Mini St. Patrick's Day Donuts

I hail from the land of the original glazed doughnut, and to this day they're my favorite kind. 

There are few bites as good as a warm, sweet Krispy Kreme doughnut, hot out of the fryer. They melt in your mouth. You can never hide the fact you just ate one (say, on your lunch break, in the car) because the whisper-thin layer of sugar that gently coats them flakes off at the slightest touch, leaving a trail of tell-tale sweetness on your shirt. 

And they're even still divine with a cup of hot coffee the next day. I used to work with an editor named Mike who had the rewarm protocol down pat. "It only takes eight seconds," he'd say. "Any less is not enough. Any more is too much." Around these parts, Krispy Kreme was a religion unto itself for a long, long time.



But then something happened. That other donut-maker came to town. The one with the shortened spelling. The one that sold not only regular-size donuts but also the center out of each. (What a concept! They were ahead of their time! A mini dessert before bloggers! Before Pinterest!) I remember my mom getting us a box of donut holes every now and then, and I always picked out the chocolate cake ones. And I still love them. I'm not a traitor. Sometimes you need an original glazed doughnut, and sometimes you need a chocolate cake donut hole. There are seven days in the week, after all.



It's those chocolate-cake donut holes that inspired these homemade miniature St. Patrick's Day donuts. The texture of these donuts is cake-like, too, just like my beloved chocolate donut holes. These are also mini—the perfect size for little hands to dunk, sprinkle, and steal them right from under my nose. And the sprinkles? One might say they're magically delicious. Perhaps they'll help me find my pot o' gold this St. Patrick's Day! But then again, maybe a dozen of these cuties, shared with my babies, is all the treasure I need.



Mini St. Patrick's Day Donuts
Adapted from Sugar and Cloth | Makes two dozen

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 5 tbsp butter, melted
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp plus 2 tsp half and half, plus more as needed
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 3 drops green food color
• Sprinkles, optional

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Coat mini donut pan with cooking spray.
2. In large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
3. In medium bowl, whisk butter, sugar, egg, milk, and vanilla. Stir wet ingredients into dry.
4. Fill donut pan no more than 3/4 full. Bake 7 to 9 minutes. Let cool 1 minute in pan before moving to wire rack to completely cool.
5. Meanwhile, make the glaze. Whisk together half and half, vanilla, and powdered sugar. If glaze is too thick, add 1/4 tsp half and half at a time until you reach desired consistency. Whisk in food color. Dip cooled donuts into glaze and return to wire rack. Immediately add sprinkles to wet glaze, if desired. Let set 10 minutes before serving. Store in an air-tight container.