Sprouted Grain Doughnuts: Yes, Everyone Deserves a Treat

What the hell are doughnuts doing on your site? I can hear you muttering. Don’t click off quite yet.

You see; it’s National Doughnut Month and I thought we’d celebrate with a special recipe here at Nourished Kitchen: sprouted grain doughnuts with coconut-vanilla glaze.   While you might think that a healthy recipe may well defeat the whole foundation of doughnut enjoyment, hear me out: these faintly sweet homemade doughnuts are a delicious, full-flavored pastry that make the sugary sweet grocery store varieties pale in comparison.   A far cry from its tooth-rotting and airy cousins, these sprouted grain doughnuts have a beautiful rustic texture and deep wheaty-flavor that is well complemented by coconut, honey and vanilla glaze.

Sprouted grain has its benefits. It’s higher in vitamins and more easily digested than its unsprouted counterpart.   Moreover, sprouting neutralizes grain’s naturally present antinutrients which bind up minerals, preventing their full absorption.   We top this doughnut with a beautiful and simple glaze of coconut oil, honey and vanilla.   This glaze is also well-suited to my coconut-citrus madeleines.

Sprouted Grain Doughnuts with Coconut Vanilla Glaze

Adapted from the Ladies’ Home Journal Cookbook, published in 1960.   Makes approximately 12 – 18 doughnuts.   Everyone deserves a treat, so enjoy.

Sprouted Grain Doughnuts: Ingredients

• 1 ½ Cups Milk
• 2 Tablespoons Honey
• 1 Teaspoon Unrefined Sea Salt
• ½ Cup Butter
• 1 Egg, Beaten
• 2 Packages Dried Yeast
• 4 Cups Sprouted Flour (see sources)
• Coconut Oil or Pastured Lard for Frying
• 1 Recipe Coconut Vanilla Glaze (below)

Sprouted Grain Doughnuts: Instructions

1. Warm milk, honey, salt and butter together.
2. Add yeast and wait five minutes for it to proof.
3. Mix liquid mixture with 1 beaten egg.
4. Add sprouted flour and knead thoroughly.
5. Form into a ball and allow to rise until double in bulk.   I prefer to allow my breads to rise in an Excalibur dehydrator (see sources) which is efficient and effective.
6. Once the dough is doubled in bulk, roll it out with a rolling pin until ½-inch thick.
7. Cut with a doughnut cutter or other tool.   We used an inverted mason jar for the doughnut and an apple corer for the center.
8. Heat a ½-inch to ¾-inch coconut oil or pastured lard in a cast iron skillet over a medium-high flame.
9. Fry doughnuts 3 – 4 at a time in the oil.   They’ll puff up nearly immediately.
10. Turn when golden brown – a few seconds – and fry the other side.
11. Remove doughnuts, cool and drain.
12. Top with coconut vanilla glaze.

Coconut Vanilla Glaze: Ingredients

• 1 Cup Coconut Oil, melted
• 3 Tablespoons Honey
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla

Coconut Vanilla Glaze: Instructions

1. Whip melted coconut oil, honey and vanilla together.
2. Keep warm and viscous, but not hot.
3. Pour over doughnuts or madeleines as appropriate.

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