Today, Friday 2 June, is National Donut Day – or is it ‘Doughnut’ Day?

The first National Donut Day was celebrated by The Salvation Army in Chicago, 1938, to honour their members, ‘The Donut Lassie’. In 1917, eleven female officers served donuts to soldiers during WWI, bringing sweetness and smiles to the battlefield.

These donut cookies are a bit of a hybrid take on the classic, but rest assure they are delicious and worthy of celebration.

Raspberry-glazed donut cookies

Makes 10

• 140g softened unsalted butter
• 110g caster (superfine) sugar
• 140g light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 140g plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted
• 140g strong white bread flour, sifted
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• And 1 tsp sea salt

For the raspberry donut glaze

• 200g icing sugar
• 30g water
• Raspberry flavouring (use as instructed on packaging)

To serve

• 100g sprinkles

Cream the butter and sugars together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the beater attachment until pale. Add the vanilla to your egg, and then add to the butter and sugar mixture. Mix for 1 minute, or until emulsified, then scrape down the base and sides of the bowl. Weigh out the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt and add to the bowl. Beat on the lowest speed until the mixture comes together.

Using an ice cream scoop, or your hands, scoop the mixture into ten 100g pucks and place onto a greaseproof paper-lined tray. Cover the tray in plastic wrap and put it into the fridge for at least 24 hours (at most 72 hours).

If you absolutely must bake the cookies on the same day, try to give them at least 6 hours to chill before baking.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 150°C. Split the ten pucks across two greaseproof paper-lined baking trays, leaving enough space between them to allow for spreading in the oven.

Bake for 12–15 minutes, or until the cookies resemble cookies. If they’re still bulging in the centre, then they’re not ready yet. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the baking trays.

While your cookies are cooling, prepare the raspberry glaze by whisking the icing sugar, water, and raspberry flavouring in a small mixing bowl. Take your time, and mix thoroughly, to ensure that you don’t end up with any clumps of unmixed icing sugar – biting into that is the worst thing ever. Well, not the worst thing ever but it’s pretty annoying.

While the glaze is still wet and the cookies have cooled, use a pastry brush (or the back of a spoon if you’re ill prepared) to paint the glaze all over your cookies. Adorn your donut-inspired cookies straight away with lots of sprinkles and set to one side to dry.

The cookies will keep for up to 2 days in an airtight container at room temperature but are best eaten the day you make them.

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