Ham and cheese donuts

A savory delight!

By now, unless you’ve been living on a very remote island for your entire life, you’re likely quite well acquainted with sweet donuts, thanks to many nationwide popular chains. I’m more a fan of artisanal donuts and have the great fortune to live just blocks from a shop that is repeatedly crowned as offering some of the best donuts in Canada. I decided to switch things up last week by crafting some savory donuts packed with ham and cheese and let me tell you, they are absolutely fantastic. I look forward to playing around with more savory combinations very soon. Of course they are super delicious fresh out of the oven but we’ve also been enjoying them split open and topped with poached eggs. Truly a breakfast of champions.

Ingredients

Donuts

• 1 tablespoon (14 g) butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 1/4 cups (150 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon (12.5 g) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon each ground black pepper and smoked paprika
• 1 large egg at room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1 cup (250 mL) buttermilk *
• 1/2 cup (75 g) diced ham
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 cup (110 g) shredded gruyere cheese

*you can substitute 1 cup (250 mL) room temperature milk to which 1 teaspoon of white vinegar has been added; stir and let sit 5 minutes.

Glaze

• 2 tablespoons (28 g) mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons (10 g) each Dijon and yellow mustard
• 2 teaspoons (14 g) honey

Method

• Preheat oven to 375F.
• Brush melted butter into 10 wells of a donut pan.
• Place flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and black pepper into a mixing bowl and whisk together.
• Add egg and buttermilk and whisk mixture together until well combined, taking care not to overmix.
• Fold ham, green onions and cheese into the batter.
• Pour batter into each donut well. I find this easiest to do by spooning the batter into a zip food bag, sealing then cutting off a small portion of one corner to form a piping bag. Each well should be 3/4  full.
• Bake donuts for 13 to 15 minutes or until golden brown and baked through (an instant-read thermometer is the best way to check; they should be 190F).
• While donuts are baking, make glaze by whisking together mayonnaise, honey and mustards in a small jug or measuring cup with a good pouring spout. Set aside.
• Remove the donut pan from the oven and let sit 2 minutes. With a flexible tool (a disposable plastic knife or fork is great), gently loosen the donuts from the pan and transfer them to a wire rack.
• Place the wire rack with the cooling donuts on a sheet of parchment paper or several pieces of paper towel. Drizzle the glaze over top of the donuts.
• Serve warm or at room temperature.  

Makes 10 savory donuts.