baked peanut butter chocolate chip doughnuts
Doughnuts: a cure for the blues.
These holey little guys have become a huge source of joy for me. If I were made for the restaurant or culinary industry in a more public way, I’d probably open a doughnut shop. Granted, I don’t think I’d do very well because brioche/fried doughnuts aren’t really my forte: I’ll try them sometime, but the baked doughnut is where it’s at in my head. They’re so simple, but infinite. I should get that stereotypical We Are Inifinity tattoo with a doughnut embedded in the infinity symbol.
Doughnuts forever.
So, we’re celebrating Friday with doughnuts. These are absolutely the best shit for weekend baking, since kids are pretty much guaranteed to love it as well as the adults, who now have to deal with the kids every damn day since schools ended. Or are ending soon. Peanut butter and chocolate is beloved amongst most populations – excepting the weirdos and those who are allergic – so seeing these on a tray will bring a bounty of happiness.
Peanut butter doughnut base, mini chocolate chips swirled throughout, and a delightful and simple peanut butter glaze spruced up with little chocolate jimmies. Precious, pretty, and perfect. Just like you.
Do What Can’t Be Do-nutted
Alright, that was shit. Sorry.
My doughnut batters have become a fairly universal formula, because I find it effective regardless of the fillings and garnishes and frills and thrills you might add. So, if you’ve visited the Foul-Mouth Doughnut Shop before, you’re probably familiar with my base recipe.
We start as we usually do: eggs, sugar, and, in this case, a glob of peanut butter. Then throw in a couple eggs, vanilla, and Greek yogurt, which adds lots of moisture. Next: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, then some buttermilk to loosen the batter and a finishing swirl of mini chocolate chips.
I do recommend the mini dudes here, by the way, because the miniscule size will not overpower the peanut butter base in the doughnut. Large chocolate chips will dominate the flavor and, while I use them in most baked goodies, aren’t ideal for the humble doughnut.
Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Peanut Pdoughnuts
Nailed it.
Throw the batter – which should be quite thick, by the way – into a piping bag and swirl into greased doughnut pan slots. You’ll need two doughnut pans for this. Fill the slots about 3/4 of the way full. The doughnuts poof up really well but won’t spill over the sides, which is why I love this batter so fucken much, man. Foolproof.
If you have a little batter leftover, which I did for this recipe, you can put it into a little ramekin to make a mini cake. Aw. How cute. It will probably need to bake longer than the doughnuts, though, so keep that in mind.
Toss the pans in the oven for 10-12 minutes. The centers will set up and the center should emerge clean when prodded with a toothpick. Be gentle. Doughnuts have feelings too.
After about 5 minutes chilling in the pan, lift the doughnuts out and place on a wire rack to cool completely. These don’t take quite as a long as, say, brownies, because they’re not nearly as dense. 20 minutes should do the trick before icing.
Icing, Icing, Baby
OoooOOO shit, this icing. It’s nothing fancy or complex, but it’ll knock your socks off. And if you’re not wearing socks, your pants. If you’re not wearing pants, I don’t want to know anything about that. That’s your business.
All you need to do: melt some creamy peanut butter, whisk with powdered sugar and vanilla, and trickle in some milk until the icing is thick, but smooth and spreadable. Runny icing is no bueno, so once you add the initial 3 tablespoons, only add milk one tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency occurs.
Dunk one side of the doughnut into the icing – doesn’t matter which side – and lay onto a wire rack placed over a piece of parchment to catch the drips. Sprinkle on some chocolate jimmies, cos they’re pretty. Sidebar: why are they called jimmies? I guess it’s not as cute if you call them jameses.
Maybe I’ll just call them jameses from now on because that shit makes me laugh for irrational reasons.
I like to let the icing set for a few minutes before diving in, but if you’re an impatient nerd and aren’t really serving the doughnuts to a bougie crowd, go in straightaway. Usually if you put peanut butter and chocolate in front of me, I won’t wait too long before attacking. That’s how I’ve survived this long in the world.
Little note: I normally bake with a natural, but not supernatural, peanut butter. Think Jif Natural over Smuckers Natural. I always find the texture of the latter too gritty for most baked goods, especially smaller confections. Palm oil isn’t awesome for you, but it does help in these types of projects.
Note #2: You can certainly make the doughnuts a few days ahead of time – I’m notorious for baking on Mondays and decorating come Thursday – but I recommend icing them the day of serving. After a day or two the icing will seep into the doughnut, especially if you live in bumfuck Florida like me and the humidity assaults everything you love on a daily basis. Setting the doughnuts, covered, in the fridge might help slow that process, but it usually happens anyway.
Note #3: If you eat more than one in a single sitting, I won’t blame you. In fact, if you’re having A Day, I might go as far as encouraging it. They’re little happiness holes.
I won’t continue with that joke. Goodbye.
Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
MORE HAPPINESS:
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baked peanut butter chocolate chip doughnuts
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter, melted
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 2/3 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1/4-1/3 cup buttermilk
- chocolate jimmies, for sprinkling
peanut butter glaze
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3-4 tbsp milk or water, to thin
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two six-slot doughnut pans with oil or butter.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and peanut butter until creamy, about 1-2 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla and Greek yogurt, until combined. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running, stream in 1/4 cup of the buttermilk. If the batter seems too thick, add the remaining buttermilk. Do not overmix. Fold the chocolate chips into the batter with a spatula. Again, do not overmix this shit.
- Transfer the batter to a piping back or a ziptop bag with a corner snipped off. Pipe the batter into the prepared doughnut pans, filling about 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake the doughnuts for 10-12 minutes until the center is set and an inserted toothpick emerges clean. Let cool 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the glaze: melt the peanut butter in the microwave for 30 until smooth. Let cool 5 minutes. In a bowl, whisk the peanut butter with the powdered sugar, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of milk. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until a thick and smooth icing forms. It should not be runny.
- Place a piece of parchment paper beneath a wire rack. Dunk one side of the doughnut into icing, letting excess drip off. Sprinkle jimmies onto one side of the icing. Let set about 5-10 minutes. Or don't, enjoy the sticky fingers, and eat right away!
