One of my favorite flavor combinations is gingerbread and coffee. I used to just dip the cookies into a cup of coffee until one day I wanted to make gingerbread donuts and didn’t know what glaze would go well with them (other than a simple sugar glaze). Then it hit me! Gingerbread donuts with coffee glaze, of course.
Despite the complex flavor profile, these donuts are quite simple to make. For the batter recipe you only need crystallized ginger and a handful of spices in addition to the typical ingredients:
- flour
- eggs
- sugar
- butter
- cream
- vanilla extract
- baking powder
To make the coffee glaze strong and flavorful, I used instant coffee. The good thing about using instant coffee is that since it’s a powder, you can use as much as you want without affecting the texture of the glaze.
If you know children will be eating these donuts too, I recommend using decaffeinated instant coffee. The coffee glaze doesn’t taste too bitter thanks to the icing sugar and cream, so I know there will be children who will like these donuts.
In my opinion, these are the perfect donuts to bring to a work potluck. The flavor combination and the kick from the coffee will surely appeal to everyone. When transporting them, I would recommend not packing them on top of each other. Since the glaze contains cream (which is high in fat), it doesn’t harden the way a simple sugar glaze does, and it remains a little soft/ creamy.
Furthermore, if you have extras you can freeze them in self-sealing freezer bags for up tp three months. When you’re ready to enjoy them just let them thaw at room temperature for 15-30 minutes prior to eating.
See more donut recipes here.
And lastly, this is the recipe for the gingerbread donuts with coffee glaze:
Gingerbread Donuts with Coffee Glaze
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)
- 30 g (1 oz) crystallized ginger, finely chopped
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 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
- 1 tbsp. instant coffee
- 7-8 tbsp. cream
Instructions
For the batter:
- Pre-heat oven to 180 °C (350 °F).
- Sift the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves into a bowl, then add the baking powder and mix them with a whisk.
- 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. Add the crystallized ginger and mix. Allow the batter to sit for 5 minutes.
- Grease a donut pan with room temperature butter. Pipe the batter filling ¾ of each cavity. 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 one bowl mix icing sugar, instant coffee and half of the cream. Mix well until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the remainder of the cream if necessary. Dip the donuts into the glaze, then allow 15-30 minutes for the glaze to harden.
