Date Donuts with Vanilla Cinnamon Sugar

These baked date donuts will be gone in 60 seconds and are far superior to anything you will buy at the shops. Toss in cinnamon sugar that has been elevated with vanilla powder. A simple melt and mix recipe resulting in baked fluffy delicious donuts.

The beauty of baking donuts is that you avoid having to deal with hot oil. They take less time to cook, there is less mess, and less cleaning up. Plus less oil, in general, is better for you.

I used a donut cake tin for this recipe, and they're not a bad investment to your cake tin collection. If you don't have one, or don't want to buy one, that's perfectly fine too. Make this date donuts recipe using a mini muffin tin. Simply roll the mini muffins in the cinnamon sugar, and voila donut holes.

No matter what tin you use, you will end up with light, fluffy, and delicious donuts. Pie maker enthusiasts might like to try this recipe in a pie maker.

Sara xxx

What's in this post

• Ingredients
• Recipe Instructions
• Sara's Top Recipe Tip
• Using the excess cinnamon sugar
• Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1. Flour: Plain all purpose flour. You can use self raising flour, but omit the baking powder from the recipe.
2. Dates: Fresh medjool dates, find very fresh nice plump ones if you can.
3. Butter: I use salted for this recipe, you can use un-salted, but add a sprinkle of salt when adding the flour in the making process.
4. Eggs: Free-range eggs make for happier chickens and happier date donuts.
5. Vanilla Bean Powder: I picked up some vanilla bean powder when visiting Noumea, it was the first time I had seen the product. It is simply made from dried and ground vanilla beans, but the smell and taste surpasses vanilla extracts and pastes. It can be found at specialty food stores, health food, and organic food suppliers. You can subsitutes by using a couple of teaspoons of vanilla sugar or scrape the seeds from a vanilla pod and rub the seeds into the cinnamon sugar mixture with your fingers.
6. Raw Caster Sugar: Also known as golden caster (superfine) sugar. It accentuates the caramel flavour notes of the dates. Standard caster sugar/superfine sugar can be used instead if needed.
7. Baking Powder: To add more fluff to the donuts. If using self raising flour, leave out.
8. Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon, unfortunately this can't be substituted.
9. Vanilla Extract: Vanilla essence, or vanilla bean paste, may also be used.
10. Four: Run of the mill plain/all purpose flour. If you use self raising, leave the baking poweder out of this recipe.
11. Boiling Water (not pictured): A small amout of boiling water from the kettle is used to soften the dates to make a paste.

Recipe Instructions

Scroll to the bottom of the page for a printable version of this recipe.

Pre-heat oven 160°C/325°F. Grease two donut tins. You may need to flour your tin as well if they have a tendency to stick.

Place flour, baking powder, caster sugar, eggs, milk, butter, vanilla extract, and mashed dates in a large mixing bowl.

Turn donuts out onto a wire rack to cool. Once cool coat donuts with vanilla cinnamon sugar.

Sara's Top Recipe Tip

Using the excess cinnamon sugar

As mentioned above this recipe makes more sugar mixture than you need to coat the donuts. I suggest storing excess in an airtight container for later use. Below are some of my suggestions.

• It makes the ultimate cinnamon toast.
• Use it as a replacement for caster sugar in my bombolini recipe.
• Perfect for rolling these bite size kiwiberry doughnuts in.
• Sprinkle on the top of apple muffins or blueberry muffins when baking.
• Shake a little over the top of Latvian apple pancakes.
• Roast sweet potatoes with a little of the cinnamon vanilla sugar for extra flavour and caramelisation.
• Use it next time you make candied bacon or pig candy.
• Add it to oatmeal or porridge for breakfast.

Printable Recipe