bring on the sprinkles: cake donuts

Merry fifth day of Christmas! While Wal-Mart is busy setting up its Valentine's Day displays, we're still Christmasing over here . . . all the way to Epiphany on January 6. 

But seriously. Wal-Mart employees were putting out Valentine's Day candy ON CHRISTMAS EVE. What the what? 

We're celebrating Christmas with donuts . . . delicious, carby donuts . . . which are at the very core of all my family holds dear.  Every now and then, on the way home from church, my dad would stop at Casey's, give one of us girls money and send us inside to get everyone a donut.

The only hitch was that we had to count the leftover change back to my dad before we could eat our delicious, sprinkled, glazed, cakey donuts. And for someone who stunk at math, that could mean the difference between the amount of seconds it took to shove a piece of a donut in my mouth and minutes. 

  

It was usually minutes. 

Sigh. 

You know me and math. 

Thanks to the kind Christmas gift of a donut pan from my mom, however, I can now eat donuts any time of the day or night. I don't have to wait until Sunday. Or even share with my sisters!

Unless it's National Donut Day. Then maybe. For old times' sake. 

While donuts from Casey's on Sundays after church will always taste special for a reason, these glazed cake donuts come pretty darn close.

No change counting required! 

Cake Donuts

2 cups flour

3/4 cup white sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

3/4 c. milk

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

1 T. shortening

Icing 

1 c. powdered sugar

2 T. hot water

1/2 tsp. almond extract 

1. Set oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a donut pan. 

2. Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Stir in milk, eggs, vanilla and shortening, and beat until well blended. 

3. Fill your donuts cups 3/4 of the way with batter. Bake donuts for 8-10 minutes or until the donuts spring back when touched. 

4. Allow donuts to cool before removing from the pan. 

5. To make the icing/glaze, blend together powdered sugar, almond extract and hot water. Dip donuts into glaze, and serve. 

** I'd recommend using 1/4 tsp. almond extract. Using 1/2 tsp. was almost a little overpowering!