Baked Lemon Donuts

We were invited to friends' for dinner and I asked what I could bring. Cathy said "nothing" but I said I was going to bring something so she might as well tell me what...they are about to go on vacation and she didn't want to eat any heavy dessert so I searched Pinterest for something on the lighter side and came across this recipe for baked donuts - ok so maybe that's not "light" exactly, but it's lighter than fried donuts hahaha!

I've never made baked donuts before and kinda thought they might just end up tasting like cupcakes with a hole in the middle and was SHOCKED that they ACTUALLY taste like a donut! Woohoo! I wish I didn't know this - now I have the pans and they are really easy to make so I'm worried I'll make them all the time! Yikes. On the plus side, this recipe only makes a dozen so I can only go so far eating them...;)

I found the recipe here - it's almost identical to the recipe that comes with the pans other than she topped with sugar. I love the texture the crunchy sugar adds and I think brushing them with butter (don't tell Cathy that part please!) before rolling in sugar really helped make them moist and delish! I coated the bottom along with the top of the donut because in her picture thats what it looks like she did even though the directions don't say that. YUM.

Completely random thing before you read the recipe - I have no idea if my first sentence "we were invited to friends' " is correct! Is it "friend's"?. How to pluralize in this sentence? I cannot even find the answer on google. My editing skills are lacking on this one. Anyone know? I almost re-worded it to "we were invited to Al and Cathy's for dinner" but then I decided what the heck - friends' it is until I hear otherwise.

um, no they are not.

Ingredients 

• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• FOR THE COATING:
• ½ cup sugar
• 4 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted

Instructions

1. Adjust oven racks to center position and preheat oven to 425°F. Spray two 6-cavity donut pans with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour and cornstarch. Whisk in sugar, baking powder, and salt until well blended. Stir in buttermilk, eggs, butter, lemon juice, vanilla, and lemon zest until batter is smooth and combined, but do not over-mix. Evenly divide the batter between the prepared donut pans.
3. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes until the edges of the donuts begin to turn a light golden brown and the tops of the donuts spring back when lightly touched. Allow donuts to cool for 5 minutes in pans before turning them out onto a cooling rack.
4. In a mini food processor, combine the sugar and lemon zest and pulse until finely ground (you may simply stir together the sugar and zest if you don't have a food processor). Place the melted butter in a shallow bowl. Dip one side of each donut in the butter, and then press into the sugar/zest mixture. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

The cornstarch lightens up the texture of the donuts, akin to using cake flour. If you prefer, you may omit the cornstarch and increase the flour to 2 cups.