July has arrived and that means it’s time for another #FoodieExtravaganza! Each month we take turns hosting and selecting a foodie holiday associated with that month. Somehow in all the planning July was overlooked so in a mad dash in the second half of June Lauren of From Gate to Plate told us to celebrate the doughnut. If anyone is keeping score, National Doughnut Day is actually the first Friday in June, but none of us are complaining to be celebrating one of America’s favorite breakfast treats today. July is national culinary arts month so let’s just go with that. Also in July: Fried Chicken Day (today, the 6th), Blueberry Muffin Day (the 11th), and Junk Food Day (the 21st).

I have a soft spot for doughnuts or is it donuts? However you spell it, I’ll eat it. While I prefer a yeast and fried doughnut, I made a cake doughnut. It’s simply easier and less messy. Besides, I need to use my doughnut pan!

I swear, over the past few months my sweet tooth has re-awoken after 6 years of being dormant. I am now searching for that something sweet after dinner, something I get from my dad! That something sweet can be as small as a handful of M&Ms or as decadent as some ice cream. And speaking of that sweet tooth, chocolate is starting to reign supreme, too. Even when my sweet tooth was pretty vocal, I always gravitated towards those sugary, tart sweets over chocolate. I don’t quite know how to handle this new taste preference, I now seem to always have a bag of chocolate covered raisins in the pantry.

Thanks to the chocolate love, I gravitated heavily towards a fancier doughnut than I’d typically do. Chocolate Snickerdoodle Doughnuts. Because. Cinnamon. And chocolate. What could possibly be bad about that?! I did think chocolate chips inside the doughnut and the chocolate ganache on top of the doughnut was just a touch too rich, so I omitted the chips. They weren’t missed. However, not having them in the batter resulted in a lower yield of doughnuts. But for 2.5 of us, one dozen was plenty!

We enjoyed these doughnuts for Father’s Day breakfast. And the father of my children was definitely getting impatient while I finished glazing and photographing the doughnuts. Firecracker’s insistence on regaining possession of his toddler table for his trains didn’t help speed things along. But everyone waited calmly. And the wait was well worth it.

Chocolate Snickerdoodle Doughnuts

Ingredients for doughnuts:

• 2 C flour
• 1 C sugar
• 1/4 C cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cream of tarter
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 1 C buttermilk
• 3 tbsp melted butter
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Ingredients for toppings:

• 3 tbsp melted butter
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 C heavy cream

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a doughnut pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, cream of tarter, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, butter, and vanilla.
4. Add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until combined.
5. Pour batter into prepared doughnut pan. Bake 10-12 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out cleanly. Let doughnuts cool in the pan for 1 minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
6. Make the cinnamon sugar: In a shallow bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.
7. Make the ganache: Put chocolate chips and heavy cream in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 20 second increments, stirring, until the chocolate is melted. Allow ganache to cool slightly. Set aside.
8. Brush cooled doughnuts with melted butter. Dip in cinnamon sugar. Top with ganache.

*This recipe is adapted from Melanie at http://melaniemakes.com/blog/2014/03/triple-chocolate-snickerdoodle-donuts.html*

Be sure to check out these other doughnuts:

Gluten-Free Matcha Doughnuts – Three Ways! by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Raspberry Cookies n Cream Baked Doughnuts by Baking in Pyjamas
Lemon Poppy Seed Donuts by Making Miracles
Baked S’mores Doughnuts by Tara’s Multicultural Table
Strawberry Shortcake Donut Tarts by Fearlessly Creative Mammas
15 Minute Funnel Cake Bites by From Gate to Plate
Cake Mix Donuts by I’m Hungry
Doughnut Trifle by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Watermelon Doughnuts by The Freshman Cook
Baked Cherry Lemon Donuts by Caroline’s Cooking
Orange Glace Donuts by Basic N Delicious
Medhu Vada – Savory Lentil Doughnut by Sneha’s Recipe

If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you’re a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out HERE.