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Here's the recipe (try not to drool on your keyboard):

• Baked Doughnuts by Heidi Swanson from 101 Cookbooks

The dough comes together very quickly and easily, forming a very supple ball of dough. After letting it rise, we rolled it out and cut out the donuts using a biscuit cutter for the individual doughnuts and a smaller cookie cutter for the holes. We had a bit of trouble with the dough shrinking back on itself while we were rolling it out, but it behaved after we let it rest for a few minutes.

Given Heidi's description about how much the doughnuts would rise during the final proofing and then again in the oven, we were expecting much puffier rounds. We wonder if we actually cut our inner holes too large in the end. Next time we'll use a smaller cookie cutter - we're happier with more doughnut and less hole anyway!

They tasted heavenly. As Heidi says, these are definitely not the same as the deep-fried version, but we thought they came pretty darn close! The exterior was slightly elastic, giving us the perfect amount of chewiness in every bite. The interior was tender and almost custard-like.

While these are definitely a sweet treat, we didn't think the sweetness was at all overwhelming. They tasted milky and slightly yeasty (in a good way!), with a welcome hit of nutmeg. For the topping, we opted to simply dip this batch in some granulated sugar for a crunchy coating.

If you make these, do it for a large brunch and definitely plan on eating the entire batch that morning. The leftovers became crumbly and dense very quickly - although we have to say they were pretty great dunked in our coffee the next day! You can also easily half the recipe.

We will definitely be making these doughnuts again. Maybe this weekend. Maybe tomorrow morning? Oh, goodness, we really want them right now...

Think you'll be making these any time soon?!

Related: Weekend Meditation: Fear of Frying

(Images: Emma Christensen for the Kitchn)