Craving donuts but don't feel like going out to get some today? I know that feeling, especially when the weather's nasty. But fear not, for I have the solution: A recipe for homemade donuts! Do you have basic baking ingredients and a donut pan? You do? Well, isn't that convenient! That means you're all set to start baking your own delicious treats!

Donut ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups of flour
- 1/2 cup of butter
- 3/4 cup of sugar
- 1/2 cup of cocoa powder
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- 1 tsp of baking soda
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 1 cup of milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Cooking oil to grease the donut pans with

Glaze ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup of milk
- 1 cup of milk chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup of butter
- 2 tsp of vanilla extract

Optional topping:
- 1 shaker of rainbow sprinkles

Recipe:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Put the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cocoa powder into a large bowl.
3. In a second large bowl, mix the sugar and butter with an electric mixer on low speed until well combined, then mix in the vanilla extract, eggs and milk.
4. Switch to a wooden spoon and fold in the dry ingredients until you have a thick chocolaty batter.
5. Lightly coat the spaces of a donut pan with oil and line a baking tray with parchment paper for later.
6. Fill roughly 3/4 of each space on the donut pan with batter. Have patience for this step, the batter will be quite thick and a little tricky to work with--a piping bag can help if you want to be extra certain about it, and in my experience, the larger spaces on a half-dozen pan make this a little easier.
7. Slide the pans into the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the donuts spring back when lightly pressed.
8. While the donuts are baking, prepare the glaze. Put the butter, milk, vanilla extract and chocolate chips in a pot over medium-high heat and let it all melt together, stirring often.
9. Turn the heat down to medium-low and stir in the powdered sugar, then whisk vigorously until fully incorporated.
10. Turn the heat down to low and let the glaze simmer, stirring now and then, while the donuts cool in the next step.
11. Take the pan out of the oven and allow the donuts to stand in the pan for 5 minutes, then gently turn them out onto the baking tray you prepared earlier to cool further for another 5 minutes. If you have some trouble getting any donuts free from the pan, just grab a butter knife and carefully use it to pry the donuts out.
12. Use a spoon or glaze brush to coat the tops of the warm donuts with the hot glaze.
13. If desired, add sprinkles immediately after glazing the donuts.
14. Let the donuts stand for 3-5 minutes before moving them to a large plate or airtight container and chilling them in the fridge.
15. If you're working with a half-dozen pan, keep the oven and the glaze hot, clean off and re-oil the pan, and repeat steps 6 and 7 with the remaining batter and then steps 11 through 14 with the resulting donuts.
And after much dedicated work, now you have a lovely batch of rich, yummy homemade donuts to enjoy on your own or with others, and the know-how to make them again anytime you want! The number of donuts you get may vary depending on the pan you use and how good you are at distributing the batter (this recipe got me 10 donuts using my half-dozen pan that results in bigger donuts, the result of which is what's shown in the photo, and then a full dozen with a decent amount of batter left over using my pan for 12 smaller donuts), but what matters is that they're delicious and you made them, so you should be proud!

This recipe also checks off entry #30 on my Foodons list: Donutso, Chef Coco's adorable, nimble mouse Foodon made from chocolate donuts!