Cooking Through "The Baker's Man": Chocolate Hazelnut & Peanut Butter Cream Donuts

I love surprises (of the good variety), but it’s difficult to surprise me. I tend to pick up on people’s shifty behavior, and I seem to know when something amiss is afoot. I don’t like to ruin surprises, honest, but if you keep acting weird around me because you’re trying to surprise me, I’ll figure it out. Your goal: play it cool, and I won’t notice a thing!

Anna, Mystic Water’s baker extraordinaire, oversleeps one morning and wakes to the smell of donuts cooking. She runs downstairs to her bakery and finds a surprise of the most epic variety in the kitchen. And I don’t mean the chocolate-glazed donuts she sees sitting on the counter. 

In The Baker’s Man, a neglectful boyfriend, one best friend, a bottle of rum, a pizza, and a horror movie cause Anna O’Brien to make a decision that tosses her life into the mixer.

I wouldn’t complain about waking up to find an entire tray of warm, gooey donuts piped full of chocolate and peanut butter cream. Would anyone complain about that? One of these donuts will help you put away that memory you’ve been dragging around for months. Two of these will ease the ache associated with the memory. A baker’s dozen for me!

Chocolate Hazelnut &

Peanut Butter Cream Donuts

Serves: 16

Level of Difficulty: Average

Ingredients

For Donuts:

2 cans Pillsbury Grands Homestyle Biscuits (16 biscuits)

48 oz container of canola oil, for frying

                  

For the Peanut Butter Filling:

¾ c Greek yogurt

½ c creamy peanut butter

1 tbsp vanilla extract

4 tablespoons milk

For the Chocolate Hazelnut Filling:

½ c Nutella (or other hazelnut spread)

1 (5.1 oz) box instant chocolate pudding

2 c milk

1 c heavy cream

For the Chocolate Glaze:

6 oz dark chocolate morsels

12 oz heavy cream

For the Vanilla Glaze:

1 can of whipped vanilla frosting

milk

How to Make

For the Donuts:

1. Place vegetable oil in a heavy bottom pot and heat until it reaches 350°F. Note: Maintaining this temperature is important. It’s best if you use a thermometer.
2. Drop 2-3 biscuits into pot.
3. Cook about 1 and a half minutes on each side or until they are a deep golden. Remove from oil using a slotted spoon, and place the cooked donuts on a cooking drying rack topped with paper towels. Let cool before filling and glazing.

For the Peanut Butter Filling:

1. Whisk all ingredients together.
2. Place the filling in a pastry bag fitted with a tip with a small opening.
3. Press the tip into the center of each doughnut and fill. Note: You’ve added too much if you remove the tip and it the filling oozes out.

For the Chocolate Hazelnut Filling:

1. Mix chocolate pudding, milk, and heavy cream in the bowl of a mixer.
2. Add Nutella and whisk until smooth.
3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Place the filling in a pastry bag fitted with a tip with a small opening.
5. Press the tip into the center of each doughnut and fill. Note: You’ve added too much if you remove the tip and it the filling oozes out.

For the Chocolate Glaze:

1. In a microwave-safe cup, heat the heavy cream for 1 minute.
2. Pour heavy cream over chocolate chips.
3. Let sit for 1 minute. Stir.

For the Vanilla Glaze:

1. Spoon half of the container into a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 15 seconds. Stir.
2. Add in enough milk until the frosting has the consistency you desire for topping your donuts.

Recipe adapted from Crazy for Crust

The Baker’s Man can be purchased in paperback or for the Kindle from Amazon and for the NOOK through Barnes & Noble.