Today is National Doughnut Appreciation Day. Talk about a perfect day, custom designed for my child.

Griffin is a doughnut fiend, probably because I refuse to buy them or have them around the house, those saturated fat laden, high fructose corn syrup all refined white flour deep fried gut bombs generally found in your average grocery store- sounds delicious, doesn’t it, ewwww!- and so simply due to ‘being deprived’ (as he likes to think) whenever he sees them, it’s a huge WANT!!!

And quite frankly, I really don’t blame him. I love them too. I just don’t buy them as I love my body a whole lot more.

It’s no secret that the best tasting things are always the worst for us to consume; pie crusts made with lard are the flakiest, richly marbled steaks are the most beefy, that Lemon Drop martini- yummy!- is loaded with sugar, and the donut, deep fried and sugary is a delight. You just need to know how to say ‘When’. In college, one of my favorite Sunday morning rituals was to wake early and walk to the corner store to buy a newspaper and a package of Entenmanns Old fashioned donuts, you know, the ones with the cracked edges. I would go home and brew the coffee, then sit in the sunroom of my apartment and proceed to give myself a sugar rush of amazing proportions. Then it was perfectly fine; I only had a mountain bike for transportation and I rode it everywhere, plus I used to swim at the university’s aquatic center three or four times a week for at least an hour- hard- so it never bothered me to put that kind of junk in my body. I was lean and fit. Then.

But that was also before the evils of saturated fat, HFCS and things dunked and cooked in boiling oil became ‘No-No’s’ in any sane person’s diet. Even with that kind of knowledge, it doesn’t mean that I don’t wish for a cakey, flakey sugary oval once in a while. Preferably with good dark coffee and my former collegiate fitness level.

In my search for a donut recipe that I could be pleased to make, I came across this one on Heidi’s site and knew it would be perfect. I also knew that Griffin would be thrilled to help me if it meant he could freely consume the results. With a day off of school for him, it turned into our donut making day and we couldn’t have been more excited about the results.

Indulge me while I brag slightly about my most resourceful husband; while I mused and searched my kitchen for the best tool to cut out the dough centers, pushing everything feasible around in my gadget drawers in a futile search, Mike spied a prescription bottle and said ‘Hey how about a pill bottle sawed off and filed?’ Within 10 minutes he handed me my hole cutter and I nearly knocked him down in my effort to thank him for his ingenuity.

With the dough created and raised to the correct proportions, I set out to cut the rounds while Griffin took charge of making the holes.

He may not looked very thrilled here, but believe me, he was chomping at the bit to eat our results. The donut hole cutter is on the counter in front of him. Pay no attention to my messy hair- I fixed it later!

Once out of the oven we brushed them with melted butter and sprinkled cinnamon sugar over them while still hot. It melted into a nice thin glaze.

Finally!!!!!!!

The results of this recipe were stellar, and would make a perfect base for cinnamon or caramel rolls too. They were sweet and moist, a bit more roll-like than cakey but with an amazing flavor and texture. The plus side was that they didn’t coat my mouth with that deep fried taste, they weren’t heavy at all- so you can eat more of them!- and despite being stellar right out of the oven, they still tasted terrific with a short spin in the microwave the next day to warm them. The bonus, of course,  is that they were fabulous with coffee.

If the urge strikes you to make a sweet treat and avoid the deep fryer, by all means give this recipe a whirl. And enjoy National Doughnut Day!