Baked Doughnuts

For the past week the kids have been able to enjoy the snow.  We got snow.  Lots and lots of snow.  There had to have been at least a foot.  I even had lots of fun in it too.  Not only because I got to see the kids in awe of all the fluffy white stuff in our yard, or hear their giggles as they played, but because when you spend the day playing out in the snow, you get to come inside and drink warm hot cocoa.  We had lots of hot cocoa, made caramel popcorn, and even snow icecream.  On top of these yummy foods I found a recipe for baked doughnuts.  So this morning before going out to play in the snow, Razy helped me make the dough.  Then after dinner we finished the final steps and as a family we enjoyed the yummy goodness.

Before I go on can I just say that I LOVE SNOW SUITS.  They make life so much easier.  Before we bought the kids snow suits they went out in layers of clothes.  They would go out at least 2 or 3 times a day in the snow which meant I had lots and lots of wet clothes to deal with.  Now that they each have a snow suit, I have ZERO wet clothes to deal with.  Thank you to whomever invented snow suits.  

Now onto the recipe. 

MMM.  Don't they look so good.  They were nice and light and fluffy.  I got two thumbs up from each member of the family.  They were pretty fool proof too.  Try them out for yourself and let me know what you think.

***This recipe was taken from Krissy's Creations***

Baked Doughnuts

Makes: About 15 doughnuts (& doughnut holes)

For the Dough
3/4 cups Warm Milk
1 packet Active Dry Yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
1/3 cup Sugar
1 Egg
2 ½ cup All Purpose Flour
Pinch of Nutmeg
½ tsp. Salt

For the Glaze
* Enough to glaze all the doughnuts
¼ cup Milk
1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
2 cups Confectioners Sugar

For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping
*Enough to cover all of the doughnuts
½ cup Unsalted Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 tbsp. Cinnamon

To make the dough, place ¼ cups of the warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over the milk. Let sit for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining ½ cup of milk with the sugar and butter. Add it to the yeast mixture. Stir to combine. Add the egg and stir until incorporated. Add the flour, nutmeg, and salt and stir until the dough starts to form. Change to the dough hook and knead for until the dough starts to become smooth. If the dough is too sticky, slowly add more flour until it is no longer sticky.

Transfer to the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic and has formed a ball. Place the dough ball in a large lightly greased bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled in size.

Once the dough has risen, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until ½ thick. Using a doughnut cutter (if you don’t have a doughnut cutter, you can use 2 biscuit cutters – 1 that is about 3 inches, and the other that is about 2 inches for the inner circle) cut out the doughnuts until you have no dough left. If desired you can gather up the scraps into a ball and roll it out and cut out more doughnuts. However, I found that the dough got too hard to work with. 

Place the doughnuts on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper, about 2 inches apart. Cover with a clean towel and let sit for about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven 375 degrees F.

Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 7 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Be careful to not overbake these. You want them to be light and doughy inside. Let the doughnuts cool for about 5 minutes until ready to top with either the glaze or cinnamon sugar topping

While the doughnuts are cooling make the glaze and/or cinnamon sugar glaze. Each recipe makes enough to cover all the doughnuts. I made a half recipe of each and topped half of the doughnuts with each topping. Or you can choose to just do one of topping for all the doughnuts.

To make the glaze, combine the milk and the vanilla in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat until just warmed. Slowly add in the confectioners sugar and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Remove the glaze from the heat and place over a bowl of warm water.

To glaze the doughnuts, dip them halfway into the glaze and place on a draining/cooling rack set over a baking sheet. Sprinkle with sprinkles if desired. Let set for about 10 minutes.

To make the cinnamon sugar topping, melt the butter in a saucepan or a microwave, and place in a small bowl. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl.

To top the doughnuts with cinnamon sugar, dip the halfway into the melted butter. Then dip them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Set on a draining/cooling rack to set, about 5 minutes.

Serve and enjoy :)!

Leaving behind 2011...Heading into 2012

2011 is about to go, but what a great year it was...

JBody and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary

Lil' E grew up fast in my eyes after becoming an official grade schooler (1st Grade)

The kids kept us busy with sports...wrestling, tball, baseball, soccer, flag football, basketball.

Razy started her first year of preschool without Doble and Doble moved into the big kid class.

Doble learned to ride a 2 wheel bike.

After trying for exactly a year JBody and I are pregnant!

5 Camping trips, Lil' E polar dipping in the ocean, Birthday parties and big cakes.

My little sister returned from her mission in the Philippines

2 new members born into the family (1 nephew and 1 neice)

The list could go on and on!!!

What is to come in 2012

We get to find out what our little bean is in Jan.

Baby #4 arrives in May

Lil' E is turning 8 and GETTING BAPTIZED!

Doble starts Kindergarten, Lil' E 2nd grade (oh my I am feeling old).

More camping trips this time with 6 of us instead of 5

DISNEYLAND!

Have a Fun and Safe New Year!!  I am looking forward to a wonderful 2012.

Homemade Frozen Hasbrowns

I was down in our basement yesterday and noticed the buckets of potatoes we had harvest earlier this fall.  I have a tendency to forget about what is down there and decided I needed to something with the potatoes before they went bad.  I know that they can last pretty long, but I didn't want to take my chances.  Besides we have cans and cans of potatoe flakes in our pantry so I wanted to to something with them other than use them for mashed potatoes.  HASHBROWNS!  I figured there had to be a way to make your own frozen ones since you can find them in the stores.  And of course google came to the rescue. 

