Baked Doughnuts

I have been watching Jamie Oliver and reading a whole lot of food blogs over the past year, all in an effort to really feed my family well. I have decided to cut out fried foods. After you lose an entire evening to onion rings, you are more than willing to do such things.
Doughnuts are a favorite of my daughter's. She begs to get one every time we go to the grocery store.I decided this has to stop. I don't want her to have the same bad habits I do! So I looked into baking doughnuts instead.
A quick Google search has 101 Cookbooks' recipe at the top. She alway has such great stuff that I deiced this was a good place to start.

The husband melted and the kids begged for more. I am going to call them a success and highly recommend them. The next time I make them, I am going to replace half the flour with White Whole Wheat Flour to see if I can make them just a touch more healthy.

A few tips:

- The recipe calls for a pinch or two of  nutmeg. Be generous - it really gives the dough a nice flavor.
- To save on fat and calories, I only used 4 T of butter to top the doughy little circles. I dipped the tops in the butter then dropped them in the cinnamon and sugar to coat. I still have a bit of butter left using this method. It was really all the toping they needed.
- Speaking of butter, I topped them with salted instead of unsalted butter. It boosted the flavor and sweetness.
- She isn't kidding about the holes disappearing.

- Save all the extra dough. The doughnut holes were just as good as the doughnuts. They bake for the same amount of time as the doughnuts.

We got a new puppy!

We have a new addition to the family. Her name is Murphy. She is a lovely Dachshund / Golden Retriever mix. I love a mutt! We got her at the League for Animal Welfare.  I can not say enough good things about these people. For one thing - they rescued the perfect dog! Look at her - isn't she awesome?! The lady taking care of our adoption told us Murphy was a day away from being put to sleep when she came to the League. Thank goodness they took her. She is our perfect fit. The LFAW makes sure that all family members meet with the animal in question, and you answer a lot of questions. When we left, we really felt that we had a good fit. The League wouldn't have it any other way. If you are looking for a furry and are in the Cincinnati are - look here. They were amazing.

Here is her first bath: 

  

Isn't she sweet! It took about a week, but boy did her personality and puppy-ness start to show.

She barks at her reflection in the dishwasher! Cute. She loves to run with the kids, loves her tennis balls and her rope toys - I guess that is her retriever side showing through.

She has the body shape of a wiener dog with the soft fur of a retriever. She is so fun to cuddle. While she is playful, Murphy really likes long naps. Like I said - perfect for us. Playful but pretty laid back.