Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch Donuts

5 from 1 vote

A great alternative to traditional fried doughnuts. These baked chocolate hazelnut crunch donuts are dipped in chocolate glaze and topped with cinnamon spiced candied hazelnuts.

Yield: 6 standard sized donuts

Prep Time20

Cook Time15

Total Time35

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Author: Maryanne Cabrera

Equipment

nonstick donut pan

Ingredients

Baked Donuts:

1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
3 Tablespoons dried buttermilk powder
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons water

Hazelnut Crunch:

1 large egg white
1 cup hazelnuts, blanched, lightly toasted and roughly chopped
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Chocolate Glaze:

¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon light corn syrup

Instructions

Baked Donuts:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease donut pans.
Whisk together flours, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and dried buttermilk powder. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, and water.
Pour all of the mixed wet ingredients into the large bowl with the dry ingredients. Fold together until batter is smooth and there are no more traces of the dry mixture.
Transfer batter into a large piping bag fitted with a large piping tip. (I used an 18 mm tip) Pipe batter into the donut pans, filling each cavity until half full.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Remove from the pan and let cool on rack.

Hazelnut Crunch:

Preheat oven to 325°F.
If you have raw hazelnuts with skins on, toast them lightly in a preheated 325 degree F oven for 7-10 minutes. Rub the toasted nuts together using a kitchen towel to remove the skins. Once cooled, roughly chop the nuts. Set aside.
Hand whisk the egg whites until foamy. Pour in the chopped hazelnuts and stir to coat evenly with the whites.
Sprinkle sugar, salt, and cinnamon over the nuts. Spread the nuts onto a parchment lined sheet tray. Bake for 10-15 minutes, stirring the nuts halfway thru, until almonds look golden. Remove the nuts from the parchment before allowing to cool. If chunks have formed, break into smaller pieces. Set aside until ready to chocolate dip donuts.

Chocolate Glaze:

Over a bain-marie, melt together chocolate, butter, and corn syrup. Stir until chocolate mixture is silky and smooth. To make sure the chocolate does not overheat, keep the bain-marie at low heat (keep the water from boiling).
Let the chocolate cool slightly and thicken a little bit before dipping cooled donuts in and sprinkling with hazelnuts.

Notes

BAKED DOUGHNUTS ADAPTED FROM KING ARTHUR FLOUR

Nutrition