Triple Chocolate Old Fashioned Doughnuts

Name: Triple Chocolate Old Fashioned Doughnuts
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 large egg; 1 large egg yolk; 2/3 cup sour cream; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon espresso powder; 1/3 cup cocoa powder; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1/4 teaspoon baking soda; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1/4 cup whole milk; 4 tablespoons butter, melted; 2/3 cup brown sugar, packed; 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour; 1 tablespoon special dark cocoa powder; 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder; 2 tablespoons canola oil; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 cup confectioners sugar; 2 tablespoons water, hot; dark chocolate covered pretzels, crushed

August 1, 2021

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How incredible does a rich chocolate old fashioned doughnut dipped in a silky chocolate glaze and then sprinkled with crushed salty dark chocolate covered pretzels sound? Well, they are even better. In fact, I would describe them as utter perfection.

If you are unfamiliar with old fashioned doughnuts, they are made with either sour cream or buttermilk, which makes them rich, dense and super moist. Old fashioned doughnuts are typically deep fried, but I love baking doughnuts, so I baked these ones and they have a wonderful texture without the trouble or oiliness of deep frying doughnuts.

The extra hit of chocolate from that beautifully glossy chocolate glaze and the saltiness from the crushed up pretzels is impossible to resist… or at least I have not had success and I doubt you will either. Consider yourself warned!

Let’s get started…

Start by gathering 1 large egg and 1 egg yolk, 2/3 cup of sour cream, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of espresso powder, 1/3 cup of cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, 1/4 cup of whole milk, 4 tablespoons of melted butter, 2/3 cup of brown sugar and 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour.

Whisk together 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk, 2/3 cup of sour cream, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, 1/4 cup of whole milk, 4 tablespoons of melted butter and 2/3 cup of brown sugar in a large bowl until it is fully incorporated.

Place a mesh sifter over the bowl and add 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of espresso powder, 1/3 cup of cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour into it. Gently sift everything into the bowl.

Sifting dry ingredients is the best way to both combine them and ensure that everything is fine in texture. If you are left with any crumbles in the sifter, you can press them through using a silicone spatula or even your hands. As long as the ingredients go through the sifter, your batter will be smooth.

Mix the wet and dry ingredients until they are just combined. You don’t want to overmix this batter, so as long as you don’t see anything dry left around the bowl, you are good to proceed.

Grease a doughnut pan and fill each cavity about 2/3 of the way. Bake the doughnuts in a 350 degree oven for 8-12 minutes, depending on how large your doughnuts are. Mini doughnuts are usually done right at 8 minutes, the “standard” sized doughnuts are usually done around 10 minutes and these full sized doughnuts took 12 minutes to finish.

The doughnuts are done when they feel set and a little springy to a light touch. Transfer them onto a cooling rack to fully cool before glazing and decorating them. They usually take about 30 minutes to cool, so around the 25 minute mark, start making the dark chocolate glaze…

This glaze is simple and flavorful and will set nicely once it cools. I love using it to decorate cookies, cakes and of course… these triple chocolate old fashioned doughnuts.

Whisk together 1 tablespoon of special dark cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons of canola oil, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 cup of confectioners sugar and 2 tablespoons of hot water in a small bowl.

Glaze done.

The last thing you need to do is to crush the pretzels. You can either place the pretzels in a zip lock bag and crush them using a rolling pin or meat tenderizer or your can chop them finely with a sharp knife.

Now dip the top of each doughnut into the glaze and then return them to the cooling rack. I like to slide a sheet of parchment paper under the cooling rack before I sprinkle the doughnuts with crushed pretzels.

If you have any chocolate glaze left over, drizzle it over the pretzels… why not?

Look at that doughnut…

Each bite has a bit of rich chocolatey doughnut, smooth dark chocolate glaze and crunchy salty pretzels. It hits all of the points that a dessert should.

They are beautiful, sweet, but not too sweet, rich, but not snobby and will satisfy even the strongest chocolate craving.

Do yourself a favor and make these doughnuts…

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