Baked Lemon Honey Donuts: the recipe

Ya know, us southerners really have a lot going for us. Hashtag proud. 

Near the top of that list is being the birthplace of sweet sweet Krispy Kreme donuts. When the city glows with red indications of hot & fresh rings of love ready for consumption my heart skips a beat {and my car pulls in to the drive-thru...} My love for donuts grew on me early and was quite possibly the #1 reason I attended Sunday School. 

My oh-so-trendy mother encouraged me to try making my own version using a donut pan. What? No deep fryer? Sad face. 

Hot fatty oil aside, I acquiesced. 

Duh.

{Baked Lemon Honey Donuts recipe after the jump}

Baked Lemon Honey Donuts

recipe

Glazed in sugar heaven and drizzled in sweet honey. 

I was bound and determined to bake this sweet treat without a trip to the grocery store. However 99.9% of the recipes found on the interwebs called for ingredients that my regular ole pantry did not have. Things like...chocolate, organic confusing word things, coconut, berries, fancy flour....ya know specialty healthy items and flavoring agents. 

I can live without the specialty healthy items but what to do about flavor?! ...well...

My favorite sweet flavor -that I without a doubt have on hand always and forever- is honey. Perfect for tea, fish and making the medicine go down. 

Another buddy is the lemon. Cheap as can be, beautifully yellow and always hanging out on my counter. 

So...let's flavor some donuts with those ingredients? Yeah...that sounds good! 

The cast of characters....

{Ingredients}

2 large eggs, beaten

1/4 cup lemon-honey mixture {tell ya later}

2 T sugar

2/3 cup milk

1 1/3 cup flour {all purpose, really...it's all I have}

2 t baking powder

3 T butter, melted + cooled

 hello 3 bowls of tasty. {oh maybe not the raw eggs...?}

1. Melt your butter first so that it has time to cool

2. Squeeze half a fresh lemon into approximately 4 tablespoons of honey and stir to combine {Add hot water and bourbon and your sore throat is gone!}

Hey batter batter. 

3. Whisk together your eggs, honey-lemon mixture, sugar and milk

4. Add in flour and baking powder

5. Stir in your cooled + melted butter

Don't taste the batter, Mom will get mad. 

Check out this handy baking pan! People be thinking of everything these days! ;)

6. Fill each donut well a little more than halfway

7. Slide into your 350 degree oven for 20 minutes

Oooooh these are cute! And they smell pretty! Hashtag proud. 

8. Let cool completely on a bakers rack {can you believe I have one of those?! perks of getting hitched}

Frost yourselves.  {How to Lose a Guy reference- anyone? anyone?}

A 30 second 'put-it-in-the-google' led me to believe that powdered sugar was my means to a glaze. 

powdered sugar + dash of vanilla extract + double dash of lemon juice + lil bit of warm water

whisk whisk whisk & dip {that could be a dance}

tasty glaze!

hi pretties! 

These homemade donuts are actually really very tasty! They aren't cakey or dense, but instead light and fluffy. The level of sweetness is perfect and not overpowering one bit. I love how the tang of lemon keeps the flavor fresh and bright. 

And that glaze! Girl, that is one last minute decision that really worked for me {things no one says}. It makes the donuts so pretty and shiny, better yet it deepens the flavor and brings the ooey-gooey component to this homemade treat. 

So, I say you should give these babies a try. If I can bake it... you can bake it!