Cinnamon caramel Amish donuts are best donuts I’ve ever had in my LIFE. This is probably the fastest I’ve gone from having something delicious at a restaurant and coming home to re-create it. Last weekend, we took our kid to Amish Country in super far north in Indiana/ southern Michigan. I’ve always had a soft spot for their lifestyle, and I wanted to teach my kid that it’s okay to live however you want to live in our free country. Plus, Amish food is some of my favorite food (chicken and noodles for LIFE, I tell ya).
After a ride in a horse and buggy from a sweet little old man, a tour of the gardens (and approximately one million questions from Camille about whyyy the pumpkins are still green and when will they be orange already?!), we sat down for lunch. Camille had her first bite of fried chicken, and kept going back for more. Then, she was finally convinced that mashed potatoes are worth eating. (Normally, she avoids white and brown foods for whatever reason, I cannot tell you). Just when I thought I had done my job as a parent to teach my kid about the world, we walked past the homemade candy. Suffice it to say: all she knows and remembers about Amish Country is sugar. Sugarrrrrr.
But all I can remember is these Cinnamon Caramel Amish Donuts. We stopped at Rise N Roll in Nappanee for a dozen of what the locals call ‘Amish crack.’ I’m not entirely sure how offensive that phrase is, so I’ll only repeat it once. ‘Amish crack’ is a yeast-raised donut, fried, dipped in caramel, and sprinkled (heavily) with cinnamon-powdered sugar. It is the single best donut I’ve ever eaten in my life. And I wasn’t even hungry. I had a Perfect Bar for breakfast and had stolen many sips of my husband’s coconut milk macchiato a few minutes prior. I cut a donut in half, just to try it. I quickly ate it, the other half, and another one after that. Dang.
I assumed the donuts had sour cream in them, because they have a cooling effect when you bite into them. I heard from a trusted source that they do not contain sour cream, so I’m assuming it’s the cornstarch in the powdered sugar that makes them cool and melty in your mouth. Regardless, I grabbed the best recipe on the internet for baked donuts (it’s Joy the Baker’s browned butter baked donuts, you knew that!), made a caramel glaze, and a little cinnamon powdered sugar bath. And again, I ate two right after making them.
If you’ve ever had Amish donuts in your life, you’ll know they’re some of the lightest and fluffiest delights ever. I can’t believe this recipe is baked, because they taste just like a real fried Amish donut! It’s perfection. You just have to try them to believe me! SaveSave SaveSaveSaveSave SaveSave SaveSave
