baked cinnamon sugar doughnuts

late last night, as mr. brown sugar and i were settled on our respective couches, beers in hand and watching a movie, i jumped up and yelled "@$%#!"

it was 10:30 in the p.m. and i had totally forgotten to make the doughnut dough so it could sit in the fridge overnight, so that we could pull them out of the fridge in the morning, toss them in the oven and have a steaming hot cup of french press coffee and a still warm doughnut for breakfast.

awww shucks!

so, i did what any normal, determined, doughnut-craving baker would do- i went ahead and started a 2 hour baking process at 10:30 p.m.

bloom yeast. mix. knead. rise for an hour. knead. shape. rise for 45 minutes.

oh yes, i did.

these doughnuts definitely hit the sweet spot, just be aware that they are not going to be like the cake doughnut or old fashioned that you grab at your local doughnut shop. their texture hits somewhere between a bagel and a cake doughnut. they are baked, not fried, so the shell of the doughnut is like a very light crust. although, mr. brown sugar and i did wonder if letting them hang in the fridge overnight and then having to bring them back to room temp this morning had any effect on the texture of the doughnut and if it would have been lighter and fluffier if i would have baked them last night.

the freshly grated nutmeg is a nice little spicy surprise in the dough, light but definitely there. i tried to do a vanilla bean glaze but i used way too much milk and after dumping 5 cups of powdered sugar into the milk and it still wouldn't set, i decided to ditch the glaze and stick with the cinnamon sugar topping.

not a bad way to start our morning. not bad at all.

baked doughnut recipe via 101 cookbooks