Early mornings in our house are busy and slightly stressful – not the way I like my kids to start their days.ย So, I decided to surprise my kids with a treat that would bring a smile to their faces as they headed out the door for a long day of school and activities.
Looking to the pantry for inspiration, I decided to base the treat on their favorite cereal, Cinnamon Toast Cruch, and I worked up this recipe for Cinnamon Donut Holes with Cream Cheese Filling.
Baked Cinnamon Donut Holes
Because I’m just as busy as my kids, I tried a quick and easy option first. Instead of standing over a hot stove, I opted to make my donut holes in a mini muffin tin.
They tasted AMAZING, but because they looked like mini muffins instead of actual donut holes, I got some criticism from my beloved children. I wish I had a cake pop pan, but I don’t, so I had to figure out how to fry these cinnamon donut holes instead.
Fried Cinnamon Donut Holes
Unfortunately, the dough for the baked cinnamon donut holes was too runny to shape into balls to fry so I had to tweak the recipe and add some more flour.
Even with the added flour, the dough is really sticky so I wasn’t able to shape it into balls around the cream cheese by rolling it between my palms. After much experimentation, I found that the least messy way to shape the donut holes was to drop the cream cheese balls into the dough and use two spoons to fish them out and sculpt the dough around it.
The kids were much happier with this version, not only because they were round, but also because frying gave them a nice, crisp crust.
๐ Recipe
Cinnamon Donut Holes with Cream Cheese Filling
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Ingredients
- Filling:
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- Dough:
- 1 cup Cinnamon Toasters cereal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 Tbs olive oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Cooking oil for frying
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together cream cheese and powdered sugar until well blended.
- Form small balls of cream cheese (about a teaspoon) and set them on a plate lined with wax paper.
- Refrigerate cream cheese balls while you prepare the dough.
- Grind cereal in a food processor or blender until smooth.
- In a large bowl, combine cereal, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Mix well.
- Add the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla. Whisk the batter until smooth and free of lumps.
- Fill a small frying pan halfway with oil. Heat oil to 375ยฐF. While waiting for the oil to heat, line a platter or two large plates with paper towels.
- Remove cream cheese balls from the refrigerator.
- One at a time, drop a cream cheese ball into the dough. Using two spoons, lift the ball out of the dough, coating it with dough in the process. Carefully transfer the dough-covered cream cheese ball to the hot oil. Only fry 2-3 at a time to prevent crowding in the pan.
- Fry the donut holes for one minute then flip over with a slotted spoon and cook for an additional minute. Use a slotted spoon to remove donut holes from the pan and transfer to paper towels.
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