Cockroach Donuts

Looks like a big bug on the windowsill, no?

It's a donut so you can eat him. I mean.... you could eat him if he really were a bug too, I suppose. If you're into bugs. Me? Not so much. Bug donuts? Absolutely. 

We turned a Boston cream donut into a creepy Halloween treat and everyone loved it. Or hated it. Depending on where they stood on eating bugs. Anyway.... I'm sharing the recipe here but I'm recommending you go to Instructables (click HERE) for the directions. It looks complicated but it's really not. The link above has step-by-step photos and instructions to make it easier. 

Cockroach Donuts

(Slightly adapted from Instructables)

Ingredients

Donuts

1/2 cup hot water

4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs, beaten

4 - 5 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp salt

Oil for frying

Filling

2 cups whipping cream

1 pkg vanilla instant pudding

Chocolate Glaze

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

3 Tbsp butter

1 cup icing sugar

4 Tbsp hot water

Also needed

soft caramels

black food color

Directions

Prepare donuts - In a large bowl, add yeast to the hot water and stir until dissolved. Let sit 5 - 10 minutes to activate yeast. Heat buttermilk and butter in a saucepan over medium heat until just steaming and butter is melted. Remove from heat and let cool a couple of minutes. 

While cooling, whisk 4 cups of flour, sugar, and salt in a small bowl. 

Add milk mixture and eggs to the yeast and whisk to combine. Stir in the dry mixture. Add in enough flour so dough forms and is not sticky. Knead for about 2 minutes. 

Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for an hour (until doubled in size). 

After an hour, punch dough down and place on floured work surface. Roll out to 1/3 of an inch thickness.

Okay, so here is where I'm going to recommend heading over to Instructables for the full step-by-step instructions (again, you can click HERE for the link). I wouldn't be able to explain as completely and thoroughly as they do at the Instructables site. 

FYI - I use a different and much easier filling than on the Instructable site. See below for my filling instructions. (But feel free to use theirs instead, if you prefer)

There are the bodies after being deep fried. 

And there are the bits that will make the legs and antennae. 

There are the bodies after being dipped in the chocolate glaze. 

And there they are after putting on the caramel strips. Just a note - if you are doing this by yourself without any helpers, be patient. Rolling, cutting, and placing the caramel stripes takes a long time. 

Actually, making 2 dozen of these fun and creepy cockroach donuts took me about 6 hours straight (including the rise times for the dough) so don't try to rush things. Having a helper would definitely make things easier. 

Adding the black food coloring makes them really start to look like bugs!

Popping in the antennae and legs and *voila* delicious cockroaches for dessert. 

I definitely had way too much fun with these. Granted, they were a lot of work BUT so worth the effort. 

FYI - these freeze well so you can make them up in advance.

I stuffed mine with pudding and whipped cream instead of a more traditional Boston cream filling. 

All you have to do is pour the whipping cream in a bowl, add in the pudding mix, and beat until it is a frosting consistency. It pipes into the donuts beautifully. 

Sue and I alternate between cute and creepy for Halloween. I think this one leans more towards creepy. I made these for our mom's seniors' center Halloween coffee hour and they loved them. 

Next time I make these I will make sure I have an oval cookie cutter. The Easter egg shape worked but just made a bit more work than it would have been otherwise.