baked triple lemon doughnuts
If ya’ll don’t like lemons, you’d better ade yourself to the door.
Ha. Ha. Ha.
Clearly I left my sense of humor in California.
Home again after my weekend in San Diego, and while I’m always eager to get into my cozy pajamas and say hi to all my stuffed animals, I was sad for the end of this trip. I really think I needed a break from obligations. I kept up with FMG here and did some housekeeping formalities on the site, but scooting away from my kitchen lent me a further gratitude for some good ole home cooking.
My fridge is straight up empty aside from a couple block of cheese, some eggs, and a bunch of random fruit jams, but I tend to keep shit in my pantry that I can grab quickly. Canned tuna was on the agenda last night, mixed up with some things to make a rustic salad and plopped on a big hunk of Tuscan boule I bought on a quick walk to the store. Yep, my first stop after unpacking was the grocer.
Also a good excuse to get outside since I’d been cooped up in a tubular cabinet 30,000 feet up for about 5 hours.
So yep, I could use some comfort food, and Baked Triple Lemon Doughnuts qualify. Bright and citrusy, easy, and much healthier than a fried shoppe counterpart. A lovely, light treat for warm days, whether as a quick treat breakfast or an afternoon snack. If you baked Overnight Lemon Cheesecake French Toast for Mother’s Day, bookmark these doughnuts for Father’s Day! The lemon lover in your life will thank you.
Deez (Dough)nuts
If you’ve made any of my doughnuts before, the basic recipe is pretty much the same, except here we add in lots of fresh lemon juice and lemon zest to the batter.
So, mix up some melted butter and sugar, then eggs, followed by plain Greek yogurt, vanilla, and all that lemony goodness. Stir in the flour, baking powder and soda, and salt. Make sure you don’t get too savvy with mixing – lumpy batter is good batter, and this one is very thick, so you should not be able to pour it.
Scoop the batter into a piping bag and swirl into your greased doughnut pans. Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. The doughnuts always rise perfectly into beautiful poofy discs. Cool them in a pan a bit, then move to a wire rack. If needed, run a butter knife around the edges of each to loosen before you try to lift them out the pan.
What’s the Curd, Nerd?
Lemon curd, yo.
You can certainly make your own batch if you have a recipe you love, but I don’t ever feel like it, so I buy it at the store. Trader Joe’s releases a store brand this time of year, otherwise Whole Foods or Sprouts typically carries it year-round.
Use a serrated knife to slice each doughnut in half. Try to be as even as possible, but if you have a wiggly jiggly hand like I do, no sweat. Spread a spoonful of curd around the cut side of one half, then sandwich the two halves together.
The glaze is an easy mix of powdered sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla. I like a good thick glaze for my doughnuts, so if you need to add more liquid, do so only a scant tablespoon at a time. I use milk usually, but water is fine, too.
Dunk one side of each doughnut into the glaze and set onto a wire rack placed overtop a piece of parchment. I like to let the glaze harden a bit before I eat, but if you’re impatient, then fucken GO FOR IT, dude!
A phenomenal brunch, a swell nibble, or perhaps a treat to take to your neighbors just cos. I don’t think most people would frown at a delivery of doughnuts to their door, unbidden. Even if they don’t love lemon, they’ll love the gesture, and boosting moods is what giving’s all about, right?
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!
Doughnut sleep on these:
Baked Biscoff Cookie Butter Doughnuts
Lucky’s Charmed Vanilla Doughnuts
Baked Blueberry Chai Doughnuts
baked triple lemon doughnuts
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter, melted
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup lemon curd
lemon glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3-4 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- milk or water to thin, as needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 6-slot doughnut pans with butter.
- In a bowl, beat together the melted butter and sugar until combined. Whip in the eggs, one at a time, then the yogurt, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir until just combined. The batter should be very thick.
- Transfer the batter into a piping bag, or a ziptop bag with a corner snipped off. Pipe into the prepared doughnut pans, filling 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 10-12 minutes until risen and an inserted toothpick emerges with just a few moist crumbs. Cool 5 minutes in the pans, then run a knife around the edges of each doughnut to loosen and transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely.
- Slice each doughnut in half. Spread one side with 1 tablespoon of the lemon curd. Sandwich the two halves together.
- In a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla. If needed, thin the glaze with water or milk, 1 teaspoon at a time. The glaze should be thick and not runny.
- Set a piece of parchment beneath the wire rack. Dip each doughnut into the glaze and place on the rack to let any excess slide off. Let the glaze harden for about 5 minutes, then enjoy!
