Our life in England is pretty stinking charming.

(Well, when we are there. It feels like it's been forever!!)

Though I'm fairly sure that at least once a weekend,

I wake up and roll over to Tyler and mutter something along the lines of:

"This place would be perfect... except for the %$&# lack of donut shops."

It drives me crazy that I can't buy

a bag of delicious, freshly made American donuts

anywhere in those silly British isles.

I digress...

Fortunately, my English friend, Teri, is helping solve this problem

by giving us this batch of baked cinnamon and sugar donuts

glazed with some maple goodness.

She may think of it as a breakfast treat.

I think of it as a reason to stay in England.

For more of Teri's talent and life-changing skills,

pop over to her chic site, THE LOVELY DRAWER.

MAPLE-GLAZED CINNAMON & SUGAR DONUTS

This was actually my first time making donuts. I’d decided long ago that deep frying anything would be asking for some serious trouble when I consistently burn my hands/ fingers 4 out of 5 times I cook. My husband can testify. So I asked for a donut pan for Christmas with the low-risk brainwave that I’d bake my donuts instead. My lovely pan arrived and I’ve actually only just got around to using it with this recipe as a starting point. I then added pecans and a maple syrup glaze because clearly I felt there wasn’t already enough sugar!

As with any donuts I’d say: eat these on the day you cook them and preferably still warm which is, of course, the ultimate!

YOU'LL NEED:

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda (US read: baking soda)

pinch of salt

1 egg (lightly beaten)

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vegetable oil

2 tsp lemon juice

2 1/2 tbsp maple syrup

TOPPING

2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup sugar (I used 3 parts white sugar and 1 part Demerara/raw sugar)

1/4 cup butter

GLAZE

1/4 c butter

8 tbsp maple syrup

1 1/4 cup icing sugar

handful chopped pecans to finish

1) Preheat the oven to 400F

2) Mix together all the dry ingredients for your donuts in a bowl. Make a hole in the centre and pour in all the wet ingredients. Fold together until combined.

3) Transfer the donut batter to a piping bag or cut a 1/2 inch hole in the tip of a plastic bag and pipe into the shapes in your donut pan, making sure you don’t over fill in order to keep a hole in the middle.

4) Bake for 7-8 minutes until golden brown.

5) While baking combine the cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and mix.

6) Once out of the oven, while the donuts are still warm, melt the butter and brush over all sides of each donut, then dipping each in the sugar mixture afterwards.

7) Then make the glaze by melting the butter and stirring the maple syrup and icing sugar in. Keep stirring until it reaches a smooth, creamy consistency. I transferred the glaze into a squeeze bottle to then create lines over the donuts but you could do this part however you want.

8)Scatter the chopped pecans on top while it’s still wet.