Strawberries & Cream Donuts

Donuts are such a nice treat for a weekend breakfast! There are few things that smell better than walking into a bakery and smelling fresh baked donuts. In fact, one of my favorite childhood memories is walking into our local grocery store in my hometown and taking in that amazing smell. Believe it or not, it still smells the exact same even 25+ years later. Trust me, I stop by to verify every so often, hah! I guess they found a good thing and stuck with it.

With this recipe, you can have the smell of Strawberries & Cream Donuts right in your very own kitchen! How nice does that sound?!

I was actually too nervous for a long time to make donuts. I am not sure why, but they seemed intimidating. I finally broke down and ordered these donut pans. They come in such fun colors! Even though I was excited when they arrived, I still wasn’t sure what I was going to make. That is until I came across a big sale on strawberries that I just couldn’t pass up!

Anytime I find a sale like this (89cents/lb) I like to stock up. Within a few minutes, I can wash, dry and quarter the berries and toss them in a freezer bag. This way I’ve got strawberries for a long while and can make recipes like this!

The combination of tons of strawberries and a little cream makes a really dense and moist donut. The donut itself is not overly sweet, which makes it perfect with a nice hot cup of coffee or tea. But, if you want to take this to the next level, a little cream cheese icing on top is a match made in heaven.

Strawberries & Cream Donuts

Chances are you already have most of the ingredients on hand. I love simple recipes!

Ingredients you will need:

• Butter
• Granulated Sugar
• Brown Sugar
• Eggs
• Heavy Cream
• Flour
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• Vanilla
• Strawberries, finely diced

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and set out two donut pans. Since the pans I use are flexible silicone I don’t need to grease them, but I do set them on top of a baking sheet before they go in the oven to keep them from wobbling around.

Using a hand mixer, beat together the butter, both sugars, and eggs. Then add in the rest of the ingredients (minus the strawberries) and beat until well blended. The batter will be thick! Lastly, finely dice your strawberries and fold them in. I like to do this last because I find it keeps the strawberries more intact and you get that nice bite of fresh berry when they are done baking.

Now that the batter is ready, transfer it to a large ziploc bag and cut one of the corners off. This creates a simple piping bag that you can use to squeeze the batter into the molds. It is SO much easier to do it this way rather than trying to spoon the batter in. Plus, it’s kinda fun, too!

• 

• 

Finally, bake these donuts for 15 minutes.

Time to Eat!

Once these are done baking, let them cool completely in their pans. If you use the pan I have, or a very similar type, the donuts will pop right out – making cleanup a breeze!

As I mentioned before, they are wonderful by themselves. But they are also over-the-top amazing with a little cream cheese icing smeared on top! Are you wondering what my go-to cream cheese icing recipe is? The answer: straight from the can.

Don’t judge me and I won’t dare judge you! I mean, we already made homemade donuts, we don’t need to be heroes.

Can I Freeze These?

Yep! Like most things I make, I like to prep ahead of time that way I can take it easy later on in the week. This recipe makes 12 donuts. Our family is only 2 adults and 2 toddlers, so we won’t go through that many during a weekend. Instead of making a half batch, I make a full one. Six for now, six for next week.

To freeze, leave the icing off and put into a freezer safe bag. Frozen donuts last about 6-8 weeks. On a Friday night, pull a few out to thaw and put icing on in the morning.

Can I Substitute The Fruit?

Again, yep! This batter works great for substitutes. Instead of strawberries, try blueberries or raspberries. I am personally looking forward to experimenting with a strawberry-rhubarb mix next time I make these.

You can also leave out the fruit and make them plain. The batter is that good! I will occasionally do this and decorate them with icing and sprinkles for the kids.

Another option… (yes, another!!)… take a naked donut, dip it in some melted butter, and then roll it in a cinnamon sugar mixture. The possibilities are endless!

TIP: To get that smooth frosting look, dump a can of icing into a bowl and microwave it for about 20 seconds. Stir it and microwave for another 10 seconds, if needed. You want the icing to be thin enough to fall off the back of a spoon. Simply dip the top half of the donut into the icing and add sprinkles or any topping you’d like!

Have you tried a variation of these donuts yet? Let me know what flavor creation you made!

If you haven’t yet, follow us on Pinterest so you don’t miss out on new recipes!