Brown Butter Donuts with Chocolate Glaze

I brought out my new donut pan again last Friday, in honor of National Donut Day. This time, I wanted a yellow donut with chocolate frosting (my favorite kind). I'm not sure how I've gone so many years without knowing about the tastiness of brown butter. It is so amazingly flavorful, nutty, and rich! These donuts will definitely hit your sweet spot, and once again, they're baked and made from scratch, so they're practically guilt-free! ;)

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter (You'll only use 2T)
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze:
1  1/2 cups powdered sugar
4 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
pinch of salt
3-4 Tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sprinkles

Directions:

Move a rack up to the top third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Lightly grease the donut pan.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking salt, salt, and sugar.

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter until it begins to brown and smell nutty. Remove it from the heat, and transfer it to a small bowl to cool. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, and vanilla. Take 2 Tablespoons out of the browned butter and mix it in, too.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix them just until all of the flour is incorporated.

Spoon the batter into the pan (fill each hole about 2/3 full), and smooth out each donut.

 

Put in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, or when a toothpick comes out clean. 

Cool them for 5 minutes, and then invert them onto a wire rack.

For the glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt.

Add 2 Tablespoons of milk plus 1 teaspoon vanilla. The glaze should be thick, yet pourable. Add a tablespoon or two of milk until you get the right viscosity. (In these photos, I let the glaze get a little too runny.)

When they are cool, dip each donut into the chocolate glaze. Add sprinkles, and let the glaze harden a bit before serving.

This recipe makes 6 regular-size donuts, or 12 mini donuts!

These guys were excited, can you tell!? :)

Recipe adapted from here.