Valentine’s Day sure comes at a funny time, doesn’t it? We’re all still reeling from the overindulgences of the holiday season, and then BAM! Here comes the holiday marked by rich chocolate bon bons and red velvet cake. Last year I shared a healthier Valentine’s Day treat idea, but this year I’m making exactly what I really crave (each and every day, not just on Valentine’s Day). Chocolate doughnuts! But not just any chocolate doughnuts- chocolate cherry glazed donuts baked in my new heart-shaped donut pan.

Besides the yummy chocolatey taste, the great thing about these doughnuts is that they’re not quite as unhealthy as traditional doughnuts, because they’re baked instead of fried. So, basically health food… ahem. I added some cherry flavoring to the chocolate doughnut batter, and also some cherry syrup to to the glaze, giving it a pretty pink color and a subtle cherry flavor. The taste is divine! Check out my printable recipe below.

Baked Chocolate Cherry Glazed Doughnuts

2014-01-24 20:18:44

A light, fluffy baked chocolate glazed donut with a subtle cherry flavor.

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Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

9 min

Total Time

14 min

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

9 min

Total Time

14 min

3490 calories

766 g

392 g

36 g

56 g

13 g

1214 g

2763 g

533 g

2 g

20 g

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size

1214g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 3490

Calories from Fat 313

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 36g

55%

Saturated Fat 13g

66%

Trans Fat 2g

Polyunsaturated Fat 7g

Monounsaturated Fat 13g

Cholesterol 392mg

131%

Sodium 2763mg

115%

Total Carbohydrates 766g

255%

Dietary Fiber 21g

85%

Sugars 533g

Protein 56g

Vitamin A

15%

Vitamin C

5%

Calcium

93%

Iron

66%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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Donuts

1. 2 Cups all-purpose flour
2. 3/4 Cup white sugar
3. 1/2 Cup cocoa powder
4. 2 teaspoons baking powder
5. 1 teaspoon salt
6. 3/4 Cup buttermilk*
7. 2 eggs (beaten)
8. 1 Tablespoon grenadine syrup
9. 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
10. 1 tablespoon of melted shortening
11. *A buttermilk substitute can be made by adding 1 Tablespoon of vinegar to 3/4 Cup milk and allowing the mixture to rest for ten minutes until sour.

Glaze

1. 3 Cups powdered sugar
2. 1/4 Cup (or more) warm milk
3. 2 teaspoons grenadine syrup

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and lightly grease your donut pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and cocoa powder until all of the cocoa powder lumps are gone. Separately, beat together the eggs with the vanilla, grenadine, and melted shortening. Add the egg mixture and buttermilk to the flour mixture, mixing only until just blended. Do not over mix, or the doughnuts will be dense and tough, instead of light and fluffy.
3. Fill the donut pan halfway full, dragging the batter with a toothpick to make sure its surface is nice and smooth. Bake for 9 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. While the donuts bake, beat together the ingredients for the glaze. Start with less milk, and add more as necessary until the glaze reaches a somewhat runny consistency, but thick enough to coat the mixing beater when pulled from the glaze.
4. Allow the freshly baked doughnuts to cool for a couple of minutes before removing them from the pan and placing on a cooling rack. Dunk the tops of the warm donuts into the glaze, place onto the cooling rack with paper underneath to catch the glaze runoff. Wait 5 minutes and dunk again, this time decorating with red sprinkles immediately dunking.

Notes

1. These doughnuts taste like a cross between a chocolate cake donut and a chocolate cupcake. They don't have the crunchy outer that a fried cake doughnut has, but the doughnut shape and yummy glaze add enough of the doughnut aspect that this recipe is a winner in my book!

By Making Nice in the Midwest

beta

calories

3490

fat

36g

protein

56g

carbs

766g

more

Making Nice in the Midwest https://makingniceinthemidwest.com/

One really blessed night a few years ago, one of my best friends invented a creamy chocolate drink we so eloquently dubbed The Lovely Awesome. There really was no other name for it. Nothing else described the lovely awesomeness of the creamy chocolate drink. Occasionally since then, I’ve worked on tweaking the recipe to include ingredients I can actually keep on hand, since the original called for things like dark chocolate almond milk and creamy liqueurs that have a short shelf life. My mission ended in this project- making my own chocolate liqueur.  I made some to keep, some to give, and a little creamy version to keep around for sweet cocktails during the next week.

I’ll share with you my updated version of The Lovely Awesome soon, but for now, I thought I’d share this great gift idea to give to friends, coworkers, or hostesses this holiday season. I found these great liqueur bottles here, and designed a label that I printed, cut out, and spray mounted to the finished chocolate liqueur bottles. The recipe I used is from Creative Culinary, and it is scrumptious! I only slightly adapted it to make for a quicker and easier process.

P.S. This recipe is not for créme de cacao, but you will see a bottle labeled that way in these photos.

