Drizzle and Dip

The richness of the chocolate milk stout works perfectly with these baked chocolate doughnuts, adding depth without overpowering. They are a delicious alternative to fried doughnuts and are very easy to whip up. The chocolate glaze finishes these off deliciously.

Ok so I know that baking a doughnut is kind of cheating and I resisted for a while, but then I spotted one of the pans and thought why the hell not? I mean the calorie saving plus the mess-chaos avoidance after deep-frying is enough of a reason to get me on board. I love cooking and baking with milk stout, especially the Castle Milk Stout Chocolate, so this was a perfect fit. They are so super easy and very quick to bake.

Since it’s Valentine’s day next week and the only suitable sprinkles I had for these chocolate doughnuts were red hearts, I sort of had to use them. Normally I don’t pay much attention to the 14th of February. It feels so contrived and a big money-making machine, but if you make a fuss on this day, I’m sure anyone you love will love these. Also Chocolate!

Baking for only 12 minutes, they are best eaten within a day or two.

Recipe – makes 22 – 24 baked doughnuts

Ingredients

Doughnuts

2 cups flour
½ cup cocoa powder unsweetened
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking soda
¾ cup brown sugar
1 large free-range egg at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup Castle Milk Stout Chocolate
½ cup buttermilk
60 gms / ¼ cup / 4 Tbsp softened butter

glaze

1 ½ cups icing sugar sifted if there are lumps
½ cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 - 6 Tbsp milk
Sprinkles to decorate

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 160C / 325 F
Using an electric mixer, combine the flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, and brown sugar in a bowl. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and butter on a low speed until well combined. Add the beer and briefly mix until it’s incorporated. Do not overwork the batter.
Spray a doughnut pan with cooking spray and scoop the batter into a pastry bag fitted with a wide round tip. Pipe this into the doughnut pan filling it about ¾ of the way up.
Bake for around 12 minutes until firm to the touch and when a skewer is inserted it comes out clean. Cool in the pan slightly and then transfer to a cooling rack.
Repeat with the second batch of batter as this recipe makes between 22 – 24 doughnuts.
Ps: if you only have one pan, washing it between bakes cools it down.
To make the glaze mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until well combined. Dip the doughnuts in the glaze scraping off any excess. Allow them to drip on a wire baking rack with a tray underneath to catch any excess. Decorate with your sprinkles right away and then allow the glaze to harden slightly.
*tip: to give the glaze a richer stout flavour, substitute 1 – 2 Tbsp of the milk for Castle Chocolate Milk Stout