Peanut Butter Donuts with Dark Chocolate Ganache Glaze

August 26, 2020

Name a combo better than peanut butter and chocolate. I’ll wait....

The inspiration for these super delicious donuts actually started with the chocolate ganache glaze. Baker Bettie has a great article breaking down everything you need to know about ganache and now I want to make it pretty much every day. Once you’ve got the ratios down, it’s super easy and no-fuss. However, it is very hard not to eat it by the spoonful. 

This chocolate glaze makes the perfect topping for donuts. And let’s talk about these peanut butter donuts! They are moist and so delicious. The chopped peanuts give the donuts a pop of fresh peanut flavor, but don’t actually impact the texture (no “crunch” here!). They just melt right into the batter. 

And the best part is? They are super easy to make. You, too, can have donuts in about an hour.

recipe

Donuts adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Chocolate Glaze adapted from Baker Bettie’s ganache process

Quantity: 9-10 donuts, depending on how much you fill your pan

Time: ~ 1 hour

Ingredients

Peanut Butter Donuts

155 g (1 and 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

99g (1/2 cup) vegetable oil (or other neutral oil)

125 g (1/2 cup) creamy peanut butter

200g (1 cup, packed) light or dark brown sugar

1 large egg

80 g (1/3 cup) whole milk plain greek yogurt

1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

113 g (1/2 cup) whole milk

40 g (1/3 cup) very finely crushed or chopped peanuts

Chocolate Glaze

56 g (2 oz) dark chocolate

56 g (2 oz or 1/4 cup) heavy cream

Extra crushed or chopped peanuts for topping (optional)

Process

Peanut Butter Donuts

Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees. With your fingers or a piece of paper towel, lightly coat each opening of the donut pan with vegetable oil. Set aside. 

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Set aside. 

In your stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or using a bowl plus whisk or hand mixer), combine the oil, peanut butter, brown sugar, egg, yogurt and vanilla. Mix until combined, then add the flour, baking soda and salt and combine. Add the milk and peanuts and combine until incorporated.

Add the batter to a pastry bag or large zip lock bag. Cut a 1/2 inch hole into the tip off of the bag. Pipe a circle of batter into each opening of the donut pan. Fill to about 3/4 full, but not all the way to the top. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes then invert the pan to remove the donuts. Set aside to cool completely. 

Ganache Glaze

While the donuts cool, make the chocolate glaze. 

Roughly chop chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl.

Place cream in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 45-60 seconds. 

Place the chopped chocolate into the bowl with the cream and let stand for about 3 minutes. 

Whisk until the mixture is smooth.

Assemble the Donuts

Dip the top of each donut into the chocolate glaze. Top with a sprinkle of chopped peanuts. 

Tips:

• Special equipment: I use this donut pan. Since it’s a silicone pan and quite floppy, I place it on a baking sheet to make it easier to move in and out of the oven. 

• You may have extra glaze. Store it in the fridge and then microwave in 10-15 second bursts to rewarm. It’s GREAT over ice cream. 

• If you don’t have greek yogurt, you can use sour cream or even labne or mascarpone. 

• The batter is very wet, but that’s how you get such a light and moist crumb. 

• You can also make cupcakes with this batter.