Blueberry Cake Donuts with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing
Fresh hot donuts -- what's not to love?
We recently picked blueberries on a local farm with the kids. We had so much fun meeting new people, laughing and telling stories that before we knew it, our buckets were full.
When we arrived home I thought, “What in the world am I going to do with all these berries?”
Fresh is delicious, of course, but after a day or so you can’t help but crave something more. So I began whipping up blueberry smoothies and classic hand pies. But the adventurer in me wanted to try something different.
I thought about the blueberry cake flavor I used to order at our local donut shop as a kid.
That was it! I created a simple recipe for baked donuts instead of fried, to cut the calories a bit, and added cream cheese to the mixture for a smooth texture. I blended the blueberries into the batter for ultimate berry flavor (not to mention, they're much easier to release from the pan).
Then the kids wanted to help out, so they made a batch of cinnamon cream cheese icing that we use on everything from carrot cupcakes to soft gingerbread cookies.
Finally, we topped the donuts with fresh blueberries.
My only regret as we munched on delicious homemade donuts was, why hadn’t I thought of this before?
Recipe video via Vermilion Lane YouTube channel
Blueberry Cake Donuts with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing Recipe
Ingredients for donuts:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1½ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup fresh blueberries (or frozen)
1/3 cup milk
1 extra large egg
1 tablespoon cream cheese
¼ teaspoon salt
Directions for donuts:
Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Combine wet ingredients (blueberries, cream cheese, milk, egg) in a large mixing bowl or lightly pulse in food processor.
Sift dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt) together in a large mixing bowl.
Slowly combine dry ingredients into wet mixture stirring just enough to combine and break any large lumps.
Spray donut pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Pipe batter or pour with a spoon into donut pan.
Bake 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Tip: For light and fluffy donuts, do not overmix batter or overbake donuts.
Icing Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, blend 8 ounces of cream cheese (minus 1 tablespoon for donuts) with 4 tablespoons 2% milk (or whole), ½ cup of confectioners’ sugar, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon.
Check out our blueberry picking blog post.