You know those moments when you'd facepalm yourself so hard that you'd high five the back of your brain? The times when you'd want to crawl under a rock and die, but you wouldn't even risk it for fear of being judged by the insects who dwell beneath it? Well, while these carrot cake donuts weren't a WTF experience, the occasion for which they were baked certainly ended up being. You see, these delicious carrot cake donuts were made in celebration of my partner and I's anniversary. My boyfriend isn't a huge dessert guy, but he usually likes carrot cake, so I rolled with it. I mixed the batter with love. Frosted them with all the attention and care one does for such a momentous occasion. I even crushed up walnuts and sprinkled the little jerks to make them that much extra. And then? Crickets. Zero reaction. Nada. Nichts (you get the idea). Basically, dude had forgotten - for a fourth year in a row. So by late evening, I was a little pissed (I was a lot pissed) and finally reminded him of the date. When the date didn't bring forth any clues, I phonetically spelled it out. At last the wires connected, which brings us back to my opening facepalm statement. Now, I need to explain something about my boyfriend: he is shit when it comes to remembering dates. Like, the worst. He knows this, I know this, the whole family knows this. What he IS awesome at however is treating me with respect, seeing no differentiation between child and step-child, cooking, making me laugh, cooking (notice I mentioned that one twice). When I reminded myself of all the ways that he is amazing on a daily basis, the one forgotten day didn't seem so important anymore. (Plus, I had a dozen Carrot Cake Donuts -just sayin'.)
Scroll below for this carrot cake donut recipe and if you haven't already, don't forget to subscribe! 😉
Here's what you'll need:
For the donuts:
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups large carrots, peeled and shredded
- 2 ⅔ all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch nutmeg
- pinch salt
For the frosting:
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 3 cups confectioner's sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extra
- ½ cup walnuts, chopped for garnish
Here's what you'll do:
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray donut pans with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat butter, oil and sugar with an electric mixer until combined.
- Add milk, eggs, vanilla extract and whisk until combined. Stir in carrots.
- Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. Stir until just combined (don't over mix batter).
- With an icing piper, pipe batter into donut molds to ¾ full.
- Bake 8-9 minutes, or until they are springy to touch. Let cool completely.
- In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer until combined. Gradually add confectioner's sugar and vanilla, beating on low until smooth.
- Once donuts have cooled, frost with cream cheese frosting and garnish with chopped walnuts if desired.
- Serve and enjoy!
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