These deconstructed eggnog donuts are the perfect sweet to bring to an office holiday potluck. They are indulgently sweet, aromatic, and boozy. Your coworkers will thank you! And best of all, they are quick and easy to make, so you can whip them in under 30 minutes the night before.
They are deconstructed because they do not contain actual eggnog. Instead they contain the ingredients that would go into eggnog:
- nutmeg
- cream
- bourbon
These are baked donuts. I prefer baking donuts instead of frying them for a couple of reasons. Firstly they are quicker and easier to make as you don’t have to work with yeast as the leavening agent. You also don’t have to deal with disposing of the oil used for frying. Secondly, you can get creative and incorporate pretty much any flavor into the batter, something you can’t always do with dough. And thirdly, the final donuts are light and airy, allowing you to really taste the flavor of the ingredients. On the other hand, fried donuts can leave a greasy coating in your mouth, masking the aromas of the donut.
To make this batter, you only need simple ingredients. The only flavor agents I used are nutmeg and a little vanilla extract. As a result, the donuts provide the perfect canvas for the boozy glaze.
When it comes to the glaze, you need icing sugar and bourbon. Sometimes eggnog is made with brandy or rum, so you could use one of those instead if you don’t have bourbon. It may seem simple, but this glaze really packs a punch. The alcohol binds to the sugar, and you can really taste it. Every bite is like a shot!
After the glaze set, I decorated the donuts with whipped cream. This helps make them more creamy and eggnogy. I strongly suggest you also decorate your donuts with whipped cream. Otherwise the glaze could feel too intense.
For baking the donuts I used a standard 6 cavity donut pan, and it yielded 12 medium-sized donuts.
See more donut recipes here.
Here’s the recipe for the deconstructed eggnog donuts:
Deconstructed Eggnog Donuts
Ingredients
For the batter:
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup (150 g/ 5 ¼ oz.) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (100 g/ 3 ½ oz.) granulated sugar
- ½ stick (60 g/ 2 oz.) unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ cup (120 ml/ 4 ¼ oz.) cream (35% fat content)
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temperature for greasing the pan
For the glaze:
- 1 ¾ cups (200 g/ 7 oz.) icing sugar
- 5-7 tbsp. bourbon
- ½ cup whipped cream
Instructions
For the batter:
- Pre-heat oven to 180 °C (350 °F).
- In a bowl sift the flour and nutmeg, then add the baking powder. Mix them with a whisk and set aside.
- Gently melt the butter over low temperature. Make sure the butter does not bubble. Once melted, set it aside and allow it to cool a little.
- Crack the eggs into another bowl, add the sugar and beat at high speed with an electric mixer. The mixture is ready when almost triple in volume and light in color. Add the vanilla extract, salt, cream and whisk until incorporated.
- Using a spatula, add the flour mix to the egg mix in 2-3 steps, mixing gently after each step. Make sure the flour is well incorporated, but do not over mix. Once the flour has been incorporated, fold in the melted cooled butter. Allow the batter to sit for 5 minutes.
- Grease the donut pan with butter. Pipe the batter into the pan filling ¾ of each cavity and bake for 10 minutes, or until donuts spring back when gently pressed.
- Once baked, take the pan out of the oven and allow the donuts to cool in the donut pan 2-3 minutes at room temperature. Transfer them to a rack and let them sit until completely cooled.
For the glaze:
- In a bowl, add the icing sugar and 5 tbsp. bourbon and whisk well, until the icing sugar is dissolved. If the glaze is too thick, add 1-2 more tbsp. bourbon. Dip the donuts into the glaze. Place the donuts back on the rack until the glaze dries (approx. 20 minutes). Serve with whipped cream.
