Banana Bread Donuts

I want to thank you all for sharing your stories of your days in braces.  While I'm not looking forward to the next year and a half, I know that it will be all worth it in the end.  Sure, I'll spend some time sipping on smoothies and spooning up risotto, but I'll come out of it all with the smile I've always wanted.  I'm thinking that we'll have to start  monthly smoothie and monthly risotto posts!  I'm going to get so good at stirring!

After my orthodontia appointment Wednesday night, I was feeling fine.  It wasn't until the next afternoon that I was starting to feel the difference and, as strange as this may sound, I was completely aware of my teeth.  Every last one of them.  There wasn't pain, just the sensation that I had a whole bunch of teeth in my mouth and that they were trying to move around.  After reading a bit about the actual process that occurs during braces, I was happy to know that the worst of it would be over after three days. 

Sure enough, come the weekend I was ready to have some (soft) solid foods!  I spent the weekend cooking and baking, filling the house with sweet and savory smells.  If you were following my crazy series of tweets this weekend, you got a sneak preview of Thursdays bagels.  Boyfriend got a cheesey and meaty dinner Sunday night.  And I got to break in my new donut pan.

I waited and waited, until I had a good idea of what I wanted to make, before buying a donut pan.  I figured that if I didn't have any recipes in mind for the pan, it would just sit in the cupboard and gather dust.  Once I collected a bunch of ideas on scraps of papers, boyfriend and I picked up a pan while shopping at Michael's.  You can look forward to many donut recipes to come and I'll enjoy eating them all year long, even with my new braces.

One Year Ago: Cherry Turkish Taffy

Banana Bread Donuts

Adapted from Bread Bible

This is an adaptation of one of my favorite banana bread recipes.  I increased the amount of flour in order to give the donuts a sturdier texture than the original bread.  I like my banana bread with a hint of cinnamon, feel free to add your favorite spices to the mix!

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 medium, overripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat to the oven to 425 and coat your donut pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, beat together oil, sugar, egg and vanilla extract with a whisk.  Beat for about 2 minutes, or until the mixture lightens in color.  Add bananas and mix.  In a smaller bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, add all at once to the liquids and stir until combined. 

Fill the donut shapes about 2/3 full with batter and bake for 9-10 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown.  Allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before removing and cooling on a wire rack.  Make the glaze while the donuts cool further.  Fill your donut pan with more batter and bake, continue until you run out of batter.

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp milk
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Add milk to the powdered sugar and whisk until smooth.  Add vanilla extract. 

Dip the still warm donut in glaze and allow the glaze to drip down over the donuts.  Enjoy!