I wanted to make these doughnuts for a couple of different reasons. The first was that eggs are getting really expensive/hard to find about now, I wanted to do some R&D with egg-free desserts, this being one of them. The second was that I was fondly reminiscing about my time at Boston University, and recalling one of my favorite doughnut stores in Kane’s Donuts. The store itself was quite a trek from the BU campus – I had to basically take the T all the way down the green light(about 30 minutes one way), to the Government Center stop, then even after that, I would still have to walk on foot another half mile(again one way) just to get the store. Back then, I was a student with a lot of free time on my hands, so I went ahead and did that, but my oh my was the long haul worth it. The store had a wide variety of doughnut flavors, and since it took me about 40 minutes to get there, I figured I would pig out and get three. One of those three was this Snickers doughnut, featuring a chocolate doughnut that was stuffed with dulce de leche and peanut butter, coated in chocolate ganache, and topped with chocolate, toffee bits, and peanuts. It was really, really good and I still remember it all of these years later(I want to say that trip was circa 2014 or 2015, which is crazy to think that was a decade ago!). Since eggs (and a trip to Boston from LA) are on the pricier side, I figured, why not make a similar version of that Snicker’s doughnut? I didn’t want to use peanuts in mind, but rather, really just focus on the chocolate and the toffee/caramel flavors. I also made mine a baked doughnut, using an egg-free cake batter, just so that these are a lot easier to make at home!

For the recipe, I went with a pretty straightforward egg-free chocolate cake batter for the doughnuts themselves; you literally don’t even need a standmixer to make this batter! I used silicone doughnut molds for my recipe, but the metal ones can work too(but if you use the metal ones, I recommend unmolding the doughnuts before freezing them since they will stick to the metal). The one component that will take a decent chunk of time is the dulce de leche. My recipe fast tracks it because we are using a pressure cooker. Normally, dulce de leche requires you to boil a can of condensed milk in water for up to 5 hours. Allegedly the story behind it is that someone dropped a can on condensed milk into a stew, forgot about it, and fished it up, opened it up, and was delighted to see the caramelized milk inside of the can. But regardless of how it came about, dulce de leche can be a substantial time commitment. In this case, the pressure cooker method takes 45 minutes to cook, so you’ll be saving 4 hours by doing it that way. If you do not own a pressure cooker, I will not judge you if you just buy dulce de leche from a store and just use that instead. For the glaze, I did a shiny crackly chocolate shell, just because I want more textures to contrast the dulce de leche that’s getting stuffed into the doughnuts, and the toffee bits and crunchy chocolate balls on top. The chocolate shell is very similar to a magic shell, and also comes together quite easily, since all you need to do is melt chocolate, mix oil into it, and drizzle it on top of each doughnut. Factoring out the dulce de leche, this recipe is probably a 3/10 in difficulty. If you are making the dulce de leche, it maybe takes it to a 5/10, which is still fairly doable! The doughnuts themselves take me back to my time in Boston, and are honestly just everything I love about textural contrast and the pairing of chocolate and salted caramel.

Makes 12 baked doughnuts:
For the dulce de leche:
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp maldon salt or fleur de sel

Remove the paper labels on your condensed milk can(s) – since this process takes the longest time, I prefer to actually cook 3-4 cans of condensed milk at a time! Place the can(s) into a pressure cooker and fully submerge them with hot water. Heat up the pressure cooker(I used an electronic one, but if using a stovepot one, heat it on medium heat) for 45 minutes. Allow the steam to slowly but completely release at this point before opening and removing the lid and retrieving your can(s). Allow the can(s) to cool fully at room temperature before attempting to open with a can opening – the change in temperature and pressure can cause the dulce de leche to explode if not careful. Scoop out the dulce de leche and mix with salt to finish.

For the chocolate baked doughnuts:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2/3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup cold brew
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

In a bowl, mix everything together until combined into a batter. Transfer the batter to a piping bag and pipe into 12 lined doughnut baking molds. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes. Allow the doughnuts to fully cool in the freezer before attempting to unmold.

For the chocolate glaze:
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 tsp canola oil
a pinch of salt

Over a double boiler, melt 3/4 of the chocolate with the canola oil and salt. Take the fully melted chocolate off heat and stir in the rest of the chocolate. Keep the glaze warm for assembly.

For garnish:
Toffee bits
Crunchy chocolate balls
Maldon salt or fleur de sel

To start, spoon the dulce de leche into the holes of each doughnut. Then spoon roughly 1 tbsp of the glaze on top of each doughnut. Sprinkle on top of that the toffee bits, crunchy chocolate balls, and flaky finishing salt. Transfer the doughnuts to the freezer until the glaze firms up. Should the dulce de leche cause the doughnuts to stick to the pan, use an offset spatula to remove the doughnuts, and sprinkle some crunchy chocolate balls onto the other side to help prevent future sticking.