Category: Breads and Baked Goods

The Doughnut – Deconstructed + A Healthy Doughnut Recipe

Doughnut –

Dictionary.com definition: a small cake of sweetened or, sometimes, unsweetened dough fried in deep fat, typically shaped like a ring or, when prepared with a filling, a ball.

 My definition: a small cake loaded with cancer-causing, diabetes-triggering sugar and highly processed and refined flour, resembling a little trans fat sponge, containing dozens of highly toxic and damaging ingredients.

Americans eat over 10 billion donuts every year! That’s about 33 donuts for every man, women, and child.

• Refined Grains– the bran and the germ are stripped away from the grain of wheat, then highly refined/processed (including bleaching), turns to sugar
• Trans Fats & Damaged Fats (hydrogenated oils) – your body cannot properly metabolize these fats, they cling to fragile cell membranes and prevent the “good stuff” from getting in and the “bad stuff” from getting out. Doughnuts are fried in these damaged fats and act as little sponges, soaking up the unhealthy oils. Doughnuts can contain up to 35-40% trans fats per doughnut!
• Sugar – processed sugar is one of the most damaging components of the Standard American Diet. It is the primary dietary cause of obesity, causes hormonal imbalance, puts you on the fast track to diabetes, increases the acidity of the body, causes inflammation, causes elevated cholesterol, leads to heart disease, is an anti-nutrient, is a known toxin, and is the food and fuel for cancer. There is approximately 4-6 teaspoons of sugar PER DOUGHNUT.
• Acrylimides – occurs in foods that are cooked at very high temperatures (like frying), studies have proven it to be a known carcinogen.
• Artificial colors – In the European Union, foods with artificial colors must state a warning: “may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.”
• Anti-nutrients – there is no nutritional value in a doughnut. In fact, it is loaded with anti-nutrients. This means that not only are you NOT getting any nutrients from the food itself, in order for your body to process a doughnut, it has to pull from the existing stores of vitamin, minerals, enzymes, etc. It is a double whammy to the body.

The ingredients:

When you make a traditional donut at home, the typical ingredients are: flour, eggs, sugar, butter, yeast, oil, salt, milk.

–> all ingredients you can find at a grocery store (although it does’t mean they are healthy).

A Krispy Kreme Doughnut contains:

Enriched bleached wheat flour-  (contains bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine, mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), dextrose, vegetable shortening (partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil), water, sugar, soy flour, egg yolks, vital wheat gluten, yeast, nonfat milk, yeast nutrients (calcium sulfate, ammonium sulfate), dough conditioners (calcium dioxide, monocalcium and dicalcium phosphate, diammonium phosphate, sodium stearoyl-2-lacrylate, whey, starch, ascorbic acid, sodium bicarbonate, calcium carbonate), salt, mono-and-diglycerides, ethoxylated mono- and diglycerides, lecithin, calcium propionate (to retain freshness), cellulose gum, natural and artificial flavors, fungal alpha amylase, amylase, maltogenic amylase, pantosenase, protease, sodium caseinate, corn maltodextrin, corn syrup solids and BHT (to help protect flavor).
Glaze also may contain: Calcium carbonate, agar, locust bean gum, disodium phosphate, and sorbitan monostearate.  

 –> most ingredients not readily available

Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts

Core & Advanced Plan

Makes about 6 full size doughnuts or 12 mini doughnut

5 organic eggs
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp maple extract
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
3/4 cup almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/3 cup erythritol (like Swerve) or 1/2 – 1 tsp liquid stevia
2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and oil your doughnut pan (be sure it is non-toxic).  Place first 5 ingredients in a blender and blend until well mixed.  Add the dry ingredients and blend on low speed until well mixed.  Pour the batter into the pan, filling each mold about 2/3 full.  Bake for 20 minutes and let cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

Advanced & Core Plan

Granola is a favorite breakfast food and topping but most store bought granola is full of carbohydrates like oats and sugars like honey, agave, and cane sugar.  This recipe is fun to make and easily storable.

6-10 servings (depending on size of the serving)

2 cups nuts (any combination of walnuts, pecans, and almonds – slivered work best)
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 cup large coconut flakes, unsweetened
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup erythritol (like Swerve) or spoonable stevia to taste (about 1-1 1/2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger or 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 organic egg white, whisked until frothy

Core Plan Option:  1 cup dried fruit (unsweetened cranberries, raisins, dates)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.  Melt coconut oil in a small saucepan over low heat. Take off heat and stir in ginger, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon. Set aside.
Combine nuts in a food processor and pulse several times to chop the nuts roughly. Transfer nuts to a large bowl. Pull out any large chunks and re-process.  Add pumpkin seeds, coconut flakes and dried fruit, if using to the nuts. Toss to combine then pour the oil mixture into the nut mixture and mix well.  Whisk egg white and pour over mixture and combine with a spoon or your hands making sure everything is coated well.
Transfer granola onto baking sheet, spreading it out into one even layer.
Bake granola for 20-25 minutes until dry and golden (watch it closely so it doesn’t burn). Don’t stir but you may need to rotate the pan if it is growing unevenly.  Remove the parchment from the hot pan and let the granola cool completely (it will get even crispier as it cools).
When the granola is  cool, break it up into chunks. This can be stored for up to two weeks in an airtight container.

Serving suggestions:
As a snack on it’s own
As a cereal served with almond milk, coconut milk, or raw milk
Parfait style with organic yogurt and berries