Vegan Donut Muffins with Vanilla Glaze Icing

I made these muffins on a whim last Sunday morning. I usually try to gussy up one breakfast on the weekends. To say I am not much of a morning person is a bit of an understatement. I try really hard to be. Anyway, earlier in the week, I was browsing through one of my favorite baking sites of all time, King Arthur, and there was something that caught my eye: the word "donut". Since St. Louis opened it's own Dunkin Donuts, I have had this insatiable donut craving. (As far as I know there are no vegan options there. . . yet. Look out the minute there are!) Just last month, I purchased one of those mini-donut makers. That was fun for a hot minute and it did provide some much needed donut relief. But I get bored easily. So new donut maker is packed lovingly away until the next urge strikes. Then this recipe came along. Dunut Muffins. Wow. Brilliant. I think I finally have an answer to the donut-at-home. Better yet, I've slightly improved their recipe with my additions of flax and some white whole wheat flour. I had the last donut yesterday afternoon as my "snack". Still delish!  


I had a bit of a computer "scare" this week as well. While eating lunch with Dr. Thyme Sunday, I thought what I heard was a leaf blower. I sort of kept glancing out the window. Do you hear that? But the leaf blower sound would ebb and flow. Hmm. I got up to put the dishes in the sink, walked past my laptop and suddenly realized that the leaf blower I'd heard was actually my laptop! I had a black screen with some white letters. Oh-oh. Nothing good can come of this, I thought. And panicked, I showed husband/tech support. He was like, Oh-oh, too. Double oh-no from me. He once built his own computer. Built. His. Own. Computer. I figured he'd know exactly how to fix my "problem". Then this comes out of his mouth. Uh, I don't think I've ever actually seen or heard a hard drive crash! Thus ensued much hand-wringing and sighs. We shut it all down. Plans were in motion for replacement hand-me-down computer arrangements to be made. (*Because as the wife of a geek, I will tell you honestly, I will never be the one to own the "first" or newest of anything, that honor falls to Dr. Thyme--so hand-me-downs it is.) Sigh. Later that night--trying to picture life laptop-less, I re-started it once more. Viola. It booted right up. Husband was baffled. I think I know what might be the problem, I said. He looked a bit puzzled by this. And humored. I said, All it needs is a good vacuuming. What? Oh really? And I said again: all it needs is it's little fan thingy on the bottom vacuumed. So out comes the Hoover and I take the hose to the fan thingy and what do you know, it worked! No more black screen! No more leaf blower sounds. I won't go running out to the Apple Store tomorrow for a job, but still. Even I was impressed with myself. By the way, neither one of us is convinced this is a long-term fix. As just last night that awful leaf blower sound returned.

I'm sitting here this morning trying to calm down our baby Pyrenees. It's raining outside. Rain causes her great distress. The barking that accompanies her "distress" is frowned upon because someone is still sleeping! So with one hand I pet and reassure, with the other, I type. Last night I flipped on the news for the briefest of moments. I try not to watch or listen to too much of the ramblings of the media. I find I am calmer if I allow current events into my life on my terms. The weather is getting ready to change, so mostly I'd tuned in for that update. The dry spell we've had has taken it's toll. So much so, one of our state parks was blackened by an awful forest fire yesterday. So as it rains and I try to calm our baby girl, I am grateful for the respite of clouds and a little damp weather.
This muffin recipe is a cinch to make. One of the notes the King Arthur team recommends is for the muffin tins to be filled more than half way. So I thought I'd show you a picture of my tins before baking. I took a different approach to their recipe and made a glaze for the donuts. You could very easily make it a chocolate ganache glaze. Or you could make them a jam-filled donut muffin. Or you could read several reader reviews of this recipe and find there's even a pumpkin version. Either way you go, you will LOVE these darn things. 

Vegan Donut Muffins with Vanilla Glaze 
*Adapted from King Arthur Flour
**Makes a dozen muffins

1/4 cup unsalted vegetable margerine
1/4 cup vegetable oil or applesauce (I used half and half)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Florida Crystals sugar
2 teaspoons ground flaxseed mixed with 6 tablespoons warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoons baking soda
fresh ground nutmeg (I used whole nutmeg and added about a half teaspoon. If not using fresh, add 1 1/2 teaspoons)
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup unsweetened almond milk

Preheat oven to 425. Lightly spray muffin tins with non-stick spray. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the margerine, oil and sugars until smooth. (It might be a bit lumpy--that's okay.) Add the flaxseed mixture and baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, allspice, salt and vanilla extract. Next add about a third of the flour to this, then a third of the milk and repeat this step again ending with the flour. Mix well for about 30 seconds after the final addition. Fill cupcake tins with batter. Bake for 15-17 minutes until the tops of the muffins are golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about five minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack set on top of a cookie tray. Next, prepare your icing or sugar and cinnamon topping.

Toppings 

Combine 2 tablespoons of sugar with 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. Melt 2 tablespoons of margerine. Brush the tops of the muffins (while they are still warm) with the margerine. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Combine about 1 cup of powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of soy creamer until the mixture is smooth. Pour over the muffins. I added some chocolate sprinkles!


Comments

  1. Hi Kelly, ya had me at donut. Those look so good. I made the donuts from Vegan Yum Yum the other day and those were really good. Which ones do you like better?(they are the same ones you made from Vegetarian Times)
    My husband builds all our computers also. And yes, I too get the hand me downs:)

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  2. Thanks, VHM! Okay, so hard for me to vote one over the other. I'll have to say I liked these better. No messy trying to fill that donut pan with batter (I know, mere "minutes" in difference, but we ARE talking in the early a.m.!). Hubby loved them a ton. Sadly, my laptop went "black" screen again--right after my post this morning! Sigh. Maybe it's time.

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  3. Hi Kelly! These look so good. You and me both get excited when we see "donut". I wish I had one of those cute donut pans. I'm asking for one for Christmas! Thank you for sharing another batch of sweetness with me. I hope you are having a restful and happy Sunday!

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