Tuesday 3 July 2012

Eggless Baked Doughnuts

Last weekend , I was on a complete baking spree! And saturday being Ekadashi day , my baking was restricted to pure vegeterian ingredients. After having baked some butter cookies for my toddler , I was just sampling them( an excuse to indulge!)
Just then an image of  so many golden fried doughnuts appeared on my Television Screen. It was the same show on an international lifestyle channel that I watch regularly. And it was featuring the best doughnuts in USA! And they looked so tempting , soft , fresh , topped with chocolates and a lot other toppings that we can only imagine here!
I wished I had some bakery near my home , even I would have had the priviledge to gorge into one such sweet treat! And just on the flip side my brain as it has gotten conditioned over time, cautioned me of the oil , and a calorie red alert began to blink over me!
So then , thats how my craving for a doughnut gave way to a healthier , tasty Baked Doughnut!

And did you know how a doughnut got its name? Again there are a lot of theories and places to claim their origin. One theory says- They were made from the leftover bread dough , that was dropped and deep fried in hot oil and covered with sugar. The fried dough resembled like a nut, saw a walnut , hence called dough-nuts.
Another theory attributes the origin of the trademark round shape with an open center to the uncooked centres of the dough , that led to the shape. Some say , it was made with the knots of dough, hence dough knots ..doughnuts.
Whatever be the theory , it did give us the lovely treat!
My try is to make is less oily and healthier!
This proportion makes 4-5 palm sized doughnuts , after baking.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cup Maida/All purpose flour
1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Butter
1/2 Cup Warm Milk
1 tsp Cinammom powder
1 tsp Active Dry Yeast
1-tsp Jam for garnish
2-3 tsp Powdered Sugar+1 tsp Ghee/Butter for Garnish


Sieve the maida with the cinammon powder and powdered sugar in a bowl.
Mix yeast with 1 tbsp luke warm water and a pinch of sugar and keep in a warm place for 10 mins.
Once the yeast gets frothy , put it in the dough , along with the warm milk mixed with the butter.
knead the dough till smooth and shiny.
Keep the dough covered with a muslin cloth in a warm place to rise for an hour or till it gets doubled in size.
Punch down the dough and knead it again. Roll out the dough into 1/2 cm thickness and cut out the doughnuts using katoris.
Place the doughnuts in a greased baking tray.Cover and keep them to rise again for 10-15 mins.
Preheat the oven to 180 deg celcius and bake the doughnuts for 10-15 mins , till the crust gets light brown.
Do not overbak them , else the crust will get too hard and dry.
Cool the doughnuts on a cooling rack.
Apply little ghee on top of the doughnut and roll them in powdered sugar , and garnish with some strawberry jam.

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