Baked Strawberry Doughnuts

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for doughnut pan
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup +2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup finely chopped strawberries
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup finely chopped strawberries*
• 1/2 cup freeze dried strawberries, finely crushed to powder **

Directions

1. Set your oven to 375 degrees. Coat the doughnut pans with the room temperature butter, dust them lightly with flour, then turn them over and tap out anything extra.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together. Make a well in the middle and leave it there for a moment. In another mixing bowl, whisk the buttermilk, vegetable oil, vanilla and eggs; it may look a little curdled, and that’s perfectly fine. Pour the wet mixture into the well in the dry ingredients, then stir with a wooden spoon only until the batter comes together. Fold in the 2/3 cup finely chopped strawberries.
3. Divide the batter among the doughnut pans, using 2 1/2 Tbsp in each well. Bake at 375 degrees for 11 – 13 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a doughnut comes out clean.
4. Let the doughnuts cool in the pans for several minutes, then turn them out onto a wire cooling rack and let them cool completely. When they’re cool, dip the top halves into the glaze, let the excess drip off, and place them back on the rack with the glazed side up. Move the doughnuts to the freezer until the glaze sets, about 5 minutes.
5. Make the glaze right before you dip the cooled doughnuts. In a mixing bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup finely chopped strawberries and half of the powdered sugar until the mixture begins to look moistened, then let it sit for 1 minute. Add the remaining powdered sugar and the freeze dried strawberry powder, and stir until well combined. Use the glaze immediately.