Hmmm.. So I’m a slacker and wrote my Thanksgiving Day post but didn’t post it. That was smart. Thanksgiving was a crazy time with all the family and friends, so I’m just going to hide behind that lame excuse and post it later today. Because today has some exciting new doughnuts to take center stage and trust me when I say that this saucy cranberry doughnut does not like to be upstaged. These doughnuts do to leftover cranberry sauce what the word vintage does do old furniture – they get glamorized and suddenly feel decadent! Rich and tangy and flavorful and – my favorite part – made with what was already in the fridge!!

Before I post the recipe, I would like to address those that use the excuse that they have a tiny kitchen as a reason to eat unhealthy. Also, those that don’t have fancy cooking equipment and think that is an acceptable reason to eat junk. I am calling you out – and you know who you are. I have about 5ft of counter space and my oven can’t fit a whole turkey. My Kitchen Aid Mixer was my grandmother’s and it’s older than me. I was blessed to get a wonderful food processor from my even more wonderful parents, but that is my only concession to fancy cookware. Other than that, I have a crock pot, a $15 ice cream maker, and a Hello Kitty waffle iron. I’m not even working with a whole kitchen right now because my upstairs neighbor had her water heater go and all that water came right down into my kitchen. So there! Try and excuse yourself from eating healthy now!

Saucy Cranberry Lemon Doughnuts
Check my Thanksgiving post (when I put it up) to get my cranberry sauce recipe. My cranberry sauce is really thick and it’s not sweet like the one you get in the store.

Ingredients
2/3 Cup of cranberry sauce
3/4 Cup coconut flour
2 Tablespoons melted coconut oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
2-3 Tablespoons of lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
1/3 Cup almond milk

Directions:
I like to make doughnuts in my food processor – I’ve named it Fabian. He’s the love of my life. I don’t even remember what life was like before he came into my life. How did I puree cashews? How did I make carrot cake? How did I get the smoothest soup ever? I used to use a blender. It worked okay, so if you don’t have a food processor, go ahead and pull out your blender/smoothie maker. But start telling people how much better life would be if it had a food processor in it and count down the days to Christmas or your holiday of choice. If your holiday is Hanukkah, my apologies for not making these sooner, but there’s always next year!

Sorry for that tangent. Just take out a food processor/blender/instrument of smoothing to get started. Say good bye to the last vestiges of Thanksgiving and put the cranberry sauce, salt, lemon juice and lemon zest in the food processor. Blend these together. Next, add in the coconut flour. Blend until this forms little pink bits and looks dry. Add the coconut oil and blend again. It should still be fairly dry, so add the almond milk. If you’re in a damper climate, you might want to go easy on the almond milk.

Fill your doughnut pan and bake at 350 degrees. If you don’t have a doughnut pan, you can shape the dough and cook it on a cookie sheet. See – no excuses!! You can make it work if you want to make it work!! Bake for about 15 minutes or until they start to brown. If they are browning but still more moist than you would like them to be, try putting the baked doughnuts on a wire rack and putting them back in the oven on a cookie sheet. The coconut fiber can be really dense, which I like in my doughnuts, but others prefer a lighter doughnut.

Let these cool completely before eating them – the flavor really comes through better if you let them cool. I hope you like them as much as I do!!

Applesauce Doughnuts

Apples and Cinnamon and Oh MY! Oh my goodness. Oh my goodNESS!! These are delicious. They taste like warm fires when you’ve come in from sledding at night under the stars. They are all the good things about autumn and winter and warm feelings and snuggles. I had no idea a doughnut could taste like snuggles and sledding, but these do. Thanks goodness they feel filling or I would eat them all. I’m so torn – I want to share them and sharing them will make me so happy, but at the same time, I want them all to myself! Good thing I’m not out of apples yet.

Ingredients
1 Cup of homemade cinnamon applesauce (so easy – don’t be deterred! I’ll post that recipe too)
1 apple (chopped small)
½ Cup coconut flour
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
½ Teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons coconut oil

Directions:
Time to hang out with the food processor again. Are you ready for easy? Throw everything in there but the coconut oil and blend it on up. Got that done? Okay, now add the oil and hit blend again. Just a quickie – not too much blending needed on these. Fill your pan or shape your dough and bake it at 350 degrees until lightly browned – about 20 minutes. Don’t forget to let them cool. I know you’re excited, but you’ll burn your mouth for only half the flavor. Enjoy!