Have you occasionally seen those squished-looking, freaks-of-nature, disc-shaped peaches at your supermarket? Called “donut peaches“, this variety of peach is certainly sweet as a doughnut.  Unable to decide whether I prefer doughnuts or these peaches, I decided to celebrate their similarities and made mini donut peach-flavored doughnuts!

I adore seeing the peaches arranged together with the mini doughnuts.  It’s as if long-lost twins were meeting each other for the first time, The Parent Trap-style.  Now for the real test… which would you grab for first?

I’ve been trying to be a little healthier these past few weeks… transitioning from whipping up a batch of cookies on a daily basis to throwing together smoothie bowls instead is no simple lifestyle tweak.  At the end of the day, the visual appeal of this baking project was too tempting a thought to neglect.  Moral of the story?  Eat peaches, eat doughnuts, eat these donut peach doughnuts.  In all aspects of life, balance is magic.  Make time for natural, from-a-tree magic as well as the (wo)man-made, brown butter-laden variety.

Scroll down for the recipe.  Make some quick treats before bidding farewell to stone fruit season!

Donut Peach Baked Doughnuts

Makes about 18 mini doughnuts

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1/4 cup donut peach puree (use a food processor to blend 1 to 2 peaches)
• 1 tbsp browned butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a doughnut pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Combine flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Combine egg, buttermilk, peach puree, butter, and vanilla in a separate bowl.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, and stir to combine.
5. Pipe batter into your doughnut pan.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a couple of doughnuts comes out clean.  If you are using a mini doughnut mold, bake 10 minutes and check.
7. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Remove the doughnuts from the pan and let them finish cooling on a cooling rack.

Donut Peach Glaze

Ingredients:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup donut peach puree
• 1/2 cup cream

Instructions:

1. Put 1 cup powdered sugar into a bowl.
2. Add the vanilla extract and a 3 tablespoons of cream. Whisk. Add more cream for a thinner texture, as desired.
3. Add peach pure, one spoonful at a time until you’ve reached your desired consistency.
4. Once your doughnuts are cool, dunk them in glaze.
5. If you have the willpower, let glazed doughnuts set at room temperature for at least half an hour before eating.  This will allow the glaze to harden.