Lemon Donuts with Lemon Glaze

Springtime and lemons just seem to go together.  I picked up a lovely lemon at the store, knowing I wanted to do something lemony, but not knowing what.  I thought about a pound cake, then remembered the donut pans.  Ah, ha!  Lemon Donuts!

Oh yum, did these ever hit the spot!  And how can you go wrong serving them on my new lemon plates.  Perfect aren’t they?

Gathering the ingredients, I came across the vanilla beans. The thought came that these might do wonderfully in a delicate batter with just lemon zest, so I tried that.

So here is how to make them yourself.  Spray two donut pans with non-stick spray and set aside.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine first five dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean.

Add to dry ingredients.

Zest the lemon.

Chop finely and add to dry ingredients.

Add the eggs to the oil and slightly beat.  If you don’t have a vanilla bean, add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the eggs/oil.

Add eggs, oil, and half and half to the dry ingredients.

Stir gently only until combined.  Batter will be very thick and sticky.

Load 1/2 of batter into a piping bag, cut off the end. You may be tempted to skip this step, but believe me it is much easier and faster to load the bag and pipe the batter into the wells than to try to spoon it in.

Pipe into six donut wells. Repeat with remaining batter and another donut pan, distributing batter evenly across all 12 wells.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-16 minutes, only until top springs back when lightly touched and donuts are lightly browned. Do not over-bake.

Allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then remove from pans and put on wire racks to cool.

Juice the lemon.

Strain the juice into a cup with the powdered sugar.

Wisk until smooth.

Place wax paper under the rack with the cooled donuts. Drizzle with lemon glaze.  I scooped up the overflow and added it to the tops of the donuts after the first glazing had cooled and slightly hardened.

Enjoy the complements!

1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 lemon
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons half and half (or milk)

For Glaze
juice of one lemon
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

Spray two donut pans with non-stick spray and set aside.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine first five dry ingredients in a large bowl. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add to dry ingredients. Zest the lemon, chop finely and add to dry ingredients. Add eggs, oil, and half and half, stirring gently only until combined.  Batter will be very thick and sticky. Load 1/2 of batter into a piping bag, cut off the end. Pipe into six donut wells. Repeat with remaining batter and another donut pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-16 minutes, only until top springs back when lightly touched and donuts are lightly browned. Do not over-bake. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then remove from pans and put on wire racks to cool.  Drizzle with lemon glaze.  Yield 12 donuts.

Download the recipe – Lemon Donuts with Lemon Glaze

Enjoy!

 

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