Chocolate Peppermint Holiday Donuts

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I had a lot of fun putting this post together. One of my favorite things about the holidays is baking; it brings back many sweet memories. I loved when my mums did her pre-holiday pie-making and would use a biscuit cutter on the leftover pie scraps, bake them up, and we would eat them with jam. No matter how young I was she always let me help with the holiday cooking even if I was just peeling apples. I was so proud last year when she tried a holiday cookie recipe I posted on the blog, and loved it so much she continued to make it all season to give away to friends. Cookies are definitely a holiday must, and no one enjoys cookie-decorating more than I do, especially when they serve as an excuse for friends or family to gather in the kitchen together. But this year I wanted to create an alternative to traditional holiday cookie decorating, and I’m so excited about how this project turned out!

I present to you: holiday donuts! I’ve completely fallen in love with baked donuts this year, I think they are cute and delicious. My brain was just bursting with fun ideas on how to holiday-fy them, but I had to settle on these three themes: donut hole snowmen, donut wreaths, and winter wonderland donut combos. I have pictorials for each below, though they’re simple enough that they don’t need much explanation. The chocolate peppermint combo was inspired by DOVE® Peppermint Bark. I’m so glad I thought to buy two bags of it because my hubby ripped into one before I could make this recipe! I filled the donuts with chunks of these delicious smorsels, and they are what make these so good. It’s only in stores for a limited time so make sure you snag some on your next Walmart trip.

Something Walmart is doing again this year is taking part in the Great American Milk Drive. Through 12/25, every time you buy a bag of M&M’s® at Walmart, fresh milk will be donated to kids and families in need. It’s a great cause and an easy way to support it. You can find more info and also donate directly by visiting milklife.com/give, as well as checking out the video below. The holidays are all about sharing, and this is a lovely opportunity.

What are your holiday baking traditions? If you’re looking for new ideas, there are tons of creative recipes at www.MyConfectionCorner.com, including lots of M&M’s® recipes. Run to Walmart this season, grab a bag of M&M’s® and some Great Value® milk, whip up a recipe, and feel good about helping out a worthy cause. And a tip: save some money with Ibotta. Click the photo below to see their offers.

Chocolate Peppermint Holiday Donuts
Makes about 20 donuts + 30 donut holes

Donuts:

• 3 sticks + 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 2-3/4 cups sugar
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 cups almond flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 200 mL Great Value® milk
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 pkg. DOVE® Peppermint Bark, chopped small

Icing:

• 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp peppermint extract
• 1/2 cup whole milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 320F. Grease donut and donut hole pans.

Beat together butter and sugar until fluffy and smooth. Then beat in the eggs, flour, almond flour, baking powder, milk and cocoa until smooth. Fold in the DOVE® Peppermint Bark. Fill pans 3/4 full and bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool a couple minutes in the pan before removing to a rack to cool completely.

To make the icing:
Combine the powdered sugar and peppermint extract. Start by adding 1/4 cup of milk while whisking, and add more as needed to get an opaque but spreadable consistency. Follow instructions below for coloring the icing and dipping the donuts. Cover any icing you’re not using immediately with a damp towel to keep it from hardening.

Snowman Donuts:

• 6″ lollipop sticks
• Donut holes 
• white icing for dipping
• Orange and black icing
• #1 tip fitted onto a pastry bag
• scissors

Dip donut holes in white icing and let dry. Gently push one lollipop stick through 3 donut holes, stopping just before it comes out through the other side. Decorate with orange and black icing like so.

Winter Wonderland Donuts:

• Equal amount of donuts and donut holes 
• sky blue icing
• white icing
• #1 tip fitted onto a pastry bag
• clear sprinkles

Dip both the donuts and donut holes in sky blue icing. Immediately after dipping the donuts in the icing, sprinkle them with the clear sprinkles. Once the icing has solidified, decorate the donut holes with a snowflake using white icing. After dried again, present them like so.

Wreath Donuts:

• Donuts
• juniper green icing
• Red icing
• #1 tip fitted onto pastry bag

Dip the donuts in juniper green icing and let dry. Use the red icing to make a bow at the top of the donut. Then ice on berries all over, bunching them in threes like so.

Donut recipe adapted from this chocolate loaf recipe.