Valentine’s Day or not, your month needs these easy and fun doughnuts. For one (and most importantly), this is a month of celebration. As a lot of you have already seen, my brother Red won his first Olympic Gold medal in South Korea this past Sunday. I have never been so happy for someone in my entire life. I have said this time and time again, but that kid is truly one of my favorite people, and I could not be happier for him. Watching him compete and take Gold in his final run will be a moment I will never, ever forget. I just cannot express how happy and proud I am. Red is currently on a media whirlwind tour and traveling from South Korea, to LA, then to NYC for press…including Late Night with Jimmy Kimmel (tonight), so be sure to keep an eye out for him. America is about to get to know Red Gerard real well. I have so much to share about this incredible experience and cannot wait to put it into a post for you all. I’m flying home to Colorado with some of my family tomorrow, and will gather up photos to put a post together for you all on Friday. Be on the look out! If you’re looking for instant updates, check out Instagram where I’ve been posting plenty about our time here in South Korea. In the meantime, let’s celebrate both this huge win for my brother and Valentine’s Day with these easy chocolate heart doughnuts. FYI…if Red could have gotten his hands on these, he would have loved them!
I’m not usually that big on making homemade doughnuts (I hate frying things), but on certain occasions I’m all for it. For such a long time I’ve had this heart doughnut in my head and when I finally made them, I fell in love with them! As did my mom…it was actually one of those moments I live for…when she rolls her eyes back, gets this dreamy look and declares how incredibly delicious something is. Not only are these doughnuts super cute, but they are SO GOOD. I mean, are you looking at them? This is a simple doughnut dough, stuffed with a light whipped Nutella filling, and dusted with a little sugar for good measure. Simple and delicious. Not sure much can beat sinking your teeth into one of these doughnuts. They’re definitely a decadent treat, but so worth it.
As I said, I kept the dough recipe pretty simple and the filling even simpler. The doughnuts can be made and ready in under two hours, shorter if your kitchen happens to be extra toasty and warm (the warmer the kitchen, the faster the doughnuts will rise). I used small and medium heart-shaped cookie cutters to create a couple different sized doughnuts. I fried the doughnuts and then stuffed them with a whipped Nutella filling for an extra sweet, almost mousse like, filling. It’s unreal how good each and every bite is. If by chance you don’t love the taste of Nutella, you can use melted semi-sweet chocolate in place. If there was ever a doughnut to make at home, this is it. Make them for Valentine’s Day, make them to celebrate with my family and I, or make them just because you want a really good homemade doughnut! Either way make them. Your week needs a good, chocolatey treat, it really does.
