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Strawberry Thumbprint Donuts are inspired by a baked donut accident. Overfilling the baked donut pan leaves a nice well in the center for delicious fillings like whipped chocolate ganache.

 

I made a similar recipe recently. They were so delicious. I couldn’t help myself from eating most of them. I have no shame in admitting that. They were so good I didn’t want to share them! There’s very few recipes I make that are like that. But occasionally they happen. Sort of like a four leaf clover turning up while you’re walking the dogs.

 

This whole idea starts with a really old recipe for green chile and cheddar baked cornbread doughnuts. It was the first time I used the baked donut pan. And, of course, I accidentally overfilled the ring and some of the donuts didn’t have that hole in the middle. Which was fine with me! I’m all about embracing the imperfections of my cooking.

 

 

By accidentally overfilling the pan, I had the idea that doing that on purpose. It left a nice spot to put some kind of filling. In the case of the banana donuts, it was peanut butter filling. For these strawberry thumbprint donuts I made whipped chocolate ganache. I tried whipped ganache in my strawberry and pink peppercorn macaron. If you haven’t whipped ganache, try it. It’s so good.

 

What ingredients do you need for strawberry thumbprint donuts?

 

Dry ingredients: flour, freeze-dried strawberries, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
Wet ingredients: sugar, milk, sour cream, eggs, butter, and vanilla extract
Ganache ingredients: semi-sweet chocolate and whipping cream

 

 

How do you make strawberry thumbprint donuts?

 

The batter is a quick bread batter. Meaning there’s no yeast involved.  Strawberry muffins and chai banana bread are examples of quick bread batters.  For me, it means a quick bread can be served up soon. I start by combining the dry ingredients together with a whisk in a bowl. This takes the place of sifting. The only sifting I do lately is if the flour is super clumpy and for macaron. I don’t feel it’s necessary to sift all the dry ingredients all the time. Some bakers might disagree, but they’re allowed to. I’m not a baker. I just pretend to bake.

 

Then I combine the wet ingredients which, yes, does include the sugar. Sugar needs to melt before baking to do what it’s supposed to do. This is where the science of baking comes about. Sugar adds texture and keeps things moist in baked goods. It also acts as a leavening agent when combined with fats. Together they create little air pockets which make a batter light and airy. To do all these things the sugar must be added to the wet ingredients.

 

 

Next, I made a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Then it’s a matter of carefully combining the two. It’s more of a fold than a stir. And make sure to use a spoon or spatula. I started using a whisk and that was a horrible idea. I quickly changed to a spatula to combine the two.  

 

Stop mixing before you think you should. For some this might not make sense, but the ingredients need to do their chemistry thing. If you overmix the batter, it won’t be light and airy. It might be a little denser than you want. The baking powder and soda need to mix with the sour cream and other ingredients to create an airy batter. You can see that in the crumb of these donuts. 

 

 

Let the batter rest

 

I let the batter rest at least 5 minutes before I scoop it into the baked donut pan. Yes, I scooped mine with a cupcake scoop. You can pipe it if you want. Even if you don’t have a piping bag you can pipe it. Just put it in a zip top plastic bag and cut the corner. Voila! Piping bag! 

 

Just make sure to put a little over the bump that makes the hole. Without that you won’t be able to make these thumbprint donuts. Unless you don’t want to make thumbprint donuts, that’s fine too. They’re your donuts. Do what you want. But I personally wouldn’t want to miss out on the whipped ganache bite that sits in the middle of the donut. 

 

 

About the ganache. Mine was a little too thick to whip when it came out of the fridge. Not to worry. You don’t need to heat it up or let it come to room temperature. Simply add a little more heavy cream to it as you whip it. I wound up adding 2 tablespoons to mine. It came out a perfect consistency to pipe into the center of these donuts. And I have plenty leftover so you might see it make an appearance in the center of some macaron in the near future.  And if you have leftover freeze-dried strawberries you could add them to strawberry crunch cookies.

 

What do strawberry thumbprint donuts taste like? 

 

Well, I was hoping for more strawberry flavor. I might add more strawberry powder or try adding some extract or even fresh strawberries in there. But if I try the fresh strawberry route, I’d have to adjust the wet ingredients some so they’re not too wet. There’s always the extract route, but sometimes it just tastes too fake for my taste.

 

 

Regardless, these tasted delicious. I love the little flecks of strawberry in these strawberry thumbprint donuts. They add such a pretty color and some strawberry flavor in there. Then there’s the rich chocolate whipped ganache. It’s a chocolate strawberry flavor explosion in your mouth. Who can resist those flavor combinations? I know I can’t.

 

I also had a hard time resisting the urge to eat the whipped ganache with a spoon. I’m a total semi-sweet/dark chocolate lover. I do not really like milk chocolate at all. I think it’s too sweet. If you like milk chocolate, then use milk chocolate for your ganache. Or you can go the white chocolate route like I did in my strawberry pink peppercorn macaron I talked about earlier in this post.

 

 

If you haven’t gotten the hint, these recipes are mere suggestions about flavor combinations and methods. If you don’t like strawberries, then try some bananas. They have freeze-dried bananas, apples, pears, and even mangos! Those are next on my list to make. Because y’all know how much I love mangos.

 

Heck, you could even skip the ganache entirely and create a buttercream filling like I did with the banana ones. An apple with caramel buttercream or a pear with ginger buttercream. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination and the ingredients you can obtain. For me, Amazon means I have a wealth of freeze-dried fruits to make these donuts and macaron with.

Welcome to #BrunchWeek! This event has been around for over 7 years. It’s a fun way to share our love for all things brunch related to help celebrate Mother’s Day! We have 11 bloggers sharing over 30 recipes this year!! That’s 30 plus delicious recipes to help celebrate mothers, family, and friends. If you’re putting together a brunch, then you’ll appreciate all the variety this event offers! From cocktails to baked goods and even sandwiches, there’s something for everyone.

Here are today’s #BrunchWeek recipes:

• Air Fryer French Toast Sticks from Palatable Pastime
• Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
• Coconut Chicken and Waffles from The Spiffy Cookie
• Strawberry Thumbprint Donuts from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Vietnamese Coffee Cake from Karen’s Kitchen Stories