Is the new girl allowed to bring donuts on her third day in the office? What is the etiquette on this? (Just asking for a friend…)

I had planned to come home from vacation, start my new job, and not spend that much time in the kitchen, because I was pretty exhausted from a trip that took me from SF to Main Street, USA to Diagon Alley to NYC to Syracuse and then to NYC again.  I parked myself on my couch when I got back on Wednesday and didn’t move, mentally high-fiving myself that I had so thoughtfully pre-planned some blog posts. But then, as things go in my kitchen, by Sunday afternoon I found myself with 36 mini donuts and just me to eat them. Maybe I was subconsciously really sad about skipping National Donut Day?

It’s all my fault of course, and my constant tracking of new food establishments in NYC (which is maybe a weird hobby for someone based in SF). I had my friend Ginny escort me on a mini food tour through Greenwich Village and we wandered west to Chelsea Market, where I immediately requested we go inside so I could check out Seed+ Mill. I braved the cranky saleslady and got a jar of tahini and some cardamom halva that I then nibbled on over the next few days, during which time my halva was crushed by the jar of tahini, drenched in an ice-filled cooler, and finally crammed in the bottom of my carry on during the trip back to SF.  Let’s just say it looked less than appetizing by the time I got it home, so, I decided to crumble it up and throw it into some chocolate donuts. As you do.

These donuts are chocolatey, scented with cardamom from the nutty halva, and then glazed with tahini because there is a sesame theme going on here, obviously. Let’s be honest, they are really just mini cupcakes in another form, but wonderfully bite-sized so you can eat about 5 or 6 before feeling like you’ve had to many. Not that I would know...

Chocolate Cardamom Halva Mini Donuts with Tahini Glaze

Chocolate Donuts adapted from Joy the Baker.

For the donuts:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 4 tbs unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped or crumbled halva

For the glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup tahini
• pinch salt
• a few tbs water

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a mini donut pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. Or, use a mini muffin tin.
2. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, butter, and vanilla.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together until completely combined, then fold in the halva.
5. Fill each donut or muffin well 2/3 full, then bake 8-10 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Rest in the tin for 5 minutes then invert onto a wire rack and cool.
6. Stir together glaze ingredients and dip donuts one by one in the mixture. Let set, then serve immediately. Donuts will last a few days in the refrigerator.