Baked Doughnuts! (this one's for you Elizabeth)

I was looking through my Family Circle magazine and came across this recipe.  I immediately thought of Elizabeth, my youngest follower.  At age 12 she is already fearless in the kitchen.  I admire her adventurous spirit.
 I did not have the doughnut pan that the recipe called for, but my sister let me borrow her mini bundt cake pan.  That worked out pretty good.  They taste more like cake than a doughnut but they are yummy none the less! I made a batch of chocolate ones just to see how they would turn out and then decided to make vanilla ones for this post.  I had run out of brown sugar after the first batch so I had to make my own for the second.  That is why in the picture the brown sugar looks a little odd.  (The way to make brown sugar is 1 cup of white sugar combined with 1/2 cup of molasses yields 1 cup of brown sugar).  I should also mention in my first batch I used regular white flour, but in my second batch I used cake flour.  I needed to add an extra 1/4 cup of cake flour to have the batter thick enough.   Also, I forgot to include the egg in the picture of ingredients, so don't forget to add it!

Here is what you need for vanilla doughnuts:  1 1/4 cup of flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup buttermilk, 1/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar, 1 egg, 4 teaspoons unsalted butter, melted, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. (Note: For chocolate doughnuts, decrease flour to 1 cup,  add 1/4 cup of cocoa, and increase brown sugar to 1/2 cup)

This is the pan I used.  If you have a doughnut pan on hand, you most likely already know how to do this!

Heat oven to 325.  Coat your pan with nonstick cooking spray.  In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and salt.  In a small bowl, whisk buttermilk, sugar, egg, melted butter and vanilla extract until smooth.  Add milk mixture to flour mixture; whisk until smooth. Note: My butter was not completely melted, that is why it looks a little funny!

Spoon batter into a large resealable plastic bag.  Cut off a corner and squeeze batter into prepared pan, about 2/3 full.  Or simply spoon into the pan and smooth the tops of each.  Bake at 325 for 15 minutes if you are using the bundt pan, or 13 minutes if you are using a doughnut pan.  They should spring back when lightly pressed.

Let cool in the pan on a rack for 3 minutes, then carefully turn out onto rack to cool.  After they are completely cooled, you are ready to decorate!  I used 1 cup of powdered sugar mixed with 2 tablespoons of milk (and 1 tablespoon of cocoa for the chocolate topping).  In addition I sprinkled some mini chocolate chips on top.  The doughnut itself is not very sweet, so don't be afraid the topping is going to be too much.  If you try this, let me know some of your creations for the toppings.