Vanilla Bean Baby Doughnuts

There is a way early morning smells that I can't put into words. It's clean and damp, fresh and alive. It's a smell that you only get when its too early for heavy eyelids to be outside and moving about. I smelled it for the first time in a long time the other morning and was brought back to my childhood and fishing trips.

Before the sun rises, the boat was hooked to the back of the truck and I was tucked into my seat getting ready for a day on the water with my father (who must have been the most patient man in the world because I have never been good at fishing - or very into it for that matter). One requirement to every trip was chocolate covered doughnuts. Not just any chocolate covered doughnut either, but the mini Tastykake ones in the yellow box. Yeah, those were what made those early mornings possible.

These vanilla bean baked doughnuts may not be chocolate covered Tastykakes from the local quick stop, but they are just as addictive and would certainly help to lure anyone out of bed early in the morning.

Vanilla Bean Baby Doughnuts

from SprinkleBakes

Ingredients:

Doughnut batter:

2 cups flour
¾ cup sugar
2 teas baking powder
½ teas salt
¾ cup buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teas vanilla extract
Seeds from one vanilla bean
2 tbs butter, melted

Vanilla Glaze:

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tbs milk
½ teas vanilla extract
4 drops of liquid blue food coloring (or color of your choice. I rolled with teal)
White nonparels

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray your doughnut pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla extract and vanilla seeds. Add butter and mix until just combined.

Transfer the batter to a piping bag without a tip, or a ziplock bag (snip the corner off after filling). Fill each doughnut cup aproximately half way.

Bake 5 - 8 minutes or until top of doughnuts spring back when touched. Let cool on a wire rack in the pan for 4 minutes before turning out to cool completely.

Make the glaze:
In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the food coloring and stir until the color is smooth and combined.

Dip the doughnuts the into the glaze and let sit for a minute. Place the doughnuts on a wire rack, set in a baking sheet, and sprinkle with nonpareils. (The baking sheet will catch any pesky runaways).

* I used a regular size pan for my doughnuts.