Picnic Season Treats

One of my friends, Viv, has an amazing organization called Too Damn Young.  It's a site to help young people deal with loss, and it's an incredible space full of healing and heart.  Every year, she celebrates the anniversary of when she started it and invites a bunch of awesome people to spend the day with her in Riverside Park in NYC at a potluck picnic.

I got a little carried away with Pinterest yesterday when I was looking at recipes and found two that were just too cute to pass up.  The first was a recipe for funfetti birthday cake waffles…amazing idea and my family has a waffle iron we like to use.  The other recipe I found was for funfetti donuts!  Yesterday was National Donut Day, so I HAD to check that recipe out!  I made a test batch yesterday for my family to try, but my mom is gluten free and tries to stay away from dairy, so I made it work for her and they still tasted great!

Birthday Cake Waffles from Dear Crissy

YIELD: 8 Waffles      PREP TIME: 20      COOK TIME: 20      TOTAL TIME: 40
INGREDIENTS:

• No-Stick Cooking Spray
• 1 package Pillsbury™ Purely Simple White Cake Mix
• 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 cup water
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles, plus additional for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. Coat waffle iron with no-stick cooking spray. Heat according to manufacturer’s directions on medium heat.
2. Whisk cake mix, oil, water and eggs in large bowl until smooth. Stir in sprinkles. Pour batter onto waffle iron. Bake 2 to 3 minutes or until done. Repeat with remaining batter.

Notes:

I used an ice cream scoop to fill the waffle iron, one scoop per square (4 per waffle).  After finishing the waffles, I let them cool, separated the squares, and cut them into triangles.  My original intent was to dip them in chocolate, but I quickly realized that the waffles didn't hold up great with the weight of the chocolate as it was dipped.  For the chocolate, I melted chocolate chips with a small amount of coconut oil (about a teaspoon) to get the chocolate smoother.  I ended up putting the melted chocolate into an icing bag and piped it onto a corner of each waffle triangle.  I then used some sprinkles to top the chocolate.  If you're traveling with these or displaying them before eating, allow the chocolate to set by placing the waffles in the fridge (we had placed them on a cookie sheet to put the chocolate on).

These such a hit at the picnic!

Vanilla Frosted Funfetti Donuts from Baker by Nature

Prep Time: 10 minutes     Cook Time: 11 minutes     Total Time: 25 minutes     Yield: 6 donuts     Serving Size: 1 donut

Soft and fluffy funfetti donuts are loaded with rainbow sprinkles and topped with a sweet vanilla frosting! Baked, not fried, these can be ready in just 30 minutes!
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INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose baking flour
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (I used Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks)
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sprinkles

For the vanilla frosting:

• 2 tablespoons heavy cream (more if needed)
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sprinkles, for decorating

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).
2. Lightly grease a doughnut pan; set aside.
3. In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl whisk together the milk, butter, and egg. Gently fold the wet mixture into the dry mixture until just combined - don't over mix! Gently fold in sprinkles.
4. Spoon mixture into prepared doughnut pan, and bake for 10-11 minutes, or until the doughnuts spring back when lightly pressed. Allow doughnuts to cool a few minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire wrack to cool for a few more minutes.

​For the glaze:

1. Combine heavy cream and confectioners' sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk smooth, adding a touch more cream if the frosting seems too thick; adding a touch more sugar if the frosting seems too thin. Mix in salt and vanilla.
2. Once the donuts have cooled completely, spread the frosting over the tops of each and decorate with sprinkles.

Notes:

When I made my test half batch, I made these gluten and dairy free.  I used a flour mix that was 1:1 and replaced the milk with unsweetened coconut milk.  I did not make the icing for this trial.  When I made the full batch (six donuts), the icing recipe made just enough for the donuts.  At first I thought it was going to be too little, but despite how it looks, it was perfect.  Make sure your donuts are fully cooled before icing because the icing will soak in/melt if the donuts are warm.  You can use less sprinkles in the recipe if you'd like, they're pretty sprinkle heavy once baked.  The test batch I made with rainbow sprinkles, however the second batch I made with just blue sprinkles to fit with the color scheme of Too Damn Young.