Jelly Dough-Not Holes
Ok, so who doesn’t love a good donut hole, or munchkin?? And how about a fresh, hot jelly donut?? Take away the greasy fried dough and the fake sugary syrup and you’re left with these healthy, fruit-filled “dough-not” holes!
One of the great things about toddlers is that their worlds are really small—what you don’t bring into their worlds doesn’t exist as far as their concerned. This is one of the main reasons why I emphasize how important it is to start tailoring their eating habits from a very young age—as young as their first foods. I've never fed my daughter store bought baby food from a jar and the one desperate attempt I made to do so failed miserably. We were at Disney World for our first time as a family. We went directly from Tampa, Fl. where I had just taken the Florida Bar Exam. With so much on my mind (the bar, our first family vacation), I didn’t think to make and pack food. So before going into the park one day, we stopped at Wholefoods to get a jar of baby food. When we sat down to feed it to her, she wouldn’t have anything to do with it. Luckily she was young enough at the time to fill up on my milk… But it’s just a reminder of how it’s what you get them used to that really sticks.
So, there are quite a few things that I refuse to introduce to my daughter, although I know it’ll probably happen eventually one day, at school or at a birthday party… And other things that I have been less adamant about, but would have preferred to wait as long as possible. One day, my grandmother, Zoey’s great-grandma, came over for some playtime with Zoey. Being the gushing, spoiling grandmother that she is, she brought Zoey a donut and gave it to her without asking me if it was ok. Of course, I wasn’t thrilled that now every time she saw a round pastry with a hole in the center and a colorful top, it would take her back to her first taste and make her want one, but I also didn’t want to crush my grandma’s spirit and take her ability to do what she does (spoil her grandchildren and great grandchildren)… And I figured, growing up I ate a lot worse—those Little Debbie Zebra Cakes that survived on the shelves for years at a time had to be a lot worse than a freshly baked donut that at least turns stale after a day of being left out. So it happened. And now donuts are a treat reserved for special times—like post doctor visits and vacations.
It’s always fun (and easier) to get your little ones excited about trying new healthy treats if they bear resemblance to some formerly enjoyed indulgence. So I got inspired to make these after seeing some munchkins. Don’t let the little bag pictured fool you… These deceptive little guys might look a lot like an order of munchkins from Dunkin Donuts, but they’re not, I promise. I only borrowed a couple bags from Dunkin Donuts for a cute picture, not the unhealthy contents of one too.
| Servings | Prep Time | Cook Time | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8-10 | 10 mins. | 0 mins. | 10 mins. |
Ingredients:
- ½ cup old fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup almonds
- ½ cup almond butter or peanut butter
- 2 pitted dried dates
- 5 teaspoons maple syrup
- 10 raspberries or blueberries (or some of each)
- 1 tablespoon raw sugar + 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon blended together until fine (optional)
- 1 tablespoon shredded, unsweetened coconut (optional)
Directions:
- Place oats and almonds in the blender until ground into a fine powder. Remove from blender and set aside.
- Add nut butter, dates, and maple syrup to the blender and pulse together until a soft dough forms. Add the ground oats and almonds back into the blender and pulse until incorporated.
- Test a spoonful of the dough by rolling it between your palms. If the dough cracks too much, add a touch more maple syrup or another date to the blender and re-blend.
- Roll 1 tablespoon full of dough at a time into a ball, using the palms of your hands.
- Then flatten each ball and place a berry in the center of each disc. Fold the edges over the berry and re-roll into a ball.
- Once you have finished rolling all the dough-nots, roll each one into desired toppings.
- Serve and enjoy!
I had some leftover “jelly” that I made a few days earlier to decorate our Minnie Christmas Fruit Snacks. So I decided to try injecting some of that into the center of a couple of dough-nots just for fun. I used a Wilton Squeeze Bottle to do this. The “jelly” ended up oozing out a bit a making a little bit of a mess, but it was really really good! To make the jelly, just throw 6 strawberries (stem removed), 6 raspberries, and ½ a teaspoon of maple syrup in the blender and blend until pureed.
Toddler Tip:
Your toddler can help out almost every step of the way in this recipe--from measuring out the ingredients to rolling the dough into balls and decorating the finished balls!
