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Growing up my mom had this little china tea set from my grandmother that we were only allowed to use when we were not feeling well. It was the only time those cups came out. For some reason drinking tea from those little cups always made me feel so much better.
My mom has passed that china tea set on to me now. I love to create special moments for my kids using the tea set from my childhood. Every once in a while I will get the tea set out and bake them some treats for a surprise tea party. By only doing it every so often, it keeps it special. They love to have the little cups of tea with lots of cream and sugar.
So when I was asked to try Bigelow Tea, immediately I knew I wanted to surprise my kids with another tea party. I think our last one was this past summer, so I knew they would love to come home from school and enjoy treats and and tea.
I headed to Walmart to check out the selection of Bigelow Tea that they offer. They had such a great selection of the tea at a great price. You can follow my shopping experience HERE if you are interested. There were so many flavors to choose from. As I looked over the selection, I decided to make some Vanilla Chai Baked Donuts for the surprise tea party.
I was so interested to learn that Bigelow Tea is a family owned company. I love that family owned businesses tend to put more of a personal touch into their products. You can feel more of a warmth and care in what they sell. The tea bags are individually packaged in foil pouches that preserve the tea flavor. It makes them easier to store in a basket on your kitchen counter.
The first thing you need to do when baking with tea is to actually steep your tea. You start by boiling water and adding extra Vanilla Chai tea bags for a stronger flavor. The aroma coming from the tea cup filled my entire kitchen. I couldn’t wait to infuse that amazing scent into my baked donuts.
I stirred up my donut batter using some of the cooled tea. I also used a vanilla yogurt to increase more vanilla flavor and to create a softer texture in the donuts.
To fill donut pans with less of a mess, spoon the batter into a large ziplock bag and cut one tip off. When you are finished, throw the bag away. Isn’t it nice to not have another pan or spoon to wash?
By adding more tea to the glaze, it increased the tea flavor even more in these donuts. The white sanding sugar on the top was the perfect touch for the glaze. These Vanilla Chai Baked Donuts were even better the next day after the glaze had time to soak into them. Keep them stored in a sealed container to preserve that freshness.
When my kids got home from school and realized they were having donuts and a tea party, they were so excited to invite all their “friends”. I love the excitement and happiness that these little tea parties give them.
My hope is that they will remember these fun moments and be able to continue sharing these moments with their children when they are older. I cannot wait to pass on the family tea set to my daughter after she is married. But I don’t want that happening any time soon, so for now I will enjoy my little ones and their cute stuffed animal parties!
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Vanilla donuts infused with Vanilla Chai tea in the batter and the glaze.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Cream the butter, brown sugar, and honey in a mixing bowl. Add the egg, vanilla paste, and yogurt and mix again. Sift together the salt, baking powder, baking soda, and flour. Add the flour and the cooled tea alternately to the butter mixture, until everything is mixed in.
- Spoon the donut batter into a large ziplock bag and cut off one tip. Spray the donut pan with non stick spray and fill the donut pans 1/2 to 2/3 full. Bake at 375* for 11-12 minutes. Let the donuts cool in the pan 3-4 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Stir together the powdered sugar and remaining tea. Dip the tops of the donuts in the glaze. Sprinkle with white sanding sugar while the glaze is wet. Let set. Store donuts in a sealed container for up to 5 days. Makes 15 large donuts.
Notes
*Steep 3 tea bags in 1/2 cup boiling water to create the strong tea for the batter. Let cool before adding to the ingredients. *You could also bake this in a muffin pan. You would just increase the baking time to 18-20 minutes.
I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Bigelow Tea #CBias #SocialFabric #AmericasTea” All opinions are my own.
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Jocelyn is the baker, photographer, and writer behind Inside BruCrew Life. She is married to her best friend, and they have three great kids. She spends her days baking sweet treats, and then trying to find ways to give the treats away without eating them all. Grab a cup of coffee and visit while she shares life from their kitchen.
Love the little tea party with friends! And those donuts, OMG, I can only imagine how good they taste!!!
Aimee @ ShugarySweets recently posted..Bakery Style Double Chocolate Muffins
I am in love with using the tea in baked goods! It was a fun post to work on!!!
I want to make these RIGHT now! I wonder if I have any vanilla chai hiding in my cupboards? I love the tip of putting the batter into a ziploc bag. And your kiddos are just too cute! Thanks so much for all of the great recipes!
Oh, I really hope you have some vanilla chai in your cupboards. Make sure you let them sit over night if possible…they really were so much better the next day.
Oh wow… these look so good! I bet they taste just as great!
Thank you Rachel. They were some of the best donuts ever!!!
MMMMM, I love Vanilla Chai. And these look awesome!
Lisa @ Wine & Glue recently posted..100 Day Party Ideas
Thank you so much Lisa!
Vanilla Chai is one of my favorite tea flavors. I can only image how awesome it would be in donuts and glaze. The sparkle on the donuts from the sanding sugar makes them look even more extra special.
