Mini Triple Chocolate Donuts

These Mini Triple Chocolate Donuts have a chocolate-y batter covered with a rich, shiny chocolate glaze.  The best part?  Mini chocolate chips are baked right into the batter for an extra kick of chocolate.  

When you wake up at 4:45 AM with a hankering for donuts, you have three options: 

1. Go back to bed and hope that when you wake up, you'll be craving something healthy.  Like oatmeal, or Wheaties, or yogurt.
2. Walk to your local donut shop when it opens at 6:00 AM.  Bundle up, because the outdoor temp is below freezing. 
3. Just get up and make some donuts for yourself.

I decided to go with choice 3.  Choices 1 and 2 were completely unappealing to me.  Choice 3 was the only option, really.  And this recipe is so simple that I had these little donuts baked, glazed, and cooled before the donut shop was even open.  I even had the dishes washed.  How's that for quick and easy?

As with my other donut recipes, these are baked in a Wilton 12-cavity mini donut pan.  Honestly, who wants to deal with a hot vat of frying oil at such an ungodly hour?  Not me, that's for certain.  

These donuts use mini chocolate chips in both the batter and the glaze.  Why?  Well, the miniature chips are proportionate to the small size of the donuts.  Additionally, the miniature chips melt faster than standard chocolate chips, which is perfect when you're trying to whip up a quick glaze.  

(click here for printable recipe)

Mini Triple Chocolate Donuts

(donuts adapted from this recipe by Sally's Baking Addiction)

(glaze adapted from this recipe by Wilton)

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

For the donuts:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 large egg
• 7 Tbsp. milk
• 2 Tbsp. Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 3-4 Tbsp. mini chocolate chips

For the glaze:

• 6 Tbsp. mini chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. corn syrup
• 2-3 tsp. hot water

Instructions

For the donuts:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray mini donut pans with cooking spray and set aside. 

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside. 

3. In a small bowl, gently whisk egg.  Add in milk, Greek yogurt, vanilla, and vegetable oil.  While until mixture is completely smooth.  

4. Gently stir egg mixture into dry ingredients, and mix just a few times.  Fold in mini chocolate chips, and continue folding until ingredients are fully moistened

5. Fill donut cavities with batter (I found that using a scant 2 teaspoons was the perfect amount of batter).

6. Bake for 7-8 minutes, or until the donuts bounce back when touched lightly with your fingertips.  Allow to cool 1 minute in donut pan, then remove to cooling rack.  

For the glaze:

1. Simmer 1 inch of water in the bottom of a double boiler fitted with a heat-proof bowl.  Add mini-chocolate chips, butter, and corn syrup to the heat-proof bowl.  Gently stir until fully melted.

2. Remove from heat and stir in 2-3 tsp. hot water, until the glaze is thick and shiny (start with 2 tsp. and add additional water to reach desired consistency).

3. To cover donuts with glaze, dip the top of each donut into the bowl of glaze. Swirl gently, turn right side up, and place on a cooling rack.  Glaze will set up in approximately 30 minutes.  

Yield: 36 donuts

(click here for printable recipe)

And before I go -- isn't that cake stand beautiful?  I love the crystals and the lace-like edges.  It was a gift from my mother-in-law and I was so excited to use it.  And it's the perfect size for bite-sized treats like these mini donuts.  Thanks for reading, folks!  Have a great day -- and bake yourself some donuts, won't you?