One thing I almost always want is a donut. I'm willing to break all kinds of rules to get one.  And today, I broke my biggest rule yet. I didn't feel too bad about doing it though, because I just finished reading about a young, criminal mastermind that breaks all kinds of rules.

My biggest rule? Make everything from scratch.

And why wouldn't I? I have all of the basic ingredients on hand at any given time. And putting together a recipe is something I love to do. It's like solving a puzzle: How much of each ingredient do you use; How long should I be baking this for; How can you turn a muffin recipe into a donut recipe?

I really wanted to use chocolate chips for Artemis. He may be a genius that's breaking laws left and right and on the verge of starting a war, but he's still a kid. And kids and chocolate chips go together like coffee and chocolate.

The only chocolate chips that were in my house today were in a box of chocolate chip muffin mix that my aunt gave me, though. So I decided to break my rule... but, like Artemis, I was going to be smart about it.

So I wasn't going to make muffins. I was going to make one of my favorite things of all time. Why? Mostly because I just wanted donuts, but also because I wanted to do more with the box mix than just following the directions. I tweaked the ingredients I was supposed to add to the mix to get my batter to be the right consistency and full of flavor. 

I didn't want to deep-fry the donuts either, because then the whole house would smell, so I decided to bake them.

Then I just had to figure out the glaze. I definitely wanted to use more chocolate because kids love chocolate. (Let's be honest here-- everyone loves chocolate.) It also fit because chocolate was given to warriors in ancient times, and Artemis and his cohorts are definitely fighters.

The whole novel is fast-paced and action-packed... so a bit of coffee goes into the glaze too.

Then it was on to playing with a box of chocolate chip muffins!

Baked Chocolate Chip Donuts (It almost makes two dozen.)

-1 box  Krusteaz Chocolate Chip Muffins

-3 eggs

-2/3 c  buttermilk

-1/2 c  vegetable oil

1. Whisk everything together in a large bowl, until smooth.
2. Lightly spray your donut pan with a cooking spray (I prefer the butter flavored ones).
3. Fill the donut pans up about half way, making sure to keep batter off of the center. You also want to make sure the batter is even, or else you'll get uneven donuts.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-14 minutes.
5. Let the donuts cool for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack that's on top of wax paper.

Glaze

-2 1/2 c  confectioner's sugar

-1 tsp  coffee extract

-2 tsp  cocoa powder

-1/2 c  milk

1. Mix the cocoa powder into the confectioner's sugar.
2. Stir in the milk and coffee extract.

Dip the smooth side of your donuts into the glaze (so they look pretty), then let them sit on the wire rack to drip off the excess. Or just start eating them. It's up to you.

I chose to do the latter though.