Mini Vanilla Bean Donuts

Calling all dessert addicts! Let’s take a moment to appreciate these sweet little donut bites. We can barely get over how darn pretty they look…perhaps adorned on a bridal shower sweets table or on a perfect pedestal in your very own kitchen! This post screams sweet-tooth so we know you’re going to love it just as much as we do! Natalie Chimp of Chic Sweets is here sharing this recipe with us, as well as her amazing tips on styling and designing a darling dessert bar display.

“At Chic Sweets, working and creating mini desserts for our tablescapes is one of our favorite and most requested options for weddings, showers, and private engagements. In this case, we decided to introduce a fun recipe – the mini donut. Yup! Because a regular donut just isn’t fun enough, so we are making them into a delicious bite-sized treat that everyone will love!

Vanilla Bean Mini Doughnuts

(Adapted from SprinkleBakes)

***Makes: 4-5 dozen mini donuts

Donut Batter:

2 cups all-purpose flour, my favorite is always King Arthur Flour

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup buttermilk (in the dairy section. Try to get buttermilk if at all possible. It adds a textural flavor and feel that only buttermilk can provide)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

Seeds from one vanilla bean

Mini Donut Pan: purchased at local crafts store, Michaels. Also readily available online on baking sites or even Amazon.

Vanilla Glaze:

1 ¾ cup confectioner’s sugar

1 tablespoon milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2-3 drops food coloring

Sprinkles (the fun part)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray donut pan with nonstick spray
2. In large mixing bowl, start with your dry ingredients and mix up flour, sugar, baking poser and salt.
3. Add your wet ingredients, your buttermilk, eggs, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds and butter, until well combined.
4. Put the donut batter into the baking ban can be a little tricking without a piping bag. Since I notoriously love to misplace my piping bags, I use my trusty zip lock bags and those work out just as good.
5. Bake 5-8 minutes—note—these are mini donuts, so it doesn’t take long at all for them to bake and they can be fairly easy to overbake if you aren’t paying close attention.
6. Let the pan cool completely before removing the mini donuts and finish off with the glaze.
7. In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, milk and vanilla extract together until everything is dissolved. Note—if you want a thicker glaze, play around with adding more sugar and milk.
8. Add the drops of food coloring. For the pastel hues—I started out with 2 drops and added more as needed.

Mini Donut Escort Tablescape

Ready to style your own Mini Donut Escort Tablescape?!  Natalie shares her tips on creating your own masterpiece:  “One of the best parts of my job is being able to dress up mini desserts! In this case, we took our mini donuts and used them as an “edible” place card to create a super fun tablescape.

We took the treats and placed them on various cake stands (mix and match recommended!), placing a tag-adorned toothpick on each one.

The little tags may look fancy, but they’re so easy to recreate. These days, modern, script fonts are everywhere so I downloaded my favorite one and used those for the names. Get a heavyweight cardstock at your local office supply store, cut them down, and wrap around a toothpick. Again, very easy to do, and the visual impact (“oohhhs” and “ahhhs” from your friends) will be instant!”

CREDITS:

Photography and Styling for Best Friends For Frosting by: SHAY COCHRANE, SHAY COCHRANE PHOTOGRAHY | ETSY SHOP

Recipe, Dessert Table & Styling for Best Friends For Frosting by: NATALIE CLAMP, CHIC SWEETS | ETSY SHOP