Baked Light Lent Doughnuts (without butter and eggs)
Catholics during the period of Lent are invited to temperance and to consume food that is not excessively costly and indulgent, but simple and light, so I thought of preparing during this Lenten period these simple very soft, low-calorie baked doughnuts, following an old recipe from “The Talisman of Happiness” by Ada Boni, with a special cooking method: these doughnuts are NOT fried: first they are boiled in boiling water and then baked.
Despite their lightness and simplicity, they are anise-flavored doughnuts that are truly tasty and very soft, they disappear in an instant, one leads to another!
I used anise liqueur, if you decide to use anise seeds, let them rest for 15 minutes in a bowl with wine, or you can also use ground anise seeds directly.
If you are looking for more light and easy Recipes, click on my Special: “Light Recipes“.
You might also be interested in:
- Neapolitan Scammaro Omelette. All the secrets. Family Recipe
- Very Quick and Soft Apple Fritters in the Air Fryer.
- Vegan Chickpea Flour Roll with Tofu and Zucchini Cream. Light Recipe
- Light Apple Cake by the Simili Sisters, without oil and butter
- Light Oat and Chocolate Cake, without butter, eggs, and lactose
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 20-30 doughnuts
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Boiling, Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for the Baked Light Lent Doughnuts
- 4 cups All-purpose flour
- 3 tbsps Olive oil
- 2 tbsps Powdered sugar
- Half cup White wine
- 0.7 oz Fresh yeast
- 1 tbsp Anise seeds (or Anise liqueur)
- to taste Salt
- 6.35 oz Water (lukewarm)
Tools
- Pot
- Stand Mixer Kenwood with 1400 W power, illuminated bowl
- Ladle
- Cookie Cutter doughnut shape
- Bowl
- Kitchen towel
- Baking tray
Preparation of the Baked Light Lent Doughnuts
Pour the flour into the bowl of the stand mixer (but the dough can also be worked by hand) with the oil, powdered sugar, anise, wine and the fresh yeast dissolved in 9 tablespoons of lukewarm water.
Knead first with the flat beater for about ten minutes, then add the salt and continue working the dough with the hook for about 5 minutes.
The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl and be quite soft. Place the dough to rise in a spot away from drafts for about an hour.
Once the dough has risen, pour it onto a floured work surface and form doughnuts (either with the specific tool, as in the photo, or by forming long ropes of 6-8 inches to be closed at the ends by pressing with a finger).
Place a wide and low pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and dip the little doughnuts in a few at a time.
As the doughnuts rise to the surface, take them immediately with the slotted ladle and place them on a clean dish towel, lining them up one next to the other.
When all the doughnuts have had their bath, place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, in a preheated oven at 356°F for about 15 minutes, they should take on a light golden color.
These little doughnuts are also good the next day.
Shopping Tips!!!
For perfect and convenient kneading, I use my Kenwood Titanium Chef Patissier XL stand mixer with illuminated 7L bowl, integrated scale and blender, and 1400 W power, a faithful ally in the kitchen for: kneading, weighing, whipping, melting chocolate, pasteurizing eggs.
If you are looking for a more economical and smaller stand mixer, you can easily choose to buy Kenwood Titanium Chef Baker, with double bowl 5L and 3.5L, 1200W power.
You can find both stand mixers on Amazon at a special price.
To quickly make the little doughnuts, I used this practical and handy doughnut shape cookie cutter, available on Amazon.
When to serve the wine doughnuts?
We can serve them with coffee after lunch or dinner, perhaps along with a small glass of sweet wine, like vin santo or moscato. A nice idea is to prepare them along with other biscuit recipes, so as to offer guests a bit of choice.