Regina @ SpecialtyCakeCreations recently posted..Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Thank you so much Regina. These donuts were a lot of fun to create. The sugar on top was the perfect touch…yes, much fancier that way!
Love it! Can’t wait until I can have a tea party with my sweet granddaughter. (She just turned one a few days ago.) I LOVE baked donuts and have quite a selection of recipes already. Thanks for another one!
Oh, you are going to have so much fun having tea parties with her when she gets a little older. Donuts are the cutest treats for tea parties!!!
These sound amazing Jocelyn! You’ve inspired me to have a tea party with my kids – they’d love it!
Liz recently posted..German Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
Yes, have that tea party with your kids. It is so fun to watch their excitement.
you all and your doughnuts!! I’m in love, esp because I just bought a doughnut pan. And they’re baked which pretty much means they’re healthy, yay!
Sarah @ Miss CandiQuik recently posted..Valentine Surprise Cookies
I am kind of addicted to using my donut pan
You will love using yours…I can’t wait to see what fun things you create with it!! And yes, baked totally means healthy…so we can eat more!
That is so cute! I love tea parties, and I loved when my grandma would throw some for me and my friends as a kid. She always used her fancy tea set, too, though we had Diet Coke or root beer instead of tea
these chai donuts look FANTASTIC. I love Bigelow tea and I’ll need to try the vanilla chai next time I’m at Walmart. Chais are my coffee-shop staple!
Hayley @ The Domestic Rebel recently posted..Strawberry Nutella Heart Pie Pops
What fun memories of tea parties with your Grandma. I love your choice of “tea”…my kids probably would like that better too! You will love this tea…it smelled so amazing as I was making these.
your kids are just the cutest ever Jocelyn! And I love all their friends.
Chai tea is my favorite warm drink next to coffee. And paired with donuts – there is NO match! I’ve never thought to use the chai tea FOR my donuts though. Genius, my friend 
sally @ sallys baking addiction recently posted..mini powdered sugar donut muffins.
Aw! How fun
My mom and I would have tea parties when I was a little girl, I wish we had these donuts too!!
Abby recently posted..Blueberry Coffee Cake with Almond Flour Crumb
Sounds so yummy!
Jenn@eatcakefordinner recently posted..Green Chile and Corn Ranch Dip
How fun is that tea party?! What a great mom you are
These donuts look fab!
Mandy’s Recipe Box recently posted..{Copycat} Little Caesar’s Breadsticks
I love your tea party idea!
And yummy donuts. I want one. 
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust recently posted..Truffle Stuffed Brownie Pops
These are the sweetest! I love that you used tea in them, what a fun party!
I just started playing around with using chai in some recipes (same brand & flavor too)! These donuts look amazing and I bet they taste awesome!
Nicole recently posted..Healthy Pancakes, Blackberry Syrup & Sweet Yogurt Cream
Love these! I put Chai in some sugar cookies. It really is an awesome way to add spices.
Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips recently posted..Buffalo Chicken Sloppy Sandwiches (and 3 variations) for a #SundaySupper #SuperBowl Party
Oh my gosh! I love chai tea…these look sooo good! I’m pinning these and have to make them. Thanks for the recipe.
KC
KC @ The Real Thing with the Coake Family recently posted..Apothecary Jars {Tutorial}
Thank you so much for the pin. I hope you enjoy them!!!
Sweet!
What a cute tea party!
I love baked donuts and this flavor sounds outstanding. How fun to have a tea party with your kids. I can’t wait for my kiddos to get a little older to do that with them as well.
Jennifer @ Mother Thyme recently posted..Organize Now! Week 4: Organize Your Routine
I love Bigelow tea (I drink hot tea all afternoon in the winter), but I never thought about adding it to donuts. You are brilliant!
Ashley @ Kitchen Meets Girl recently posted..Manicotti Roll Ups
Awe I’m blushing now! My mind is racing with all the things I could make now with the tea in my cupboard! I’m thinking some sort of muffin next…
Gosh, where do I start?
Your donuts look absolutely amazing and I bet they taste amazing too. I love your idea about putting the tea bags on the counter in a basket. I’ve been thinking about different ways to store my teabags so I might have to try that. I *love* the tip about the zipper bag to fill the donut pan!
Brandie (@ Home Cooking Memories) recently posted..Cherry Heart Pies #SundaySupper
These are the perfect tea bags to have out because of the packaging! The ziplock bag is such a easy way to fill those pans, plus it’s one less thing to wash
These sound perfect for a fund-raising bake sale that’s coming up. How much of the tea do you use in the batter and how much in the frosting? Also, can I substitute vanilla extract for the vanilla paste?
The amount of tea used for the batter and the frosting is listed in the recipe…1/3 cup for batter and 3 Tbsp. for the glaze. And yes, vanilla extract would be fine to use. I hope you enjoy making them.
Jocelyn Brubaker recently posted..Coconut Chocolate Chunk Muffin Tops