Mini Donuts and The Circus – Greensboro, NC

The promise of quality time with my cousins, white tigers and tight-rope walkers coaxed me into going to the circus a month or so ago. I wasn’t happy about the thought of being in a room.. arena…that would be filled with creepy clowns, but I agreed to the trip. Within a few days, I found myself a few rows up from beautiful white tigers, dancing elephants, hip-hop prancing dogs and yes… clowns.

My cousin, Crystal and I took her little girl Layla to the circus and I have to admit that I actually had a good time. I was kind of freaking out at the thought of going because I just knew that clowns would be running rampant with butcher knives and fire. Anyone else with the fear of clowns knows exactly how I feel.

But I have to say that the clowns were not quite as scary as I remembered and they didn’t get to close to me… well except one at the very end that got a little to close for comfort haha. But all in all it was a good trip. We even stopped by firehouse subs on the way home! Have I ever told you how much I love Firehouse subs! They are so good!

But back to the circus. My favorite part was probably getting to see the white tigers…..

…. or perhaps it was the cute little dancing dog. I’m not sure which one I loved more.

I just wanted to share a few photos from the trip.

and this one..

Crystal made this adorable clown tutu and headband for Layla to wear (she’s even got directions on her blog that shows you how to make it) She was one super cute clown that I didn’t mind hanging out with.

And yes…. I did spend $15.00 on a stupid plastic snow cone elephant cup… because it was just stinkin cute and I NEEDED it. Whatever. It’s awesome and I love it. 😉

Along with all of the awesome circus stuff, I want to show you these little mini donuts.

For starters, their little bitty colored sprinkles remind me of circus colors, I’m in love with all kinds of “mini” foods and because I have a little giveaway for you.

I made some Chocolate Espresso Mini Donuts with this cute little donut maker and after that I played around with some other flavors and the sprinkles kind of just fell onto all of them. Well… because that’s what sprinkles do.

I also wanted to celebrate a little bit because my blog is growing. I have been working hard to make it better and better but my blog couldn’t grow with out you! I’ve been getting more views (it’s amazing, people actually want to read some of the random stuff that I write haha) and the fans on Facebook just seems to be flowing in (totally wonderful).

I recently reached 3,000 fans on Facebook, now to some people that might not be a huge deal, but I think it’s wonderful.

So to say Thank You for being such wonderful readers and friends, I wanted to do a little giveaway here on the blog. It’s not much, but it’s something that I have recently fell in love with and I thought you might like one too. Before I get into that, let me share two of my favorite mini donut recipes with you!

One is just a plain white donut and the other is chocolate!

This donut maker cooks the little donuts in about 1-2 minutes. So I had a few batches of these made in no time.

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(Printable Recipe Here)

Mini Donuts with Glaze and Sprinkles

by Angie Barrett April-10-2013

Ingredients 

1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoons cooking oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

For Glaze:
1 part water with 3 parts powdered sugar. (amount depends on how much glaze you want)
sprinkles (optional)  (I used Dixie Crystals Powdered Sugar)


Instructions 

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients together. Add in the egg, milk and vanilla. Mix well.

Add in in oil and mix well. 

Heat an electric mini donut maker until ready.

Fill the donut maker with batter and close lid.

Bake for 1-2 minutes or until done.

For the glaze:
Mix 1 part water with 3 parts powdered sugar. 

Dip cooled donuts into glaze. Top with sprinkles.

Makes:  18 mini donuts

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(Printable Recipe Here)

Mini Chocolate Donuts with Glaze and Sprinkles

by Angie Barrett April-10-2013

Ingredients 

1 egg
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 packet hot chocolate mix
4 tablespoon coco powder
2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

For Glaze:

1 part water with 3 parts powdered sugar. (amount depends on how much glaze you want)

sprinkles (optional) (I used Dixie Crystals Powdered Sugar)

Instructions 

In a large bowl mix together the egg, eater and oil. Whisk in the coco, flour, brown sugar, hot chocolate mix, baking soda and salt.

Heat an electric mini donut maker until ready.

Fill the donut maker with batter and close lid.

Bake for 1-2 minutes or until done.

For the glaze:
Mix 1 part water with 3 parts powdered sugar.  

Dip cooled donuts into glaze. Top with sprinkles.

Makes:  18 mini donuts

Giveaway ends on Wed. April 24th at 11:59 EST. Winner will be choose at random. Open to anyone with a US mailing address, this giveaway is 100% sponsored by me from my pocket because I love ya’ll