Chocolate Liqueur

2013-12-07 22:55:30

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1187 calories

149 g

107 g

31 g

29 g

19 g

602 g

398 g

137 g

0 g

11 g

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size

602g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 1187

Calories from Fat 270

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 31g

47%

Saturated Fat 19g

93%

Trans Fat 0g

Polyunsaturated Fat 1g

Monounsaturated Fat 10g

Cholesterol 107mg

36%

Sodium 398mg

17%

Total Carbohydrates 149g

50%

Dietary Fiber 7g

29%

Sugars 137g

Protein 29g

Vitamin A

17%

Vitamin C

12%

Calcium

99%

Iron

21%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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Ingredients

1. 2 Cups water- divided
2. 1/2 Cup 141 proof vodka
3. 1/2 Cup sugar
4. 1/4 Cup cocoa

Optional for creamy version

1. 1 small can evaporated milk

Instructions

1. In a small sauce pan, boil 1 cup of water with the sugar to create a simple syrup. Remove from heat and add cocoa powder, stir to dissolve, then add remaining 1 cup of water. Once cool cooled, add vodka to the mixture. Using a funnel, pour mixture into bottle. Original author recommends leaving it refrigerated for 1 week before using. Shake well before pouring.

Notes

1. I had excess liqueur that did not fit into the large bottle, so I combined it with one small can of evaporated milk and bottled it for creamy cocktails. This mixture will only last for a week, so it's not ideal for gift giving.

Adapted from Creative Culinary

beta

calories

1187

fat

31g

protein

29g

carbs

149g

more

Adapted from Creative Culinary

Making Nice in the Midwest https://makingniceinthemidwest.com/

If you want to make a creamy liqueur with any leftovers like I did, but you’re dairy intolerant, you can probably find evaporated goat’s milk at the grocery store which might work wonders for you! If you are vegan, I would try coconut milk in place of the evaporated milk.

If you double this recipe, it should split nicely between four of these bottles. You can print out one sheet of these labels I made onto sticker paper, then peel and mount them to the bottle. I didn’t have sticker paper, so I used nice presentation paper, but out the labels, and sprayed the back with permanent spray mount to adhere them to the bottles.

For some immediate post-cooking satisfaction, I poured some of the chocolate liqueur over ice and topped it with the evaporated milk. It hit the spot! In between sips, I cut some ribbon and tied a bow on the bottles so they’ll be all ready to give as gifts to my family! Finally- a homemade gift that people will actually want to receive- no doubt about it!

Have you ever eaten an amazing meal at a restaurant, and lived the rest of your days haunted by the deliciousness of that meal until you finally figured out how to duplicate it at home? This spaghetti squash curry with roasted chickpeas has been my meal haunting for a few years, ever since I my first visit to Cleveland’s renowned Greenhouse Tavern. It was the only vegan entree on the entire menu, but at the time I was a pretty picky eater and curry definitely intimidated me. Luckily, I ordered it anyway, and it quickly became a favorite restaurant memory.

Unfortunately, the Greenhouse Tavern’s sustainable menu is always changing due to local produce availability, and I’ve never seen spaghetti squash curry with roasted chickpeas on it again, so I was forced to do a little experimenting in my own kitchen. I think I finally got it right! If you’re as excited about comfort food season as I am, you must try this recipe! It’s not too spicy, but it’s definitely delicious and so flavorful. Oh, and as a bonus? It’s also vegan and gluten-free!

Spaghetti Squash Curry with Roasted Chickpeas

2013-10-10 18:33:29

Serves 4

Healthy, hearty curried spaghetti squash topped with savory seasoned chickpeas and green onions

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Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

60 hr

Total Time

65 hr

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

60 hr

Total Time

65 hr

150 calories

22 g

0 g

6 g

6 g

1 g

132 g

763 g

5 g

0 g

4 g

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size

132g

Servings

4

Amount Per Serving

Calories 150

Calories from Fat 48

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 6g

8%

Saturated Fat 1g

3%

Trans Fat 0g

Polyunsaturated Fat 1g

Monounsaturated Fat 3g

Cholesterol 0mg

0%

Sodium 763mg

32%

Total Carbohydrates 22g

7%

Dietary Fiber 2g

6%

Sugars 5g

Protein 6g

Vitamin A

9%

Vitamin C

7%

Calcium

4%

Iron

10%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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For the Curried Squash

1. 1 spaghetti squash
2. 8 oz. can of tomato sauce
3. 2 T olive oil, halved
4. 2 T mild curry powder
5. 1 T chili powder
6. 2 t sugar
7. 1 1/2 t cumin
8. 1/2 t salt
9. 1/2 t garlic powder
10. 1/2 t turmeric

For the Roasted Chickpeas

1. 1 can of unsalted chickpeas
2. 1 T olive oil
3. 1/2 t salt
4. 1/4 t cracked black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400˚

For the Spaghetti Squash Curry

1. Cut the spaghetti squash in half, scoop out the seeds (which make a great snack when seasoned and roasted!), place on a cooking sheet cut sides up, and brush with one tablespoon of olive oil. Roast at 400˚ for 50 minutes. While the squash is roasting, combine the rest of the curried squash ingredients to make the sauce. Then prepare the chickpeas for roasting (directions below). When the squash is removed from the oven, allow it to cool while you roast the chickpeas. When the squash is cool enough to handle, shred the flesh with a fork and place into a medium size bowl. Add the sauce, and stir to combine. Scoop the curried spaghetti squash onto 4 plates, top with sliced green onions and a quarter of the roasted chickpeas and serve hot.

For the Roasted Chickpeas

1. Combine the drained chickpeas with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil, the salt, and the pepper. Spread in one layer on a cooking sheet covered in parchment paper. Roast at 450˚ for about ten minutes, or until golden and slightly crispy.

By Making Nice in the Midwest

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calories

150

fat

6g

protein

6g

carbs

22g

more

Making Nice in the Midwest https://makingniceinthemidwest.com/