What's in a Donut?

What makes a donut truly a donut?

 For starters, it's the crispy and golden fried delicious bundle of sweet dough. Okay, who am I kidding? That's exactly what makes a donut a donut and, truthfully...the only thing that really matters. I've tried lots of baked donut recipes and although they were all quite delicious and satisfying, they never really hit the spot like a real donut would.

However, although a minor aesthetic attribute, a yummy donut typically is delightfully glazed or frosted with the finest form of a liquid sugar rush-- the icing! Although my favorite donuts are the dense and cakey "Old Fashioned" kind, I do have a soft spot for the classic donuts with icing and sprinkles as they were childhood love.

Here is my homage to donuts holding only the finest of qualities-- classic, colorful, and cheery.

Donut sugar cookies! Adorable, right? I smile just looking at them! They are just like the dozen my dad used to bring home on Saturday mornings when my brothers and I were children.

That royal icing on the "Chocolate Donut" looks deceptively like real chocolate glaze. I took two tastes and kept expecting it to taste like chocolate, but then realized I was just a silly baker who was playing mind games on herself. Fake chocolate icing and fake donuts. Sigh. If only when I bit into one of these "donuts" they would truly taste like donuts. That would be magical.

And worthy of a Nobel Prize. Maybe.