Today is my birthday! And to celebrate, CSN Stores, which has everything you need to stock your kitchen, from dutch ovens to cake pans, is hosting a giveaway for an $80 gift card (which goes a long way with their great prices!). To enter, just leave a comment telling me about your favorite birthday dessert. Thanks CSN!
I started celebrating early last weekend by whipping up a fun treat. If you haven’t guessed it based on my blog design, my absolutely favorite kind of cake is carrot cake. We had it at our wedding and I always request it on my birthday too. But, donuts are my second favorite goodie, and in fact, during my senior year of college, my friends bought me 21 donuts to attempt to eat on my 21st birthday! I think there were only 4 or 5 leftover the next day – pretty impressive, huh? That Man vs Food dude should be shaking in his boots! Anyway, I knew I wanted to try combining my two favorite desserts into one, so you guessed it, I made carrot cake donuts!
These drop donuts were inspired by Jenny’s recipe for Glazed Caramelized Roasted Banana Bread Drop Doughnuts, which earned her a spot on Ultimate Recipe Showdown the season before I was on the show. I made a thick carrot cake batter that I dropped with a cookie scoop into hot vegetable oil and then fried up the treats until they were golden brown. There’s only a little bit of sugar in the donuts because I slathered them with a pretty sweet cream cheese frosting. I piped some on top and also did a little dipping! They are super indulgent and perfect for a celebration!
Giveaway details: To enter, just leave a comment on this post describing your favorite birthday dessert. Entries must be in by Thursday, September 9 at 11:59pm EST and the winner will be picked with random.org and announced shortly thereafter. CSN Stores is sponsoring this giveaway but I received no compensation for this post and all opinions are mine.
Carrot Cake Drop Donuts with Cream Cheese Frosting
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
Carrot Cake Drop Donuts:
Vegetable oil for frying
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/3 cup crushed unsweetened pineapple
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded carrots (I shredded mine with a coarse cheese grater)
Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Directions:
To prepare the carrot cake drop donuts, heat vegetable oil to 350˚F in a fryer. Make yogurt, crushed pineapple, and egg in a large bowl until smooth. Mix in flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt until a thick dough forms. Mix in shredded carrots. Use a small cookie scoop or a generous tablespoon to drop small batches of dough into the hot oil and fry for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from oil, drain on paper towels, and cool completely.
To prepare the cream cheese frosting, place powdered sugar, cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract, and lemon juice in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until smooth, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Place frosting in a pastry bag and pipe frosting evenly over carrot cake drop donuts. Makes 14 drop donuts.
Nutrition: It’s my birthday, I’m not going there!
Cost: $6.08 per batch