The colder months always call for something warm and cozy and that’s exactly what these Baked Chai Donuts with Ginger Milk Glaze offer. The sweet spices of green cardamom, fennel, and ginger bring together a welcoming hug of snuggly sweetness to your tastebuds.
I used The Chai Box brand’s Sweet Monsoon blend to steep the warm milk that the recipe calls for. I also topped the chai donuts with the actual tea blend which includes chunks of dried mango and dried coconut. You can, of course, top this little treats with your favorite toppings.
As always, if you have any questions when making this recipe reach out to me @thefamiliarkitchen on instagram. I’d LOVE to see how it turns out for you and answer any questions you might have. Tag me if you make it!
INGREDIENTS
Dry Ingredients
- AP Flour, 2 1/4 cups
- Green Cardamom Pods, 10, ground
- Fennel Seeds, 1/2 tsp ground
- Nutmeg, 1/2 tsp
- Cloves, 4, ground
- Cinnamon, 1/4 tsp
- Ginger Powder, 1 tsp
- Baking Powder, 1 tsp
- Baking Soda, 1/2 tsp
- Salt, 1/4 tsp
Wet Ingredients
- Milk, 1 cup
- Loose Black Tea, 2 tbsp
- Vanilla Extract, 2 tsp
- Butter, 1/2 stick, room temp
- Sugar, 3/4 cup
- Jaggery/Brown Sugar, 1/4 cup
- Egg, 1, beaten
Ginger Milk Glaze
- Milk Powder, 1/4 cup
- Powdered Sugar, 1 cup
- Ginger Powder, 2 tsp
- Salt, 1/4 tsp
- Vanilla Extract, 1 tsp
- Milk/Water as needed
HOW TO MAKE IT
In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Set aside.
In a microwave-safe cup or on the stove top, boil the milk and add in the loose black tea. Boil until the milk rises and the color turns a caramel brown (about 2-3 minutes). Strain the tea, add in the vanilla extract, and set aside in a cup to let cool.
Now in a mixing bowl, add the butter, sugar and jaggery/brown sugar. Beat this with the whisk attachment on high speed until pale/fluffy (about 5-6 minutes). You need your mixer on high speed to break down the sugar granules.
Now beat in the eggs to the butter/sugar mixture. Whisk on high just until fluffy.
Switch to the paddle attachment (or gently keep folding the batter) and alternate between adding the milk tea and spiced flour mixture until a thick/loose batter forms. Do not over-mix.
Let the batter rest for about 5-10 minutes. (Letting the batter rest helps all the ingredients come together and makes for a fluffier baked donut).
Heat the oven to 425 degrees. In a greased donut pan, pipe or spoon in the thick donut batter so that it’s a little less than 3/4th full (these rise so you don’t want to fill the spaces too high). Bake for about 8 minutes or until the donuts rise and a light golden brown forms on the edges.
While the donuts bake, get a small mixing bowl and add in all of the ingredients for the ginger milk glaze. You’ll want to add in water or milk little by little until a syrup-like consistency forms. The consistency should be slightly thick so you can dunk the donuts in and it sticks to it.
Once the donuts are baked, immediately flip them on to a wire rack to cool. Once the donuts are fully cooled, dip the tops of the donuts into the glaze and rotate the donut in the glaze from 6 o’clock to 12 o’clock. Let rest on a wire rack and top with @thechaibox Sweet Monsoon or dried mango, shredded coconut, or your favorite toppings. That’s it!
where does the spice blend go? in with the dry ingredients?
Hi there! Oops! Yes, the spice blend goes in with the dry ingredients 🙂 I’ve updated the recipe to include that note.
Hi! Saw your website through George’s profile and everything looks great! Congrats on starting this up:) Do u grind the green cardamom whole or just the inside “black dots” and not the outer skin? Lack of a better word to cal that…!
Hey Divya! I grind just the cardamom seeds, however, the cardamom shell is totally edible. You can grind it whole in a spice grinder until it’s fine 🙂
Hi! I love your blog!
I’m trying out this doughnut recipe & I wanted to know if the “gray” ingredients are optional. Please let me know!
Hi! Thanks so much! I’m not sure why some of the ingredients keep showing up in gray, but they are all meant to be in the recipe 🙂