To make your own hashbrowns you will need:
Potatoes!!! Yep that is it.  Well you will need some equipment and water, but no preservatives.

You can buy your potatoes or harvest your own.  These are ones from our own garden, but in the past I have gotten those big bags of potatoes and then wasted them because we didn't know what to do with all of them.  Now I know!

Wash and peel your potatoes.

Cut them into large chunks.  Place them into cold water and bring to a boil.  Boil for 10 mins.  This will keep them from browning in the freezer.

I forgot to take a picture, but after they have boiled. Drain them and place in cold water to stop the cooking process.  Keep them in water and place in the refridgerator overnight.

Using a food processor grate or shred your potatoes. You will notice how dry they come out.  This is a good thing.  Dry potatoes are what make your crispy yummy hashbrowns.

Place in gallon ziploc freezer bags.  I put 2 pounds in each bag.  This way if I have a recipe that calls for hashbrowns they are in the same size bags you would buy from the store.  Lay them flat and get all the air out of them.  Lastly place them in your freezer.  Easy Peasy.  And Cheap too!

The "Minivan" Express

Wow it seems like forever since I have blogged.  I am starting to feel better and really wanted to share this new Tradition we started this year.

I have mentioned it many times before, but I love Pinterest.  I love that many of my friends use it too.  Thanks to my friend Crystal I was able to do this fun and memorable event with my kids.  It is called The "Minivan" express.  Yep just like the Polar Express.  Of course we don't own a train so our van became the polar express.  Here is what you will need to start this wonderful family tradition with your children next Christmas.

First you will need to print your tickets off.  I found mine over at Memories are the Scraps of Life. The actual link to the tickets can be found on her page or you can just go HERE.  I found some great gold paper at our local scrapbooking store.  You could print it off anywhere but the gold really gave it that special touch. 

While the kids were getting ready for bed with Daddy I made Hot Chocolate and Popcorn.  The kids could smell the popcorn so I had to tell them we were going to make popcorn balls the next day.  I hid their tickets under their covers for them to find when they climbed in.  Daddy saw and heard all the excitement of discovering the tickets, because I was outside in the car ready to great the kids. 

"All Aboard!"  Before entering the car they each had to show me their ticket to get it punched (just like in the movie).  Daddy came out and we were ready for the ride.  A little bit down the road the Hot Chocolate song came on and the kids discovered their Hot Cocoa and Popcorn bags.  Razy thought the ticket meant that we were going to go ride the real Polar Express.  After some explaining we told her she was in the Minivan Express and we were on our way to go see some pretty Christmas Lights.  Razy is NOT a fan of Santa.  So we had to assure her that we would not be stopping to see the big man in red.   We found some beautiful lights.  Here are a couple of our favorites. 

This was just a little house, but it had hundreds or lights. 

This next house was the whole reason we traveled 30 mins to the next town to see.  It was amazing.  I wish pictures did it justice.  We were first greeted by this giant snowman.  Then a sign that said "Drive Thru".  The owners let you drive their u shaped driveway to see the whole yard.

This is the entry to the driveway.  On the left is a carousel that spun and trees and bushes that were covered in lights.

The Nativity

Here was the landing dock for Santa and his sleigh.  You can even see Santa taking off in the distance.

And last but not least Santa in his big delivery truck.



After seeing the lights we headed home.  Of course we had to stop for an icecream treat.  When we got home we sent the kids upstairs to rebrush their teeth and get into bed.  This is where they found their last surprise.  On each of their pillows was a bell, that was left by Santa while we were gone.  They were so excited.  It was the perfect touch to the end of a wonderful night.  Just what I needed to help me get into the Christmas spirit.  

What are some of your family Chirstmas traditions?  New or Old?

Thanksgiving Turkey Veggie Platter

Need a last minute way to make your veggie tray cute for your Thanksgiving table?  How about turn it into a turkey?  I found this cute little idea on pinterest and knew I wanted to make it.

The original was cuter but I wanted to add celery and tomatoes and didn't want as many peppers that they had on their tray.  It doesn't matter the veggies you use, it is the color that really makes the turkey.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Apple Crisp Recipe

I have apples coming out of my ears right now.  Earlier during the summer months I prepared bags and bags of pear puree to turn into pear applesauce.  I have been dreading the applesauce making because I have been feeling so icky.  Well with the help of my mom and brother I went and picked baskets full of apples.  I have been slowly working on them and have made 10 quarts of pear applesauce, 5 pints of apple butter, and I still have lots more to do.  Well last night I decided to take a break and make something other than applesauce.  The kids and I found a yummy recipe and got to work.  I am excited to share it with you.  It smells delicious and tastes even better. 

Apple Crisp

10 cups all-purpose apples, peeled, cored, and sliced. 

1 cup white sugar

1 TB all purpose flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup water

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup butter, melted

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2.  Place the sliced apples in a 9x13 inch pan.  Mix the white sugar, 1 TB flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples.  Pour water evenly over all.

3.  Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together.  Crumble evenly over the apple mixture. 

4.  Bake at 350 degrees F for about 45 mins.  (If your topping is getting too brown you can cover with aluminum foil.  I did this for the last 5 mins)

5.  Let cool for a little bit.  Serve with icecream!

Stay tuned for Pear Applesauce recipe.