Baked Doughnut Recipes

From race car tracks to bakery racks

Eric Coomes and his sister-in-law, Michelle Fedrizzi, recently traded the smell of burned rubber for the smell of baked bread, blueberry muffins and doughnuts. The Harrisburg residents both met their spouses, Briana and Rick, while working at the Richard Petty Driving Experience, where they and other family have worked for the better part of the last decade. About two years ago, as the economy affected the learn-to-race business, the family started discussing life after "RPD." They looked into starting a franchise like Subway or Dunkin Donuts but decided on starting a family-run bakery, similar to those found in the Fedrizzi's hometown of Syracuse, NY. Fedrizzi's sister, Jennifer Claussner, works at the bakery and their dad, Stan North, helped with renovations. Granny Mac's Bake Shop, on N.C. 49 in Harrisburg, opened in May and the family is discovering the jobs share some surprising similarities. "The hours from three to six are as intense as working pit road like we used to," said Fedrizzi, 42. "You have three hours to get it all done. If you don't have the doughnuts out on the shelves at six, your customers are still coming through the door." Coomes, 29, started at RPD washing cars, then he became a mechanic and, eventually, a driver. He left his home in Kentucky after high school to try his luck at becoming a professional driver, a dream he hasn't quite given up on yet. He said he used to go home with grease under his fingernails, now it's flour. The roar of NASCAR engines has been replaced by the sound of high-powered exhaust fans in the kitchen. The adrenaline rush of going 165-mph has been replaced with the morning rush of customers. The family took on the venture so they could be together more and so Coomes and his wife could start a family. Coomes said he's probably busier now, but at least he gets to go home at the end of the day. Coomes and Fedrizzi interned at a Mario's Italian Bakery in Syracuse, putting in 10-hour days for a month, before opening their bake shop. Coomes also interned at Brooklyn Bakery in Michigan for a week. They said expansion to Concord, Lake Norman and Charlotte is not out of the question. The bake shop has 15 employees and it makes about 400 doughnuts each Saturday. "For two years this is what we focused on ...," said Coomes. "It's been quite the ride, but it's been awesome because we have another whole level of experience. All we knew a couple years ago was motorsports. I'm just happy from the self-satisfaction of what we were able to achieve so far. We're going to continue to work together and make it happen in the name of creating a stronger family bond." The namesake of the business is Fedrizzi's grandmother, Maxine Shannon. The logo for the bake shop includes a silhouette of Shannon's senior portrait from 1946. She died in January. But Fedrizzi's great grandmother, Ada Milliman, was the baker of the family. When Fedrizzi was 11, she used to make fried doughnuts with her in a cast-iron kettle on the stove. The bakery uses some of her recipes. "It's a nice way to honor them," said Fedrizzi. "Grandma Ada would be ecstatic just to have some of her still going, and some of her is still here, so I think that's pretty cool." Custom-made orders are accepted from the public and they keep a spreadsheet of new and unique requests. "We had a customer bring us their hand-picked peaches and say make me a pie with my peaches, and we did it," said Coomes. The business also is gearing up to become a local wholesaler for businesses, restaurants and grocers. It also hosts cake-decorating-themed birthday parties and eventually will offer classes. Fedrizzi, who said she plans to retire from the new gig, hopes the family-owned business becomes a go-to landmark for the community. The family has a renewable lease for the next eight years. Fedrizzi insisted they open the bake shop in Harrisburg. "This is where I've lived for the last 10 years," she said. "This is where my children live. This is where my children go to school. I just love this town and I think that the town is very loyal." Coomes, an aspiring NASCAR driver who put his dream on hold, recalled a story that draws another parallel between baking and racing. "Tony Stewart, who was asked about his status as one of the greatest race car drivers, said 'I'm just lucky to get the opportunity to race. The best driver in the world probably drives a bread truck somewhere.' And that's something that's stuck with me," said Coomes. "As bad as I want to race, I'm working in a bakery now. So, at some point, I'm going to be driving a bread truck. That statement has always stuck with me and I think it'd be cool if Tony knew there really are race car drivers that work at a bakery.

Cider Doughnuts: baking beauties | King Arthur Flour – Baking Banter

Doughnuts like these.

These recipes come from my grandma’s “black book,” a homemade cookbook yellowed and stained from decades of use. I’m not sure of its age, but it includes newspaper clippings from as early as 1925, so it’s at least that old.

Note: If you’re wondering – “Miss Mpls Flour” is Miss Minneapolis Flour, a bleached flour from the Minneapolis Milling Company. I’ll forgive Grandma for not using King Arthur Flour – we hadn’t yet made our way out of New England!

That doughnut pan is one of the best things I’ve bought. I have a recipe of my own for baked cider doughnuts, which has grated apples in it. I shake them in a bag of cinnamon sugar. I’ve made several dozen at a time for our kids’ high school sports teams and they’re gone in a flash. Pretty guilt-free, too. A bit of the sweet dough flavoring is a really nice touch.

Thanks for the Buttery Sweet Dough Flavor hint, Cindy – I think it’s a rather under-utilized flavor, and I love the way it adds that certain “bakery taste” without people being able to identify a specific flavor… PJH

I have never been much of a cake donut fan, I strongly prefer the lighter and less sweet yeast donuts. Is there a non-fried way to make a halfway respectable version of the yeast risen version? I think the cider glaze would be great on a yeast donut too. Jess

Jess, I’ve never discovered a way to make a baked yeast-raised doughnut that even approaches what you get when you fry. Readers, does anyone have a baked yeast “doughnut” recipe you could share? PJH

Haha this is just plain meeeaaan to post right now! Cider donuts go hand in hand with fall and it’s 115 degrees where I’m at right now with no end in sight!
LOVE cider donuts. I agree, I’ve made them baked and fried and fried wins hands down (obviously) but for the healthier-ness and ease of making them, I adore those donut pans.
We hope you give them a try when it’s just the right time for you! I have already been buying canned pumpkin, preparing for the season! I may have made cinnamon pumpkin rolls yesterday… Oh, just wishful fall thinking! ~Jessica

Here is a recipe for a baked raised doughut. It is from the book Doughnuts: Simple and Delicious Recipes to make at home by Lara Ferroni. I have not tried this recipe, but here it is.

Baked Raised

This recipe is based on a Finnish sweet dough recipe and are so soft and light you may not realize they were baked.