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I like…breakfast donuts

This morning I text two of my favourite ladies. I needed advice, on the important matters of jeans and makeup. I don’t have a beauty regime, unless you count washing your face with water in the shower and the months of no sleep are starting to show. Also, now that the baby is less sticky/sicky I fancy looking a little more polished and brighter. One of my girlfriends wrote back ‘with your cheekbones and bod I would wander round naked with no make up at all’. What a phenomenally uplifting thing to say. Seriously, that compliment was greater than any makeup I could buy. I feel so good and it made me realise that we are so quick to critisize ourselves and to highlight our faults and flaws. I don’t ever stop to think ‘wow look at my cheekbones’ but I could tell you all the quirks that I would like to airbrush out. Wouldn’t it be nice to just state what we love about ourselves.

So I thought I would kick it off. I love that I am punctual. If you need me to be somewhere at a certain time, I will be there. In reality I will be there early and be awkwardly standing around trying to not look too early and keen. I am good at feeding people. I know this might sound silly, but I love to make big platters and bowls of food and watch everyone tuck in. I love that food opens up conversation and makes everyone feel a little warmer and rosier. I don’t find it stressful to make tons of food or bake cakes and can happily host a spontaneous dinner party. Finally I am hardy. If you need IKEA furniture building, your house packing up, a shop opening, cement pouring, or a harvest of apples picked..count me in. I can happily toil away for days on end as long as I am caffeinated and occasionally fed.

It turns out that I am also pretty good at baking donuts. These little beauties are breakfast donuts because they are packed with apples and carrots, chia and oats. They are topped with honey and bee pollen. They are shaped perfectly for on the go with a coffee in hand as you cycle to work (this may be illegal so maybe don’t do this!). I promise you, you will like yourself a little more if you make them and if you share them then others will like you more too!

Ingredients (makes 9)
125g instant oats
125g flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp stewed apple
1 grated carrot
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp chopped dried fruit
3 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 egg (or 1 flax egg)

2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp bee pollen

Method
Preheat your oven to 160C
Place the egg, oil, carrot, apple and chia into a large bowl and whisk together
Sift in the dry ingredients and the oats and fold together
Spoon into a well greased donut pan
Bake until golden brown (approx 12-15mins)
Turn out immediately onto a cooling rack
Whilst still warm brush with honey, wait 1 minute and brush again
Sprinkle with bee pollen and leave to cool

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Toasted coconut and maple double chocolate donuts

It seems a total cliche to need mum friends when you become a mum but I did & I do. There is some sort of solidarity in numbers. When you want nothing more than a glass of wine at 4pm, when another mum gave you a funny look at the Playpark, when your baby fell over at said Playpark because you were updating Instagram, it’s feels good to know that someone has your back.

There are days when it’s going wrong and you just need to share. For me, it’s the days when the baby is cranky & the house feels tinier by the second & you have run out of ideas. It’s those days when an invite to the swings is like a golden ticket. It’s the moments when you get to sit in someone’s else’s flat on the floor with a coffee & an hour passes quickly & you’re an hour closer to bed time & it all feels good again.

Seriously though, being a new mum, in a new city has been a culture shock. There are many times when I have missed my family, old friends and the simple ease of the familiar. When you’re tired you crave certain people, certain rituals, certain foods and when non of those things are available it feels harder. Somehow though, in the midst of all this I’ve found some mama friends here and quite frankly they rock! They have adopted me into their families. They have fed me, caffeinated me & dropped off gifts. They hug the baby with love. They have babies & children that are older and they are full of gentle advice. They hug me when I don’t want to hug my husband. They love wine & chocolate. They are happy to taste test my recipes & gossip about kardashians. They know when not to ring the doorbell & what time is nap time.

These donuts are for them. They are inspired by Fonuts in LA and I would love nothing more than to pack us mamas up and fly to the other side of the pond. We would get mani pedis. We would have brunch at Gjelina before shopping in the sun. We would drink coffee, swim & get fish tacos for lunch. We would head into town for most instagramable Fonuts. We would stock up on beauty products & perfectly tiny Frankie & Sue outfits. We would sleep in huge American beds with thier oversized pillows & have a lie in. Then we would fly home, because after one night our mama hearts would be longing for the little ones and we would be scrolling through our photo albums cooing.

These donuts are for them. As a big thank you for making these last 11 months happy & silly & fun. For everything they do for me. My piece of LA in Munich. These donuts are rich and brownie like but they are refined sugar free & vegan. I topped them with a simple glaze & then dipped them in ground pumpkin seeds & ground toasted coconut. You could also drizzle them with melted chocolate or top them with a coconut cream. They are totally delicious & the perfect size to have with a much needed strong coffee.

Ingredients
1.25 cups plain flour

0.25 cup cocoa powder

0.33 cup maple syrup

0.5 tsp baking soda

0.5 tsp baking powder

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

0.75 cup almond milk

0.25 cup rapeseed oil

Method
Preheat your oven to 180C

Combine all the dry ingredients then add in the wet ingredients and beat well

Pour into greased donut tray rings and place into the oven for 12-14 mins or until they feel springy to the touch

Allow to cool completely

To make the glaze:

Heat 1.5tbsp of coconut oil with 2tbsp maple syrup or honey and 2 tbsp cocoa powder. Dip the donuts into the glaze and then dip into toppings of your choice

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