Every now and then I just want a donut. True story: Dunkin Donuts came to Colorado a year ago…and I still haven’t eaten one!

Phew! No… not a single crumb, not a cup of coffee. I just can not. For me, the birth of one of these beautiful Maple Ice babies could start something…a habit, a reason to power through. No, no and NO!

But sometimes you just need a little cake with a hole in the middle, and then… you find these babies.

I love carrot cake and I love donuts…so I decided to give my donut pan another go to try these bad boys. The original recipe says it makes 6 donuts, but I really think it makes more like 8 donuts. You’ll notice that I overfilled my pan, but next time I’ll definitely make it a little smaller…so I can enjoy it for longer, more days! So good, and I really liked the frosting too!!!

Carrot Cake Donuts

Out of Emily Bites

INGREDIENTS

1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. Ground carnations
¼ cup brown sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup grated carrots
1 TBSP. rapeseed oil
3 TBSP. unsweetened apple sauce
¾ tsp. Vanilla (split)
¼ cup + 2 tsp. Skimmed milk (divided)
2 ounces. 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1 TBSP. Reduced calorie pancake syrup
1 TBSP. powdered sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly spray a 6-cup donut pan with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and brown sugar until well combined.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg, then add the carrots, oil, applesauce, ½ teaspoon vanilla and ¼ cup milk.

4. Stir until well combined, then add to the dry ingredients from Step 2. Mix until well combined.

5. Divide the mixture evenly into the 6 prepared slots of the donut pan. Note: I had to overfill mine a bit. Next time I’ll try making 7, maybe 8 donuts with the dough. Also, make sure you use cooking spray suitable for baking and be generous when applying.

6. Bake for 15 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Invert pan to transfer donuts to a cooling rack and allow donuts to cool.

7. In a medium bowl, combine remaining ¼ teaspoon vanilla and 2 teaspoons milk and add cream cheese, syrup and powdered sugar. Mix with a hand mixer until well combined.

8. When the donuts have cooled, add Cream Cheese Frosting to the donuts. Add additional carrot crumbles to the top of the donuts. Note: I dipped mine in the small bowl and tossed it around.

9. Serve and enjoy! Because of the cream cheese frosting, leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

Per 1 donut serving:

CAL 181; Carbohydrates 27g; FAT 6g; PROT 5g; FIB 3g; WW points plus: 5