<![CDATA[from the neighborhood: doughnut puffs!]]>Hanna and I had lots of not-so-fun stuff to do this passed weekend (bill paying, errand running, paper writing, laundry,) but we did have the pleasure of exploring some of the recipes in a couple of vegetarian cookbooks we checked out of the library, principally the doughnut puffs in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, by Mark Bittman.


The recipe feels really weird to prepare, but is super easy:

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2) In saucepan melt 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), with 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1 cup water until boiling.
3) Turn heat down and add 1 cup flour all at once, stirring continually until dough thickens and pulls away from the sides of the pan to form a ball.
4) Remove pan from heat and add eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each egg.


5) Drop spoonfuls of batter on a greased pan, dust with cinnamon sugar, and bake for +/- 15 minutes (the book says 10-15; in our stove it took about 20).

Doughnut puffs, uncooked, on pan and topped with cinnamon sugar. Image by Anna Cook.
They kinda reminded me of a richer, smaller popover (also tasty!). You can also deep-fry them in oil, but given the amount of butter in the recipe itself this seems like overkill, and the baked versions were just as nice!

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