food and drink

Let’s be honest, on the difficulty scale these donuts are a ten, but on the flavor scale they’re a solid ten point five. I tried really hard not to eat too many of these, but how can I resist Bananas Foster Donuts with rum glaze… This is my first donut attempt, but the best way I can describe these is fried banana bread. They’re so good, and it’s the perfect show-stopping breakfast for holidays or special occasions.

I recently went to this hilariously old world restaurant with my dad where they served bananas foster at the table. They wheeled out a little stove on a cart and made the most delicious rum sauce. The restaurant was right out of the seventies with dark wood walls and stained glass. Needless to say the dessert was the best part, and I hope you love this recipe as much as I do!

These donuts are pretty high maintenance. They have two rising times, but if you break it up by letting the dough rise once in the fridge overnight, it helps shorten the donut waiting time.

Make sure you use very ripe bananas and you can mash them or blend them with an immersion blender so they’re extra soft.

First you make the dough and let it rest overnight in the refrigerator. Then you’ll roll it out and cut the donut shapes. It needs one more rise, so I did this on parchment paper.

Wanna know a secret? I used the top of my cocktail shaker to cut these donuts and a one ounce pour for the donut holes.

The frying part was actually pretty easy! Make sure you don’t burn these guys, since they only have to cook for about two minutes.

Delicious! Let me know how you like this recipe 🙂

 

BANANAS FOSTER DONUTS WITH CARAMEL RUM GLAZE

makes 12 donuts

adapted from Food and Wine

FOR THE DONUTS

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup whole milk
1 envelope instant dry yeast
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp rum
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
3 1/2 cups bread flour
2 cups canola oil for frying

FOR THE CARAMEL GLAZE:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup half and half
4 tbsp rum
pinch of salt

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mash the bananas with a fork and puree with an immersion blender or food processor. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, add the butter and melt over medium heat, stirring and continuously heating until browned. Pour into a small bowl. Wipe out the saucepan and then add the milk. Heat over low until it’s 105 degrees F. Pour the milk into the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast and let it sit for 5 minutes. Add the sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and rum, and gently mix. Add the banana and eggs and mix. Add the bread flour a little at a time until all is mixed in. Let it mix for five minutes. If you don’t have a standing mixer, you can mix everything with a wooden spoon and then knead the dough for about five minutes on a lightly floured surface until it bounces back when you poke it. Gather dough into a ball and then transfer to a buttered bowl. Cover with saran wrap and then let it rise in the refrigerator overnight. You can let it sit out for an hour in a warm place if you’d like, but I find it doesn’t rise quite as much.

Punch down the dough and then roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Using a donut cutter or 3-4 inch biscuit cutter, cut your doughnuts. Using a 1 inch round cutter, cut a hole in the center. Place the donuts and holes on a parchment covered baking sheet and cover with saran wrap. Let it rise in a warm place for one hour.

When you’re ready to fry the donuts, fill a saucepan with 1 inch of neutral oil such as canola oil. Bring the temperature up to about 375 F, making sure you don’t let it rise above 380 F. Add the donuts and let it cook for one minute on each side, using tongs or a wooden spoon to flip them over. Immediately remove the donuts to a paper towel lined plate. Fry the holes the same way but you may only need one minute.

To make the caramel glaze add butter to a medium saucepan and melt over medium heat. Add brown sugar, rum, half and half and salt, stirring frequently. Cook for about five minutes or until the sauce has thickened.

Once the sauce has thickened, remove from heat. Dip one side of the donuts upside down in the glaze and place on a rack or plate to serve.

Enjoy hot!