Baked Donuts - Take #1!.

I've been eyeing donut pans for quite some time now - they just seem like a fun addition to the kitchen. As a little pick-me-up last week, while I was down and out with the flu, my mom snagged me a darling heart-shaped donut pan (Wilton brand). Seeing as to how today is "stay home Friday", it just felt like a baked donut morning. I found this recipe for Caramel Apple Donuts and, while they didn't seem particularly "caramel" or "apple", I did like that the recipe used honey instead of sugar. These had a nice flavor, they weren't too dry, and basically had a muffin-like taste - would certainly make again. With a modification or two to the original recipe, here's what I did:

Baked Donuts

• 1/4 C + 1/8 C organic whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 3 local eggs
• 1/4 C local honey
• 1/8 C oil
• 1/8 C apple butter
• 1 1/2 tsp organic vanilla
• I cut the original recipe in half, and this made 11 donuts, keeping in mind these are fairly small ones
• Combine dry ingredients; combine wet ingredients separately
• Add dry to wet
• Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes
• For the caramel drizzle, I tried out my new Lyle's Golden Syrup (3 T) heated over medium, added 3 tsp organic peanut butter and a splash of vanilla. It was a nice addition, but cooled to a tougher, chewier texture than I'd prefer.

Cheer-up Cheerio!

What happens when you open the cabinet to discover that you already have one box of cheerios (yes, I believe great things come in pairs, but this is a lot of cheerios...):

Well, naturally you combine the abundance of cereal with other delicious ingredients:

Cheer-up Cheerios Bars

• 3 C cheerios
• 1/2 C organic peanut butter
• 1/4 C local honey
• 1/4 C organic sorghum
• 1/4 C organic pure cane sugar
• Dried organic cherries
• Organic dark chocolate chips
• Combine honey, sorghum, sugar over medium heat until sugar dissolves
• Add peanut butter
• Mix cheerios and cherries in a bowl; add warm wet ingredients and mix
• Press into 8x8 glass pan
• Optional: I covered the top of half of the bars with chocolate chips and placed under the broiler on low until soft, then spread with a knife