Gingerbread Donuts feature the season’s favorite flavors, like molasses and cinnamon with the addition of a nice little gingersnap crunch.
If you are a gingerbread fan and you haven’t tried a gingerbread donut, it’s high time you do. Talk about a perfect Christmas morning breakfast! (Here are some more Christmas morning breakfast ideas: Rudolph mini donuts and Rudolph pancakes.)
Gingerbread Donuts
For this recipe, you’re going to need your arsenal of Christmas spices. You know what that means, right?
The sweet smells of the Christmas season!
Making Gingerbread Donuts
Most people don’t have a donut pan in their kitchen. If you do, hurray! You’re all set.
If not, they’re really inexpensive.
You also need a pastry bag to pipe the batter into the donut pan, but there is an easy substitute for that one.
Use a plastic baggie. Put the batter in it, squish it down and cut off a small part of one corner. (Yes, I said squish.)
Use it the same way you’d use a pastry bag.
Why We Eat Gingerbread at Christmas
I was curious as to why we eat gingerbread at Christmas. Have you ever wondered?
Gingerbread has been around forever. In fact, it first appeared in ancient China and was used as a medicine. (It’s still really good for a sick stomach.)
Later on, Henry VIII used it to try to keep from getting the plague. I’m not sure ginger was the best solution to that problem!
In the Middle Ages, Europeans started making cookies with it.
They shaped them like queens and kings and animals. They decorated them with gold leaf and served them at fairs.
But the reason we eat gingerbread at Christmas allegedly has to do with the story of Hansel and Gretel.
You know the story.
The Brothers Grimm wrote about two children who came upon a house made of treats.
Apparently, families started trying to make their own cookie houses after reading the story and for reasons I haven’t figured out, used gingerbread.
I guess it caught on so well that we still make gingerbread houses now during our special Christmas time with family.
If you know more about gingerbread at Christmas, I’d love to hear about it! Share it in the comments.
Gingerbread Donuts
Ingredients
Donuts Ingredients:
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons molasses
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
Icing Ingredients:
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 1 tablespoon hot water
- 1/2 tablespoon + 1/2 tsp eggnog
- 1/4 teaspoon maple extract
- crumbled gingersnaps
Instructions
Donut directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray donut pan with non-stick baking spray.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, salt, and brown sugar in a large bowl.
- Set aside.
- Whisk together the egg, molasses, vanilla, milk, and butter in a small bowl.
- Slowly add the wet ingredients to dry ingredients.
- Stir together until just combined.
- Scoop the batter to a pastry bag.
- Pipe batter into donut pan filling each about 2/3 full.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. (Or until the edges just start to turn a golden brown.)
- Remove the donuts from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Set aside.
Icing Directions:
- Stir together the confectionary sugar, hot water, eggnog, and maple extract. (If your icing is too thick add up to another 1/2 teaspoon of eggnog to reach desired consistency.)
- Dip tops of donuts into glaze.
- Return each glazed donut to the wire rack.
- Top with crumbled gingersnaps.
- Let the glaze to harden before serving.
Last Step:
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