I have been going to the Long Grove Apple Haus for as long as I can remember. They make the absolute BEST apple donuts. Long Grove is a little shopping area with all kinds of cute shops. I never really went for the shopping though. I went for the food. We would always get donuts from the Apple Haus, soup and cheese samples from the General Store, fudge from the Long Grove Confectionary, popcorn from the Popcorn Shoppe and ice cream from the Peppermint Stick. During Apple Fest and Strawberry Fest the amount of food only increased. There was the cinnamon roasted nut stand, the corn on the cob stand, the fried candy bar stand and more chocolate covered strawberries than you could ever imagine. It was heaven.
I don’t go to Long Grove very often anymore. I just can’t afford all those donuts. Both the price and the calories! Plus, why pay for unhealthy fried donuts when you can make equally tasty donuts that are baked? I saw these cute little mini donut pans and I knew I needed them. I searched for apple donut recipes and finally settled on this one. They were super good. Maybe not quite as good as the fried ones from the Apple Haus, but these were healthier and mini! I have a theory that everything tastes better in miniature. Plus, fewer calories never hurt anyone. The recipe was actually for muffins, so we did some muffins and some mini donuts. We weren’t sure how they would cook in mini donut pans but luckily for us, both the donuts and muffins turned out great!
Here is what you'll need
Combine the dry ingredients
Dice up the apples
Add the shortening
Mix until broken up
Combine the apples, milk and eggs
Add the apples to the flour mixture
Stir
Put about 1 tablespoon of batter into each for mini donuts
or 2 Tablespoons for muffins
Ready to come out of the oven!
Get your assembly line ready
Place donuts on cooling rack
Dip in butter
Cover in cinnamon sugar
Enjoy with coffee and a crossword!
Ingredients:
Batter
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup vegetable shortening
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
2 cups cored and finely diced apples
Topping
½ cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Directions:
Mix the first 6 ingredients with a fork. Add the shortening and mix until broken up. Set aside. In another bowl combine the eggs, milk and diced apples. Add to the dry ingredients just until blended.
Spoon into greased muffin pans or mini donut pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes for the muffins and 10 minutes for the mini donuts.
While the donuts are baking, melt 1/2 cup butter. Set aside. Combine 1 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. When donuts are done and before they have had a chance to cool, dip in butter and then in cinnamon sugar mixture.
Source: Adapted from Tasty Kitchen
