Chocolate Stout Donuts

 I've heard of cooking many foods with beer, but donuts? A new experience. The recipe calls for melted chocolate chips, as well as cocoa powder. So I used my fav chocolate chips, Ghirardelli semi-sweet. And my fav cocoa powder, Lake Champlain Chocolates of Burlington, Vermont. I know there are some great stouts by local Maine microbreweries (Lake St. George of Liberty comes to mind...their Oatmeal Stout is very fine), but I had Guinness Extra Stout on hand so used that.

These donuts are not too sweet, with only 2/3 cup sugar per batch of 2 dozen donuts. You can add a glaze if you like, to add sweetness, but I like them just the way they are. 

You need to allow time for the dough to chill before cutting, since it is a very moist dough and must be cut chilled, so the dough doesn't stick to the cutter.  The recipe cautions against overcooking, due to the darkness of the donut dough. 

This is the perfect donut to treat yourself to on a cold Maine winter morning, with a cup of hot coffee or, even better, hot chocolate. Surely you've heard the old saying, "when you start the day with double the chocolate, you're sure to have double the fun." Okay, so I just made that up. But we'll never know if it is true until you test it out!



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