Cotton Candy Mini Donuts
You know you are a food blogger when you spot a new dry cookie mix at the store and your first thought is not making cookies, but what you can make with the mix itself. Yep, I used cotton candy cookie mix to make these Cotton Candy Mini Donuts. And they do really taste like cotton candy. I made these along with Birthday Cake Oreo Mini Donuts for my daughter’s birthday party the other week. Kids and adults alike loved them.
Betty Crocker makes a Cotton Candy Cookie Mix. I have never made cookies with it, but it sure smells good and it has all these little bits of pink and blue sprinkles. I made this recipe just like I did for my Mini Sugar Cookie Donuts.
These donuts are super easy to make and you only bake them for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes each batch. How much easier can it get. I used my Babycakes Donut Maker machine, but you can bake them in the oven if you like. I just don’t like heating up the whole kitchen in the summer.
For the frosting, I choose to make my own with the remainder of the dry cookie mix. However, you do have other options. If you like pink, Betty Crocker makes Cotton Candy Frosting in a can. If you like blue, Duncan Hines Frosting Creations has a cotton candy flavor mix.
I just love making mini donuts. They are so darn cute and easy to eat. Bet you can’t eat just one.
Cotton Candy Mini Donuts
by The Sweet Chick
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 2 1/2- 3 minnutes
Keywords: bake dessert snack cotton candy cookie mix birthday donuts American
Ingredients (20 mini donuts)
For the donuts
- 2 cups Betty Crocker Cotton Candy dry cookie mix
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon vinegar (white or rice vinegar)
For the frosting
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup marshmallow fluff
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons Betty Crocker Cotton Candy dry cookie mix
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
For the donuts
Preheat your Babycakes Donut Maker.
Mix together milk and vinegar and set aside for a few minutes while it curdles (a replacement for buttermilk).
In a medium bowl, mix together the dry cookie mix, and baking soda.
Then add the egg , butter, oil, and curdled milk. Mix until completely blended.
Use a piping bag, a Ziplock bag with tip cut off, or a pancake pen, fill each donut reservoir with about 2 tablespoons of batter.
Bake for about 2 1/1- 3 minutes (do not use timer on machine) or until toothpick inserted in center of donut comes out clean.
Place hot donuts on cooling rack to cool completely.
For the frosting
In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and the powdered sugar.
Then add the marshmallow fluff and mix on medium until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add the dry cookie mix and mix until well blended.
Using a spatula, frost the cooled donuts and take a bite.
Or make them pretty with some sprinkles.
Notes
I used a clear vanilla extract to keep the frosting pure white.
If you are using a mini donut pan, bake your donuts in the oven at 425ºF for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle of donut comes out clean.
Frosting recipe adapted from ‘Lil Luna
This recipe may be shared at these fabulous parties.
Tomato Soup
Yesterday, I was working at Starbucks (Freelancers Central) when a lady standing by the doors tipped over into a drug-induced trance.
The baristas immediately called 9-1-1, but the woman sitting next to me, the one who’d seen the whole incident go down because she’d been standing outside making a phone call when it happened, just shook her head and informed me that the lady was ‘as high as a kite.’
Now that’s a feeling I can relate to. That world-weariness. After all, I had gone to school in the most psychedelic college town in the country (Berkeley), and lived in what is probably the most homeless-friendly big city in the WORLD (San Francisco). I’ve seen it all—so what if I’m only 26?—all the different variations of drug-induced catatonia and rants and everything in between.
This old man with white hair, he’s a regular who just hangs out in the cafe all day chatting with other regulars (except me, because I avoid eye contact with strangers, much in the style of Amelie Poulain), leapt up from his seat and raced outside, wanting to take charge of the situation. He reminded me of one of those alert guard dogs, the kind that’s been bred to inspect signs of disorder, and cleared aside the small crowd that had gathered around the woman to get a closer look.
He re-entered the cafe a few minutes later. “She’s on drugs,” he said disgustedly.
A few minutes later, the lady dizzily pushed herself up and teetered away. “She’s only on drugs,” Mr. Regular repeated, shaking his head.
This was when the firemen rushed onto the scene. They pulled up in their shiny truck with their sirens blaring, and parked gracefully into the empty space in front of the building that just happened to be big enough for one regular-sized fire truck.
“Did they need to bring so many men?” the woman beside me asked. Sure enough, five firemen stepped out, clad in their heavy protective gear. Men who meant business. Men who looked like they were ready to put out a fire.
“She doesn’t need firemen,” said Regular Man. “She needs to be slapped in the face and drenched with tomato soup!”
Tomato soup, now that’s an idea.
Did he mean what he said sadistically? Was he implying that the lady should be burned with a hot, acidic liquid as a sort of punishment? Or maybe he thought it would revivify her, the equivalent of pushing her into a molten pool. Or maybe he just wanted tomato soup for dinner and had made a Freudian slip.
Whatever the case, guessing does not change the fact: these are the kinds of moments that can inspire meals. I’m very easily persuaded, and I happen to really like tomato soup.
This recipe is one I’ve been making since my student days, so you can be sure that it’s low-maintenance. And it came in handy during my time in San Francisco, a city whose 365-days-per-year fog and gloom is enough to drive a person mad. You see, you need a soup as heartening as this to keep your spirits up, lest you succumb to drastic measures. Like quitting your job and chasing summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Well, that latter part was unintentional.
I don’t remember how I came upon this recipe anymore. I copied it long ago into a little pocket notebook that I have on me at all times—we all have one of these, I suspect—and have been faithfully following the same set of directions for a long time. I’m sure its source is not as obscure as I make it seem, but I prefer to keep it a mystery, for the sake of having a “family recipe” that I can pass down for generations. Or not. I don’t think that far ahead. (But it would be cool nonetheless.)
TOMATO SOUP
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 1 28-ounce can of chopped tomatoes
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- salt & ground pepper to taste
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 small carrots, diced
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup chopped basil
- 1/4 cup cream or milk, optional
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Strain tomatoes, reserving the juices, and spread onto baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with about 1 Tbsp olive oil. Roast until caramelized, about 15 minutes.
In a saucepan, heat the rest of the oil on medium-low heat. Add celery, carrots, onion, and garlic. Cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the roasted tomatoes, reserved juices, chicken broth, and bay leaves. Simmer until vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Add basil and cream if using. Puree with an immersion blender.