Baked Lemon Poppy Seed Donuts

Can we talk about donuts for a minute? They are undeniably one of the best foods in the world. The problem is that they take a long time to make. Normal donuts required a yeasted dough, time to rise, and then frying. Sometimes I am up for the challenge, but most of the time when I want to make donuts I don't want all of the effort. This is where baked donuts come into play.

The dough can be mixed up in about 5 minutes and the donuts take about 15 minutes to bake. Since they aren't fried, they are basically healthy, right? Right. As fas as baked donuts go these Baked Lemon Poppy Seed Donuts are among my favorites.

The donuts are light and fluffy and the lemon curd glaze is tart and tangy. They compliment each other perfectly. This donut recipe is very versatile. The base stays the same and you can easily change up the flavorings (see my other donut recipe here).

Also, you will need a donut mold for this recipe. I bought this two-pack on Amazon for $7.77 (!!!). I love silicone molds because it is easy to pop your finished product out of them, they are super easy to clean, and they don’t rust like the metal pans.

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For in-depth "whys" and "howtos", skip to the end of this post!

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Lemon Poppy Seed Donuts

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees (F). Spray your donut mold (I use this one) with non-stick spray and set aside.
2. In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the flour, light brown sugar, salt, baking powder, and poppy seeds.
3. In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients, make sure the melted butter has cooled or it will curdle the sour cream and cook the egg. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until they are well combined. The dough will be much thicker than you think it will be, so don't be alarmed. Also, be sure not to overmix your dough or your donuts will be tough.
4. Next, you will spoon the batter into your molds and fill them up to the top. If you're using a silicone mold, place it on a cookie sheet before you put them in the oven, this will make it easier to get them in and out of the oven.
5. Place your donuts in the pre-heated oven. They usually take about 15-17 minutes to bake, but I started checking them around 10 minutes to see if the pan needs to be turned. You'll know they are finished when you lightly press on a donut and it springs back.
6. Remove from the oven and let cool in the molds until cool enough to remove. Then cool completely before glazing

Lemon Curd Glaze

1. In a small saucepan (I used this one) heat the lemon juice and butter until the butter is melted.
2. In a small bowl whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch together until well combined and a light yellow color.
3. Next, you will add a small amount of the hot lemon mixture to the egg mixture while continuously whisking. This is called tempering and it ensures that the eggs don't scramble by slowly bringing their temperature up. Now add the egg mixture to the lemon mixture and place back over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens, about 3 minutes.
4. Pour the lemon curd back into the bowl and allow it to cool for about 5 minutes.
5. Whisk in the powdered sugar and heavy cream, make sure there are no lumps from the powdered sugar. The glaze needs to be thin enough to drip off of the whisk when held up, but not drizzle off. So add more heavy cream as needed.
6. When the donuts are cooled dip the tops into the glaze, dip more than once if you'd like more glaze on top. Don't glaze until you plan to serve or the donuts will start to get soggy.

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