baked blueberry chai doughnuts
Summery doughnuts for midweek nibbles.
I finally finally finally nailed down a solid baked doughnut. No deep frier here. Deep frying scares me shitless and I don’t really have the means as is, so I plunged into the world of the doughnut pan and my lord, am I glad I did. Sometimes I just need to slap my own ass in celebration of a good recipe. This one is a Good Recipe.
Near our house in my childhood, there existed a shop called Yummy’s. We’d drop by for a half dozen or so on random occasions – I feel like there was usually a reason, but I can’t think of it at the moment. Maybe Thanksgiving on occasion. I’d always swipe a cream-filled chocolate long john. That variety will always have a special nook in my nonexistent heart, along with these peanut butter shells the beanie baby store we frequented carried as well.
Maybe one day I’ll try to bake-ify a long john, but for today, we’re sticking with blueberry chai. A unique flavor marriage, perhaps, but a truly delightful one. Spicy, tart, and sweet, dunked in a sunny lemon glaze sure to wipe that frown off your face. Frowning’s bad for you anyway. Gives you lines between your brows.
Dough, You Nut
Get yourself a pair of doughnut pans. Truly think they’re worth keeping around, especially over the holidays. Yeah yeah, those are far away, but time is a sneaky bastard AND you’re making these blueberry chai doughnuts. Right, right?
Anywho, onwards. Doughnut batter is more or less identical to muffin batter, so if you don’t want to buy doughnut pans, you can certainly create muffins out of this recipe. Muffins take a bit longer to bake, so keep that in mind.
For wet ingredients, all you need is to whip up melted butter with Greek yogurt (sour cream works too) and sugar, then add a couple eggs and some vanilla.
The dry side features a blend of warming chai spices: cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, clove, and black pepper. Once all that shit is added, fold in your blueberries and some blueberry jam for a pretty swirl effect. Fresh or frozen blueberries are fine, just don’t thaw the frozen ones if that’s what you choose.
Piping doughnut batter into the pans is far easier than scooping, so either use a piping bag or, as I do, a freezer bag with a corner snipped off. Twirl the batter into the molds, filling only 3/4 of the way to prevent excess spillage. If you’re going the muffin route, scooping works well. No need to pipe.
Oh yeah, grease your pans first, or use liners if making muffins.
Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes (doughnuts) or 15-20 minutes (muffins). Cool in the pan a few minutes, then on a wire rack until room temperature.
The Ways of the Glaze
What’s a chai without lemon? Some would argue “still a chai, dumbass” but I think these puppies warrant some citrus.
The glaze is easy, just powdered sugar whisked up with some lemon juice and zest and a bit of vanilla. You might need to thin it out a bit, and if that’s the case, use a bit of milk. The consistency should be thick, but not clumpy.
To simplify cleanup, set a sheet of parchment beneath the cooling rack. Dip each doughnut into the glaze, rotating to let excess drip into the bowl. Set the doughnut dry-side down back onto the wire rack. I give the glaze a few minutes to set on each doughnut before diving in or storing.
Look how easy that was! Proud of you, sonny.
Humidity can spoil the aesthetic of the glaze, do if you’re not serving all the doughnuts right away, keep in mind that the pretty coating might vanish. You can certainly still taste the lemon, though, so don’t worry. My coworkers gobbled them up despite their lack of clothes. Not taking that joke any further.
Blueberry and chai, man. Might be a new favorite mix of mine.
Tried this recipe out? Leave a comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Try out these blueberry treats!
Blueberry Lemon Sugar Brioche Rolls
Bursting Blueberry Lime Cupcakes
baked blueberry chai doughnuts
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter, melted
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt, at room temperature
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- 2 tbsp high-quality blueberry jam
lemon glaze
- 1 1/2-2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- milk, as needed, to thin
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 6-slot doughnut pans with oil.
- In a large bowl, beat together the melted butter, sugar, and yogurt until smooth. Whip in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, and black pepper. Beat until just combined. Slowly stream in the buttermilk until smooth. Fold in the blueberries, then the blueberry jam. Try to preserve some streaks of jam in the batter if you can.
- Snip the tip of a gallon freezer bag and fill with the batter. Carefully pipe the batter into each doughnut slot, filling only 3/4 of the way. Bake 12-15 minutes until firm and an inserted toothpick emerges with only a few moist crumbs. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then move to a wire rack. Cool completely.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest, and vanilla. If the glaze seems too thick, add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time until desired consistency is reached.
- Slide a piece of parchment paper beneath the cooling rack to catch drips. Dunk each doughnut in the glaze, twirling to remove excess glaze, and set unglazed-side down on the rack. Serve with coffee or tea.
