Baked Doughnuts

3/4 cups Warm Milk divided (1/4 c & 1/2 c)
2.25 tsp or 1 packet Active Dry Yeast
1 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
8 packets of Splenda (or 1/3 cup of sugar)
1 Egg
2 ½ cup All Purpose Flour
Pinch of Nutmeg (optional)
1/2 tsp. Salt

To make chocolate donuts you can take half the dough and add unsweetened cocoa powder. Knead until incorporated.

For toppings melt some butter and using a silicon brush put some butter on one side of the doughnut. In a bowl put some cinnamon sugar or combine 1 cup of sugar with 1 tbsp of cinnamon and dip the buttered doughnut in. Or, you can use powdered chocolate drink mix. (this is not part of the nutritional information.)

To make the dough, place ¼ cup of the warm milk in a bow. Sprinkle the yeast over the milk. Let sit for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup of milk with the sugar and butter. Add it to the yeast mixture. Stir to combine. Add the egg and stir until incorporated. Add the flour, nutmeg, and salt and stir until the dough starts to form. Knead until the dough starts to become smooth. If the dough is too sticky, slowly add more flour until it is no longer sticky.

Place the dough ball in a large lightly greased bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled in size.

Once the dough has risen, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until 1/8" - 1/4" thick. Using a doughnut cutter (if you don’t have a doughnut cutter, you can use 2 cookie cutters – 1 that is about 3 inches, and the other that is about 2 inches for the inner circle) cut out the doughnuts until you have no dough left. If you can't make a full doughnut anymore make some doughnut holes either with a small cookie cutter or by hand.

Place the doughnuts on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper, about 1 inch apart. Cover with a clean towel and let sit for about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven 375 degrees F.

Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 7 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Be careful to not over bake these. You want them to be light and doughy inside. Let the doughnuts cool for about 5 minutes.

Serving Size: Makes roughly 16 doughnuts and about 30 doughnut holes.

Number of Servings: 20

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user MERETONI.