Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and, well… we need each other. Let’s hold hands and get through this together!
We’re going to need some tools this holiday weekend. By tools I mean, baked donuts, strong coffee, and festive sprinkles. Coffee, donuts, and love are fitting for every day of the year, but especially appropriate for a Valentine’s Day weekend. I hope you sleep in and share coffee and donuts with someone you want to high-five for life.
To celebrate the holiday I’ve partnered with Lavazza Coffee to give away a Valentine’s Day Survival Kit! Just a few important things to inspire a lazy Valentine’s Day morning lingering over really fantastic coffee and sweet, tender donuts.
1 • My favorite Bodum French Press. Makes perfect cups of coffee!
2 • Make if official with couple mugs. Few things are more precious.
3 • A good throw blanket. For picnic-style morning coffee adventures.
4 • Critical in any at-home coffee date is the perfect cup of coffee! Lavazza Italian Coffee is my new favorite! Dark, rich, and round coffee without a hint of bitterness. Lavazza makes home coffee feel extra special.
5 • Two people, lots of love, one journal. It’s like a little time capsule of your years together!
6 • Mornings should smell great with this Capri Candle!
7 • I always want to watch When Harry Met Sally and I know you do too.
8 • No coffee date is complete without donuts! They’re tender, sweet, and jam-swirled. Get into it! Here’s the pan you’ll need!
9 • Games of skill and chance on the living room floor: checkers and chess.
To enter to win a gift basket filled with Lavazza Coffee, a $25 gift card to Lavazza, and the rest of these Valentine’s treats, please leave a comment below with your favorite Valentine’s Day tradition. Winner will be randomly selected Saturday February 14th at noon est!
Now it’s time to make the donuts!
Baked donuts are sweet and easy! No need to stress the frying. Donuts can be a breeze.
Flour plus brown sugar, and a good dash of cinnamon.
Egg plus melted butter, good vanilla extract, and buttermilk.
You know how they say “It takes coffee to make coffee”? Well… it DEFINITELY takes coffee to make donuts. Come prepared.
Wet meets dry aaaanndd stir.
The batter won’t be pourable thin, but rather, spoonable thick. Perfect!
I swirled two big spoonfuls of strawberry jam into the batter then oooh so carefully spoon the swirled batter into mini donut pans.
This is serious business.
Baked and golden brown.
A donut is not a donut without glossy chocolate glaze.
Chocolate powdered sugar, a good pinch of salt, and enough milk to create a thick but pourable glaze.
Each donut is dipped.
Dipped and sprinkled!
Tender little donut bites! Perfect for sharing and extra lovely with Lavazzo Coffee.
Happy Valentine’s Day to us!
Mini Jam-Swirled Baked
Ingredients
For the Doughnuts
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (but we’ll only use 2 tablespoons of browned butter for the recipe)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup thick strawberry jam
For the Chocolate Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- pinch of salt
- 3 to 4 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a doughnut pan and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and sugar. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter. Butter will begin to crackle and pop as it melts. That’s the water melting out of the butter. Once the water has evaporated the butter will quiet down and begin to brown. Keep an eye on it, it browns quickly. The butter will begin to smell nutty. Remove from heat and immediately transfer browned butter (brown bits and all) to a small bowl.
- In a small bowl whisk together egg, buttermilk, and vanilla extract. Measure out 2 tablespoons of browned butter and whisk into the wet ingredients.
- Add the wet ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir together until no flour bits remain and all of the ingredients are well combined. Try not to overmix the batter. That might create rubbery doughnuts. Add the jam and swirl into the batter leaving big streaks of jam.
- Use a small spoon to dollop batter into the prepared pan. Smooth out and fill each doughnut in the pan three-quarters full with batter.
- Place in the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them and try not to over-bake them. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the doughnuts cool, make the glaze.
- To make the glaze, in a medium bowl whisk together powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. I didn’t sift my powdered sugar. I was able to whisk the lumps out. If you have stubborn powdered sugar, sifting before is best.
- Add 2 tablespoons of milk and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine. Add more milk as necessary to create a thick but still just pourable glaze.
- Once the doughnuts are completely cool, dip top-side-down into the chocolate glaze. Return to the wire rack and sprinkle with toppings. Allow to set for about 30 minutes before stacking or serving. Doughnuts are best within 2 days.
This post is sponsored by Lavazza Coffee. All opinions are my own.
D
Love this!
Jenn
We do NOT go out to dinner. It’s always lame, the servers are frazzled, and the food isn’t as good as it would be any other day of the year, etc. We have adopted the tradition of making a nice meal at home and buying small silly chocolates from the drug store. #whitmanssampler
Ashley H.
Dinner, cooked at home together, and then whatever movie catches our interest! We keep it simple and cozy. :)
Kelli
My now-husband and I met as juniors in high school on Valentine’s day. We didn’t start dating until three years later, but we always celebrated our “friendship anniversary” on Valentine’s day, even before we were dating. We’ve now been married for four years and still celebrate! <3
ps. those donuts…omg
Melissa
I have no traditions because every year it’s different! Or wait… Is eating any sweet treat I can get my hands on a tradition? Because that’s mine. For all the holidays.
Liz
My favorite valentines day tradition is getting a small note from my now husband.
Rebecca @ DisplacedHousewife
I say yes to all of this…the donuts, the coffee and Harry & Sally.
grace
we just started our tradition last year–scallops! at home, of course. we’re not crazy enough to venture into a restaurant on the weekend of valentine’s day. :)
liz
My favorite Valentine’s Day tradition is leaving/getting a little note from my now husband.
Nanda
This kit looks great!
We usually spend every other year with our kids (age 12 and 9), we plan and make a special dinner together. When is our year to celebrate alone we get a sitter and hit the town for a movie and nice dinner.
Thanks, Joy!
Sarah Bunch
My husband and I got married in the fall of 2013, so we’ve only had one Valentine’s Day as married kids, but it was definitely my favorite. We made your recipe for Ritz cracker & strawberry ice cream sandwiches dipped in chocolate in our little apartment and went to a movie. Simple, fun, and loving ????
seasonalveghead
We go out for a drink and make dinner at home – no way do I have the patience to be on a waiting list for 2 or more hours at a restaurant on their busiest night of the year! ;)
shendrixson
My mom has made it a point to make every Valentine’s Day special. Every year she takes me to lunch, buys me something special (preferably in pink or red), and goes out of her way to find the prettiest Valentine card. My grandmother used to do the same for her and we have been keeping it a generational tradition for years. One year, mom even surprised me at college and took my roommate and I out to a Valentine’s Day dinner! This year we are miles apart and I’ll be celebrating with my husband, but my mom is still my Valentine Pen Pal!
Allison M. Floyd
I snuggle with my cats and leave the clumps of fur that get stuck to my clothes so that wherever I go, they’re always with me.
Kellie
One of my best friends from high school and I spent our first Valentine’s Day as friends in her basement watching The Notebook (because duh, we were in high school) eating chocolate and lots of fruit while making posters for the Astronomy Club we founded that year. We were cool. Anyways, now we’re older and live in different parts of country, but every Valentine’s Day we send a brief message to each other commemorating one of the first times we ever hung out together, and our first Valentine’s Day as friends. It’s my favorite! :)