Chocolate Mini's

The name needs some work, but it's basically a donut recipe made into mini cupcakes. This is not your typical donut-like cake. What makes a donut a donut (I asked myself)? It's sweetened flour dough that is usually deep-fried (an Internet search responds). Then the only thing donutty about these is the sweetened part, and barely that since they aren't sickeningly, overly sweet like typical donuts.

This really was a trial run. I didn't want to invest in another specialty pan if this wasn't going to work out. (And, do I really want to get into making donuts ... even if they're a healthier, baked kind?) I waited to see what the dough consistency was like before choosing a pan to use. I was hoping to go the donut-hole route, dropping balls of dough on a sheet pan. But the dough wasn't stiff enough to hold the ball shape. So, the mini-muffin pan was the next choice.

These turned out better than I expected, and definitely worth another go, or two or three. There may be a donut pan in my future.

A gooey, chocolaty batter:

The usual small-batch (16 mini-muffin cups worth):



After cooling off, the minis get dipped in a little chocolate for a shiny finish:



The recipe used here was adapted from the Chocolate Cake Donut recipe in Erin McKenna's Babycakes Covers the Classics. I substituted spelt flour for the original recipe's rice flour and garbanzo & fava bean flour. And, as I usually do (especially when experimenting), I halved the normal amounts to make a small batch (hence the odd measurements).

Chocolate Cake Donut
(adapted from Erin McKenna's Babycakes Covers the Classics)

1/4 cup + 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp spelt flour
1/2 cup + 1/6 cup natural cane sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp + 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/16 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/6 cup extra virgin coconut oil, melted
2 tbsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Oil a mini-muffin pan with coconut oil.

Mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the applesauce, coconut oil, and vanilla and stir just until combined. Divide the mixture into the oiled pan (about a heaping tablespoon per cup, for a total of 16 cups).

Bake for about 15-16 minutes, rotating the pan at the half-way point. Let cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then move to a sheet pan to prepare for topping.


Chocolate Glaze

Break up or chop about 2-3 ounces of a dark chocolate bar and melt in microwave oven: first, microwave for about 30-40 seconds, then let rest for about 4 minutes, then microwave again for another 20-30 seconds. Stir, and add about 1/2 tbsp - 1 tbsp unsalted butter (or other desired amount, OR use coconut oil) and stir to melt and combine completely. Stir in a pinch of salt.

Dip the tops of the minis into the chocolate.

Note: Some of my minis had deflated centers, so I spooned some extra chocolate onto the tops.