The old saying goes, “Every dog has its day”. Even truer in the foodie world is that every food has its day.
Seriously, it does. Almost every food item (most certainly the sweet ones) seems to have garnered itself a day of the year for its own celebration. Check out this crazy list of National Food Holidays. Some foods even have their own month, usually the broad hitters like egg, pecan and dairy. I’m not certain who assigned all of these days and months to these honored foods, but I think the whole year is taken now. Except the Powers-That-Be generously offered us May 11th as Eat What You Want Day… thanks for the permission.
There are many days that I can happily pass celebrating… like October 14th’s National Chocolate Covered Insect Day or November 9th’s Scrapple Day. But there are some days, like last week’s Friday, June 5th, that I’m happy to jump on board. The first Friday of June is reserved as National Doughnut Day.
Big companies like Krispie Kreme and Dunkin’ Donuts were giving away free donuts. Not just here in the US, but worldwide. This is a big day, people.
I remember those sweet, fried, magnificent discs of dough from my gluten-eating days, and probably ate my life-share in highschool Sunday school alone. But far, far gone are the days of donuts eaten with drive-through availability. No free donuts for me on National Doughnut Day.
Instead of crying in my cake donut hole, I remind myself that it’s all the better that I make my own… And for many reasons. First of all, the gluten thing alone… clearly it isn’t an option. Next I’m allowed to control the other ingredients that go into my donut treat, and how it is cooked. And lastly, because I make them I’m never tempted to splurge on an imprompu sugar bomb when getting a black coffee on the road.
That’s where these little lovelies come into the picture. Without the glaze, these gluten-free waffle donuts are sweetened only with natural maple sugars. Though they’re delicious both with and without the glaze, I chose to glaze them all… cause it was a National Holiday, afterall. I love the waffle iron bake option! No hot grease to contend with and no special pan needed. The texture is perfect… not waffle-like and light, but a substantial bite of spiced, perfectly-sweetened goodness.
See… with these in hand there’s no way to miss a cold, greasy, tooth-achingly sweet Krispie Kreme. Celebrate the splurge… National Doughnut Day only comes around once, wait twice (November 5th, too!?!), a year.
And by the way, Happy National Peanut Butter Cookie Day…
Gluten Free Maple Spice Glazed Waffle Donuts
Ingredients
- 1 cup gluten-free flour blend with binder I used Thomas Keller Cup for Cup
- 3 tablespoons maple sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
Glaze:
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
Instructions
- Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions.
- Combine flour blend, maple sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt in a medium bowl. Combine milk, egg, vanilla paste, and maple syrup in a measuring cup or medium bowl. Add milk mixture and melted butter to flour mixture; stir until just combined.
- Spoon about 2 tablespoons mixture into the center of hot waffle iron; cook according to manufacturer's instructions. Cool slightly on a wire rack. Repeat with remaining batter.
- Combine glaze ingredients with a wire whisk to make a thick glaze. Add more sugar or milk to achieve desired consistency. Dunk tops of waffle donuts into glaze. Allow excess to drip off and return to wire rack for glaze to set.
