We Put Vegan and Regular Matcha Green Tea Donuts to the Test

Anita Yung
Jun 03, 2016

It’s NATIONAL DONUT DAY — a day Brit + Co celebrates far more often than once a year. As self-proclaimed donut aficionados, we decided to have a taste test of our most coveted treats. And by taste test, we mean an ultimate vegan versus regular donut face-off. Because Matcha Green Tea has been popping up everywhere (in breakfast foods, snacks and energy-boosting recipes), we thought it would be the perfect unique flavor for this very serious competition. Scroll down to see which was the winner! Oh, and one last important PSA: Here are all the places you can get FREE donuts today.

Ingredients

— 1 1/4 cups flour

— ½ cup sugar

— 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

— 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

— 1/2 teaspoon matcha green tea powder

— ⅔ cup melted coconut oil

— ½ cup milk

— 1 egg

— ½ teaspoon white vinegar

— ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a donut pan using butter or oil. This batter will make about 12 regular-sized donuts.

2. Whisk all of your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and matcha powder) together in a bowl.

3. In another bowl, mix together your wet ingredients (coconut oil, milk, egg, white vinegar and vanilla). Pour your wet mixture in with the dry mixture and stir until combined.

4. Now put the batter into a piping bag. We put one corner of a large Ziploc® bag into a tall glass and used a spatula to pour the mixture into the bag. Seal it up with no air, snip off a small triangle in the corner and begin piping into a donut pan. We did a mix of mini and regular-size donuts. Fill the donut pan with batter — no need to leave space in each slot.

5. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

6. After your donuts are done baking, let them cool completely on a cooling rack before icing.

VEGAN MATCHA GREEN TEA DONUTS

Ingredients

— 2 cups all-purpose flour

— 1/2 cup sugar

— 2 teaspoons baking powder

— 2-3 Tablespoons matcha green tea powder

— 1/2 teaspoon salt

— 1/3 cup applesauce

— 3/4 cup non-dairy milk or water (I used almond milk)

— 1/3 cup oil

— 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a donut pan using (vegan) butter or coconut oil. This batter will make about 12 regular-sized donuts.

2. Whisk all of your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and matcha powder) in a bowl.

3. In another bowl, mix together your wet ingredients (applesauce, water, vinegar and oil). When combined, pour your wet mixture in with the dry mixture and stir until completely incorporated and smooth.

4. Now put the batter into a piping bag. Put one corner of a large Ziploc® bag into a tall glass and use a spatula to pour the mixture into the bag. Seal it up with no air, snip off a small triangle in the corner and begin piping into a donut pan. We also did a mix of mini and regular-size donuts for the vegan version.

5. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

6. Let cool completely on a cooling rack before icing.

MATCHA GREEN TEA ICING GLAZE

Ingredients:

— 4 cups powdered sugar

— 4-5 teaspoons matcha green tea powder

— 6-8 Tablespoons hot water

Instructions

Mix together the powdered sugar and matcha powder in a bowl. Add one tablespoon of hot water at a time until you reach your desired icing consistency. Look for a thick but syrupy consistency. If it’s too thin, add a little more powdered sugar; if it’s too thick, add a little more hot water.

Dip a donut into the matcha green tea glaze, swirl it around to coat the top, then set it down icing side up. Pro Tip: Lay parchment paper under a cooling rack to catch any icing drippings.

3. Sprinkle any toppings onto the top of the donut before the glaze sets. We used sprinkles on our vegan donuts and green tea KitKats and Green Tea Pocky (that our Executive Creative Director, Anjelika, brought back from her travels to Japan!) on our regular donuts.

YUM. Now, which one was the winner?!

Vegan donuts! Winning by a small margin of one vote, our vegan donuts seem to have the best texture and matcha green tea flavor. Ten extraordinary tasters brought their A-game and gave some honest feedback. Comments about our vegan donuts included, “sweet and delish,” “more sweet and moist, tastes more like a donut,” “moist and FLUFFY” and “matcha flavor more pronounced.” Our regular matcha donuts elicited comments like “more flavor,” “little more coconut-y,” “less dense than the other one” and “KitKat topping for the win.”

Love these mini donuts? Check out this recipe for mini rainbow donuts!

Author: Anita Yung

DIY Production + Styling: Anita

Photography: Brittany Griffin

Is Butter Bad For You? Here's The Number 1 Way It's Impacting Your Health

There's nothing more tasty than a fresh slice of buttered sourdough in the morning. But new research suggests you might want to pass on this delicacy to extend your longevity. So isbutter bad for you? Here's what recent studies found!

Scroll to see how your bread & butter intake may be impacting your health!

