Baked Apple Doughnuts

The last time we made doughnuts at my home, we almost burned down our entire apartment complex. Sadly, that's not an exaggeration. We had a grease fire, which resulted in me lighting myself on fire while trying to put the fire out, flames floor to ceiling in our kitchen and flames across our kitchen and living room floor. Fortunately, the fire in the apartment quickly distinguished itself. I smothered the flames on my hand, and we went to the ER (then the burn specialist in Milwaukee, followed by more trips to the burn specialist and lots of painful moments and good-natured mockery at work.) So for some odd reason, we have very limited use of deep-fried foods in our house simply because I'm wary of that cooking technique.

When I found Baker's Royale's recipe for these doughnuts, I thought they'd be the perfect way to use a few of my fall apple harvest. And I could make them since they are baked, not fried. Here's to Sunday morning doughnuts without a trip to the ER.

Baked Apple Doughnuts
Doughnuts
3/4 cup lukewarm water
2 tsp. dry active yeast
2 tsp. salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
2 small apples, skins on or off depending on your preference, diced
3 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup butter, melted
Glaze
3/4 cups powdered sugar
2-3 Tbsp. apple cider
Caramel Drizzle

Place  water, yeast, salt, eggs, sugar, apples, flour and butter in a bowl, using a spoon or a sturdy  spatula fold batter until evenly mixed. Let the dough rest at room temperature covered for two hours. Transfer dough to refrigerator, and chill for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove dough from refrigerator. Transfer dough to a gallon-size plastic bag, and cut a corner off. Pipe 3-inch circles or whatever shape you desire onto a parchment lined bake sheet (or alternately pipe into wells of a doughnut pan).

Bake for about 18 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and transfer doughnuts to cooling rack.

To make glaze, place powdered sugar in bowl, and add  one tablespoon of cider at a time, stirring after each addition. Add more cider as needed to reach desired consistency. Prepare caramel sauce or use storebought caramel if desired. Place finished glaze in a bowl, and dip tops of doughnuts into mixture. Return dip doughnuts to cooling rack. Transfer caramel to plastic bag, and cut off one corner. Drizzle caramel on top of glazed doughnut. Makes about 18 doughnuts.