Orange Chocolate Chip Baked Donuts

Warm from the oven, these baked donuts are hard to resist!
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Orange Chocolate Chip Baked Donuts

Donut batter ingredients:

1 3/4 c. + 2 T. white rice flour (for gluten-free) or all-purpose flour

1/3 c. granulated white sugar

2 t. baking powder

pinch of salt

3/4 c. buttermilk

2 lg. eggs

2 T. unsalted butter, melted

2 t. fresh, finely grated orange zest

1 t. orange extract

2.5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Topping ingredients:

1/2 c. confectioner’s sugar

1/4 t. ground cinnamon

1 T. + 1 t. fresh orange juice

1/2 t. orange extract

2 T. honey

cinnamon sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a 6-mold donut baking pan with oil, set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, melted butter, orange zest, and orange extract. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until the mixture is smooth. If the batter is a little too stiff, slowly stir in just a little bit more buttermilk. Fold in chopped chocolate.

4. Divide the batter between the oiled donut molds. Spread batter with the back of a spoon to smooth out tops. If needed, run your fingers under cold water, shake them off lightly, then use them to shape the donuts. Batter will stand slightly above the top of the donut pan. Bake for about 10 minutes or until done to the touch.

5. While the donuts are baking, prepare the topping. Stir together confectioner’s sugar, cinnamon, orange juice, orange extract, and honey until very smooth.

6. When donuts are done baking, invert onto a cooling rack. Glaze right away, then sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar. Serve immediately.

More baked donut recipes:

Strawberry Shortcake Donuts

Cinnamon-Dipped Donuts

Enjoy! Have a great day!

Pumpkin Dried Cherry Quick Bread

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Pumpkin Dried Cherry Quick Bread

Ingredients:

2 c. all-purpose flour or white rice flour

1 T. ground cinnamon

1/2 t. ground mace

1/2 t. salt

1 c. packed pumpkin puree

1/2 c. canola oil

1/2 c. low-fat buttermilk

2 lg. eggs

2 t. vanilla extract

1/2 c. granulated white sugar

1/2 c. packed light brown sugar

3/4 c. dried cherries+extra for garnish

confectioner’s sugar

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray baking pan* with vegetable oil.
  2. Whisk together flour, cinnamon, mace and salt. Set aside.
  3. Stir together pumpkin, oil, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla extract until well combined. Stir in sugars until well moistened.
  4. Stir flour mixture into pumpkin mixture until no dry spots remain. Fold in dried cherries.
  5. Scoop batter into baking pan, smoothing the surface with the back of a large spoon. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted near the center comes out clean or with large crumbs that look cooked through.
  6. Cool for 10-20 minutes on a cooling rack.  Invert bread onto another rack, then re-invert onto a serving plate. Dust with confectioner’s sugar before serving. Serve warm or cool. Garnish with dried cherries.

Enjoy!

*The pan that I use is a non-stick fluted cake pan that is a little bit over 8 cups in volume.

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Have a lovely day!

Weekly Photo Challenge: The World Through Your Eyes

This is a picture that I took this morning in between serving breakfasts. The theme for this photo challenge – the world through your eyes – calls for the photographer to use lines and light, etc. to make clear what she had in mind in taking the photo. If you look at this lily and feel like it is right in front of you, then I have succeeded in showing it through my eyes.

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By the way, if you read my Wild Daylily Gin & Tonics post, you will want to note that this is an Asiatic lily, not a daylily. Asiatic lilies are not edible!

A Wedding in Oranges

We hosted a charming wedding at Bed & Breakfast yesterday. There was quite a bit to do to get ready and so, unfortunately, I didn’t have time to photograph the cake or the bride’s bouquet. I did take a few photos of some of the other flowers today, though. The bride loves orange, especially orange daisies. So I made her bouquet with four styles of orange gerbera daisies along with coppery-pink florists roses and peach-colored spray roses. The textures and colors were so cheerful that I used the same assortment of flowers to decorate the cake. We at The Morning Star wish the bride and groom a very happy future together!

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Black Tea “Sangria”

We served wine and cocktails on Thanksgiving, but I wanted to be sure that we had a special non-alcoholic drink as well. Inspired by a “mocktail” that I came across recently, I created this Black Tea “Sangria” which uses chilled black tea in place of wine. It turned out quite well. Even though Thanksgiving is over, I thought that I would share this easy recipe because it could be served at any holiday party. It is very festive. Enjoy!

Black Tea Sangria

(approximate measurements)

6 c. cold water

4 black tea bags*

1/2 c. sugar

4 1/2  c. pomegranate juice**

2 1/2  c. orange juice

Orange, lemon, and/or apple slices

1. In a medium-size pot, bring water to a boil. Remove from heat, add tea bags, and cover with a lid. Allow tea to steep for about 15 minutes. Remove tea bags. Stir in sugar until completely dissolved. Allow to cool.

2. Pour cooled tea into a pitcher. Stir in fruit juices. Refrigerate for several hours to overnight. Add fruit slices an hour before serving and continue to chill. If desired, garnish with additional fruit when serving.

* I used black tea with cinnamon. If using plain black tea, one could add a cinnamon stick while it is steeping.

** If pure pomegranate juice is not available, a pomegranate juice blend, or even a cranberry juice blend, would also work well in this recipe.

Orange on the Block

Looking for early signs of autumn, I decided to photograph the color orange in our neighborhood. It turns out that it was mostly in our own front yard.

Our neighbor’s crabapple tree with the tiniest fruit …

Miniature rose recovering from the summer’s heat by producing a perfectly formed little bud …
Oakleaf hydrangea foliage starting to turn …

Rust-colored chrysanthemums …

“Living Easy” rose, vibrant as ever …

Our new sign …

Leaves from our Linden tree, fallen before fulling turning …

Pyracantha berries across the street …

Early pumpkins …

But don’t let me rush things!