Baked cinnamon sugar doughnuts

Hello again! It's been a while, hasn't it? It's the same deal as before: my studies have picked up pace, leaving little to no time for leisure. Which simply means that I make time for it anyway, at the expense of not immersing myself completely in the academia. It does bring up feelings of guilt, but I think I'm getting by well enough, and anyway, it takes only a baked cinnamon sugar doughnut or two to make the uneasiness go away.

Gosh, it almost sounds like a case of substance abuse. Well, you know what they say about sugar addiction - it's a real phenomenon! Don't be fooled by the fact that these are "baked"; just because there wasn't any deep-frying involved does not make these a health food xD No, these are simply doughnut-shaped mini cakes, dusted all over with a layer of crunchy, cinnamon sugar. Sounds good, right?

These cuties measure around 2 inches in diameter each, meaning that even if you were to scoff three or four at once *raises hand in shame*, you'd only look like a mini 'nutter instead of a regular-sized one. Hoho, you like or doughnut like my joke? Okay, okay, I'll stop. You'll need a special baking tin for these; I purchased mine from Victoria's Basement. The tin's not much good for anything else, but I reckon if you rock up to a party with two dozens of these, you'll earn yourself a hole heap of praise so it's worth it. 'Hole', geddit? Doh!

Recipe for Baked Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts

Makes 22-24 mini doughnuts


Ingredients

For the batter:
1 1/4 cups cake flour (regular plain flour is okay)
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 1/2 tablespoon melted butter

For the cinnamon sugar coating:
Around 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 220 degrees Celsius (or 425 degrees Fahrenheit).
2. Grease your specialty mini doughnut pan with oil or butter.
3. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt.
4. In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, buttermilk and eggs, and beat well.
5. Combine dry and wet ingredients, and mix gently until just incorporated. Do not over-mix.
6. Fill each doughnut mold only half full.
7. Bake for 4-6 minutes, or until doughnut is springy to the touch.
8. Trying not to burn your fingers, pry doughnuts out of the molds while they are still relatively hot, and roll them around in the cinnamon sugar coating mixture. The coating will only stick while doughnuts are hot. If you find that it's not sticking, brush some melted butter onto the surface of the doughnut before dredging it in the sugar.