Care Bear Doughnuts. All my 1980’s dreams come true.

Do you remember Care Bear waffles? They were toaster waffles that came in a blue plastic bag, decorated with clouds and rainbows and Care Bears that I’m sure was that awful plastic that you cannot recycle anywhere. Sort of like K-cups. You have to take them completely apart and throw away everything except the white plastic cup part, which is then only recyclable in like one town in eastern Canada or something crazy like that.

Of course, that hasn’t stopped me from actually USING K-cups, and I’m the type of person who will walk halfway across the office to put something in recycling while passing five trash cans along the way. Maybe it’s partly a growing up in Washington thing; I feel guilty putting recycling in the trash, but I still use K-cups. Wait, is that what they mean by work/life balance? I go out of my way to recycle things at work but balance it out by using K-cups? No? Are you sure? I’m going to let you think on that while I get some more coffee. From a k-cup. #balance.

Back to the toaster waffles. Care Bear waffles were my favorite growing up. Partly from the excellent marketing of putting Care Bears on the bag, but also because they were both strawberry AND blueberry flavored. For a kid who loved all three of those things, they were all my frozen toaster waffle dreams come true (I had big dreams as a kid if you couldn’t tell).

Care Bear waffles were all my frozen toaster waffle dreams come true.Click To Tweet

Sadly, the toaster waffles didn’t seem to last for long. Or maybe they continued for a few years. I have that weird, unable to judge a realistic timeframe when looking back on things that happened in your childhood thing going on. What I DO know is that I haven’t seen Care Bear waffles for a very long time and the internet seems to have almost entirely forgotten about the best toaster waffles to ever exist.

UNTIL NOW.

Since I’m lazy, I mean, to honor the quick convenience that was Care Bear waffles, I started with a boxed white cake mix. Then I added crushed, freeze dried strawberries and blueberries. After the doughnuts have baked and cooled, I dipped them in a bright blue glaze, drizzled bright pink and lavender over the top, and finished them with a strawberry dust sprinkle. The only special equipment you will need is a doughnut pan. I used a large one, but a mini doughnut pan would work just as well, you will just want to bake them for less time. You can also make cupcakes! I ended up doing both and made six large doughnuts and six cupcakes from one box of cake mix. The doughnuts also soak up the first layer of glaze so that the recipe will seem like a lot, but you will want to let them sit for a couple of minutes after the first time you dip them and then do another layer. Sort of like a crumb layer. We will call it a doughnut soakafication prevention layer.

CARE BEAR DOUGHNUT INGREDIENTS

DOUGHNUTS

• 1 box white cake mix
• 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp crushed freeze dried strawberries (you can find them at Trader Joes)
• 1/3 cup crushed freeze dried blueberries
• 1 egg
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 oil

ICING (FOR SIX DOUGHNUTS)

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• Food coloring
• Just enough water to make a thick glaze

CARE BEAR DOUGHNUT DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and spray your doughnut pan with non-stick spray.
2. Add 1/3 cup crushed strawberries, blueberries, egg, oil, and one cup water to the cake mix and stir until combined. It will be a lot thicker than regular cake batter.
3. Spoon batter into the pan, filling it not quite to the top edge of the center of the ring. Or fill it all the way to the edge so you can have a little snack before putting on the glaze.
4. Bake for 12 minutes. Test to see if they are done using the toothpick trick.
5. Let cool.
6. Get three bowls and add 2 cups of powdered sugar to one and 1/2 cup each to the other two. The smaller bowls will be for the drizzle.
7. Add your food coloring and small splashes of water, stirring after each one until you have a very thick glaze. You will want it just past the stage of still being mostly solid but is liquid enough to run off the spoon still. If it is too thin, just add some more powdered sugar.
8. Carefully dip one side of the doughnut in the bowl with the larger amount of glaze and let it sit on a cooling rack with a pan or parchment under to catch the drips. Or if you are like me, let it drip all over the stove and clean it up later.
9. The first layer will most likely soak into the doughnut, so once they have sat for a few minutes, dip again.
10. Next, use a spoon to drizzle the other two colors of glaze and sprinkle with the 2 tbsp of crushed strawberry powder before the glaze sets. They will look nothing like Care Bear waffles.
11. Spend the next five minutes contemplating the fact that these are doughnuts, a breakfast food, but made of cake, a dessert and it’s 7 am. Then remember that you were inspired by Care Bear toaster waffles and eat two of them by 7:15 am.

xx