Felicity Tai

A recent study conducted by Harvard University and Mass General Brigham found that people who consumed more butter had a 15% higher risk of early death compared to those who used it in moderation. On the flip side, people who preferred plant oils had a 16% lower risk of mortality.

The results shed light on the ongoing question of whether butter or plant-based oils are the better choice for your health. Sadly for butter lovers, the findings suggest that replacing even two teaspoons of butter with the same amount of plant oil could lower the risk of early death by approximately 17%.

Polina Tankilevitch

For the study, the research team examined dietary data from three major studies: the Nurses' Health Study, Nurses' Health Study II, and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. They tracked over 220,000 Americans' butter consumption, including for both cooking and spreading, as well as their intake of various plant oils, like olive, soybean, canola, corn, and safflower oils.

Over the course of 33 years, the researchers gathered this information via food surveys every four years. Then, they used the data to calculate averages and gain a clearer picture of eating habits.

Nadin Sh

A total of 50,932 deaths occurred throughout the study, with 12,241 from cancer and 11,240 from heart disease. The team adjusted for variables such as age, physical activity, weight, alcohol consumption, and smoking, which revealed a distinct trend.

Higher butter intake was associated with increased death rates; meanwhile, higher consumption of plant oils was tied to lower death rates. However, not all plant oils had the same effect, as corn and safflower oils showed no significant benefits.

Mareefe

Still, increasing plant oil intake by roughly two tablespoons a day was linked to an 11% reduction in cancer death risk and a 6% decrease in the risk of dying from heart disease.

"Replacing three small pats of butter (approximately 15 grams) with one tablespoon of plant-based oil (approximately 15 grams) in the daily diet could contribute to lowering the risk of premature mortality," the team wrote.

Kaboompics.com

Now, this doesn't mean you need to cut out butter entirely. In fact, the study actually found that butter used for baking or frying wasn't strongly linked to mortality risk. This may be because it's used in smaller quantities or less often.

Butter being spread directly on foods, like bread, showed the strongest connection. So, the researchers suggest making small switches, like swapping out butter for olive oil or canola oil, to maintain taste and enhance your health.

"Even cutting back butter a little and incorporating more plant-based oils into your daily diet can have meaningful long-term health benefits," concluded Dr. Daniel Wang of Harvard's Department of Nutrition.

To read the study's complete findings published in JAMA Internal Medicine, visit the link here.

Looking for more food & health news? Be sure to sign up four our newsletter!

foodfood newsself-carehealth

Trader Joe’s Easter Items Are Here — 11 Picks To Add To Your Baskets This Year!

Trader Joe’s current lineup of Easter goodies is better than ever. They’ve got so many sweets on deck – including chocolate bunnies, of course – as well as festive spring snacks that simply make the perfectEaster basket additions! This year, there’s really no shortage of fun TJ’s finds to brighten up your season.

Scroll on for 11 Trader Joe’s Easter finds that are totally worth grabbing before they’re gone!

Trader Joe's

Milk Chocolate Bunny Bar

This adorable bunny-shaped chocolate bar is topped with tons of bright candy gems and rainbow nonpareils (which are crafted with dyes from natural ingredients) to liven up your Easter snack collection! This limited-time item will definitely not last long on shelves, so run to TJ's soon!

Trader Joe's

Peas & Carrots Sour Gummy Candies

Shaped like tiny little peas and carrots, these bites are far from actual veggies. In fact, they're made of a delicious gummy candy tinged with just the right amount of sourness that balances out the sugary goodness.

Trader Joe's

Break Apart Bunny

This is not your average chocolate bunny. While still hollow like most traditional treats, this one's actually loaded up with a handful of carrot-shaped gummy candies – like a perfect little (and edible!) Easter-themed piñata. Your Easter basket recipients won't be able to resist breaking it open!

Trader Joe's

Chocolate Truffle Eggs

Ooh, fancy. Perfectly packaged for Eastertime gifting, this collection of egg-shaped chocolate truffles boats 7 distinctive flavors that feel oh-so bougie. You're def going to want to grab one for yourself – we're absolutely eyeing that pistachio egg. 👀

Trader Joe's

Raspberry Mousse Cakes

These lil' cakes are almost too cute to eat! Each one starts with a base of moist vanilla cake that's topped with raspberry-flavored mousse. The batch then is covered in a sweet confectionary coating (including an edible leaf!) to emulate the sheer magic of raspberries on one easy-to-eat treat.

Trader Joe's

Italian Chocolate Eggs

Add these eggs to your Easter candy bowl, stat! This pack comes with 4 decadent flavor pairings encased in colorful coatings so you can easily sneak in a bite of springtime joy throughout the day.

