Baked Blueberry Donuts (sugar free, whole grain)

When you think "healthy dessert", most likely the last thing that comes to mind are donuts. Muffins, black bean brownies, carrot cake, these all could incorporate many healthy ingredients without compromising flavor and texture. But I couldn't let National Donut Day pass by without attempting them, right?

Unfortunately, some desserts are just meant to be healthy. Don't try to health-ify cinnamon rolls--they're just not the same without all that brown sugar. Don't try to health-ify biscuits--they need all that butter for flaky goodness. And yep, don't try to health-ify donuts because they really do need to be deep fried. Baked donuts are simply muffins in donut form. Tasty, but definitely not a donut.

My recipe was adapted from Lara Ferroni's Doughnut book for baked raised donuts. Hands down I will always choose a raised donut over a cake donut. The airy fluffiness and yeasty flavor can't be beat. Instead of using all white flour, I swapped half of it for whole wheat pastry flour, buckwheat flour, and amaranth flour. The result gave a just the right amount of toothsome texture and flavor.

I poked some fresh blueberries into the dough and baked them for a quick 8 minutes. Next, I experimented with pan frying them in a little oil to get that crispy texture. It kind of worked, but sadly doesn't hold a candle to deep fried donuts. Because of the quick cooking time, the blueberries stayed nice and plump with minimal bleeding. Combined with the light yeast flavor and blueberry glaze, I wouldn't say this is so bad for a baked donut!

But then, at the end of the night when Gary was craving a real donut, I deep fried the same dough up. Holy moly, it was good! Nope, not a health food whatsoever, but the combination of flours was delicious!

Lesson learned: Different flours impart delicious results, but must be deep fried.