the tester may come out looking wet. Instead, I like to push on the tops of the muffins a bit and feel how firm they are. If the top springs back and maintains its shape after gently squished and the body of the muffin feels lightly firm (like a medium rare steak; you don’t want a hocky puck with no give, but you also don’t want to feel at risk of sticking your finger through the muffin), they’re done.
Also, let the muffins cool completely. Like, really let them cool. I’m the queen of eating muffins too soon and I end up losing half of the crust when it sticks to the baking paper and the muffin can be crumbly when still warm. But if you must, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Cherry rye muffins
Active time: 20-25 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 40-45 minutes
Yield: 12 muffins
3 Tbsp butter, softened to room temperature for about 1 hour
¾ cup coconut sugar
2 eggs
¾ cup full fat plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1½ cups AP flour
½ cup rye flour
2 Tbsp flax seed meal
¼ tsp salt
1 cup whole cherries, roughly chopped
¼ cup dried, unsweetened cherries, minced
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
Streusel topping
2 Tbsp butter, softened to room temperature for about hour
½ cup oats
1/8 tsp salt
¼ cup packed brown sugar
Preheat the oven to 400.
In a large bowl, mix together the softened butter (no need to use a hand mixer, just elbow grease and a wooden or silicone spatula) and the coconut sugar.
Add the eggs and mix until fully combined.
Add the yogurt and vanilla extract and mix again until fully combined.
Add the flours, flax seeds, and salt to the wet mixture and mix until no streaks of flour remain.
Add the fresh and dried cherries and mix in 10 times.
Finally, add the baking powder and baking soda and mix just until combined. Let sit while you make the streusel topping.
In a small bowl, mix together the butter, oats, salt, and brown sugar until well combined. I like to use my hands for this.
In a greased or baking cup-lined muffin tin, fill each opening to the top with batter. Top with about 1 heaping tsp of the streusel mixture (I usually eyeball this bit and try my best to make the topping equal).
Bake at 400 for 16-20 minutes or until the muffins are lightly firm to the touch and golden brown on top.