Cooking Through "The Baker's Man": Chocolate Donuts with Peppermint Bark

During the month of December, it seems as though sweets are waiting for you around every corner. Cookies spring up like daisies in the spring. Cakes lie around beneath glass domes and entice us to them. Truffles and candy canes and sufganiyot crowd inside gift bags for your enjoyment.

Bea’s Bakery in Mystic Water fills to bursting with sweets and treats of all kinds during December. Townsfolk flock to the glass cases from morning until closing time to fill their bellies with gingerbread cookies or snowflake sugar cookies.

Anna bakes overtime and delivers peppermint cheesecake to Christmas parties or chocolate-filled rugelach for Hanukkah. She goes home at night with silver, glittery sugar scattered across her forehead and splatters of white chocolate on her clothes.

On Saturdays in December, Anna bakes her special double chocolate donuts with peppermint bark. The soft chocolate donut complements the crunch of white chocolate and crushed peppermints.

If you need a pick-me-up at any time during the day, swing by Bea’s Bakery and pick up a dozen donuts for your office mates or for yourself to indulge after a long day.

Chocolate Donuts

with Peppermint Bark

Serves: 12

Level of Difficulty: As easy as crushing peppermints with a hammer

Ingredients

2 c all-purpose flour

1 c white sugar

¾ c chocolate chips

½ c unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 c plain yogurt

½ c milk

½ c vegetable oil

¼ c chocolate chips

1 c peppermints, crushed

1 ½ white chocolate bars, melted

How to Make

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a donut pan.
2. Combine flour, sugar, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, and baking soda in a large bowl.
3. Whisk egg, yogurt, milk, and vegetable oil in another bowl until smooth.
4. Pour into chocolate mixture, and stir until batter is just blended. Fill donut pan with batter.
5. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, approximately 8-10 minutes.
6. Place inverted on a wire rack and cool for at least 5 minutes.
7. Melt white chocolate in 30-second intervals until chocolate is completely melted.
8. Dip donuts into white chocolate and decorate with peppermints or other sprinkles.

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