Trader Joe's

Sea Salt Brownie Bites

We are obsessed with these brownie bites. The added sea salt on top of 'em adds some extra flavor oomph that feels super elevated and perfectly fancy for a special occasion such as Easter.

Trader Joe's

Teensy Candy Bars

Basically like 'teensy' versions of a Snickers bar, these micro-sized candy bars are dangerously easy to snack on. Your little ones will adore them!

Trader Joe's

Chocolatey Drizzled Strawberry Kettle Popcorn

Drizzled with freeze-dried strawberries and chocolate, this kettle corn is unlike anything you've tried before. The fruity notes most definitely qualify it as a great spring snack, while the chocolate adds Eastertime decadence.

Trader Joe's

Organic Sparkling Rosé Tea Beverage

For something to sip on, this can is the epitome of spring flavors. It's made with a blend of four teas along with white grape juice, hibiscus flowers, orange peel, and rose hips for some insanely good floral and citrusy notes!

Trader Joe's

Tangerine Probiotic Sparkling Beverage

Crafted with probiotics, this bubbly bev contains a "light, refreshing, sweet-tart flavor" that'll have you hooked from first gulp.

Subscribe to our newsletter to discover more epic Trader Joe's items!

trader joe'strader joe's new itemseastereaster basketseaster dessertssweetsfood

Sophia Bush Finally Opened Up About Hilarie Burton & Chad Michael Murray Leaving 'One Tree Hill': "Stupid"

One Tree Hill fans were heartbroken (and a little bit confused) when season 6 ended and Peyton (Hilarie Burton) and Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) left without a trace. It had been a season of danger, life-threatening situations, and literal murder, and for two of the show's leads to just fall off the face of the earth felt inconsistent with how tight-knit the friend group had always been. And viewers weren't the only ones to think so.

"This is the problem: They didn't give us enough to make where our friends went make sense," Drama Queens host Sophia Bush said of the "unfortunate" decision to write Hilarie and Chad out of the show. (Hilarie has said in a previous episode of the rewatch podcast that both her and Chad were "treated badly, and he defended me...Chad was my teammate.")

Keep reading for what Sophia Bush, Bethany Joy Lenz, and Robert Buckley's thoughts on Peyton and Lucas leaving One Tree Hill.

Sophia Bush thought Peyton and Lucas leaving 'One Tree Hill' was "really weird."

Warner Bros. TV

One Tree Hill season 6 ended after Peyton almost died giving birth to her and Lucas' daughter, and after introducing baby Sawyer to the rest of the crew, they just...drive off into the sunset.

"I don't even remember where they moved. Where did they go?" Bethany Joy Lenz says, to which Robert Buckley replies, "They left in a convertible, so I'm gonna guess maybe the West Coast where it's a bit warmer and less rainy."

But no matter where Peyton and Lucas moved, the One Tree Hill cast can't quite wrap their heads around the fact that, in the story, Brooke literally never hears from Peyton again. "I used to ask, 'Why can't Brooke [Davis] be getting text messages from Peyton? Why can't you see them texting? Like, why am I not getting photo updates of this baby? It feels really weird.'"

And while Lucas returns for an episode in season 9, he was also radio silent for his three-season absence, as was his mom Karen. "Everybody, they just faded off into the distance," Bethany says. "I do wish they had kept that up in some more clear way. I don't think it would have been hard."

While Bethany Joy Lenz think is was because of "personal beef" behind the scenes.


But Bethany theorizes the onscreen confusion boils down to behind-the-scenes drama with creator Mark Schwann, whom the cast accused of sexual harassment in 2017. The women of the show wrote an open letter explaining how “many of us were, to varying degrees, manipulated psychologically and emotionally," and how "more than one of us is still in treatment for post-traumatic stress."

"I think it was some sort of personal beef behind the scenes," Bethany adds in the Drama Queens episode. "He was hoping the audience would just forget about them."

"Which seems so stupid because it's a choice rooted in ego," Sophia adds. "It's like, 'Dude, you wrote those characters, so you knew they were great. So why are we suddenly pretending they're not?'"

Fred Norris/Warner Bros. TV

Hopefully we'll see all our favorite Tree Hill Ravens return for a One Tree Hill sequel series. While the show hasn't been officially greenlit at Netflix yet, Hilarie Burton exclusively told Brit + Co that everyone involved in the show is "really proud of the work that we did back then too. And so to see the public support this little show we made 20 years later, that's so special and it's so rare."

You can stream all of One Tree Hill on Hulu now — and read up on Chad Michael Murray's Perfect Idea For The One Tree Hill Reunion.

one tree hillpop cultureentertainment