I was shopping at Aldi the other day and came across a bunch of freeze dried fruits. I don’t normally see these in the market so I picked up a bag of the pineapple. I brought it home and had a little bit and gave Baby J some. Because the freeze dried fruit almost melts in your mouth he was a big fan of it as well.
So the next day we went back and bought several more bags. I got the mango, strawberry, and pear. I brought them home and we ate the pear right away but I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the mango and strawberry. Looking through one of my cooking magazines I found a recipe for baked donuts that actually called for freeze dried strawberries! Score!
I got to work on the Strawberry Lemon Baked Donuts the next day. They were simple to make and the dough tasted pretty good. Yes, I am someone who always tastes the dough even when there is raw egg in it. It happens. The donuts baked up just fine and came out looking good.
I added a lemon glaze on top with the freeze dried strawberries. My husband and I both bit into one and we chewed, and we chewed, and we chewed some more. The flavor of these donuts was spot on but the donut was really chewy. After reading the recipe over several times I decided it was because there is no butter or oil in the donuts in order to keep the calories down.
I’m all for keeping calories down but the donuts have to taste good. So I tried again using some butter and it helped a lot! The donuts are bursting with fresh lemon flavor and pockets of strawberries. The glaze with the freeze dried strawberries on top is the icing on the cake (or donut). These are a delicious donut to make for breakfast or even as a snack.
- 1 egg
- 3 T. sugar
- 3 T. butter, softened
- ⅓ c. low fat milk
- 2 T. fresh lemon juice
- 1 t. vanilla
- 1 c. flour
- 2 t. lemon zest
- 1 t. baking powder
- ½ t. salt
- ½ c. strawberries, cut into very small pieces
- ½ c. powdered sugar
- 1 T. lemon juice
- ⅓ c. freeze dried strawberries, crumbled
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 6 hole donut pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the egg, sugar, and butter. Mix until combined.
- Add in the milk, lemon juice, and vanilla and stir.
- Stir in the flour, lemon zest, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.
- Fold in the strawberries.
- Pour the batter into a zip top baggie and cut off the end. Pipe the batter into the donut pan.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the donuts begin to brown and they spring back when poked.
- Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes then remove from pan to a wire rack.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Add additional water if the glaze is too thick.
- Dip the donuts into the glaze, place back on the wire rack, and sprinkle with dried strawberries.
- Serve within a few hours.
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