You’re familiar with all those those funky kitchen gadgets, right?  You know, the ones that market themselves with packaging labeled “As Seen On TV”…

I always thought my kids believed I really  wanted the Salad Shooter or the Chocolate Fountain or the Veg-a-Matic for my birthday, or Christmas, or Mother’s Day.

Turns out THEY were the ones who wanted all those gizmos. Latest gift: The Mini-Doughnut Maker.

Now mind you, Mama uses the appliances… sometimes only once (like the Hot Dog Roaster, which only made two hot at a time so even the kids got a little impatient). But the Mini-Doughnut Maker has actually turned out to be my go-to summer dessert solution.

A couple of weeks ago I made some fabuloso ice cream sandwiches using Snickerdoodle Cookies. So I thought… why not replace the cookies and use mini-doughnuts instead? The best part is that they REALLY are MINI, so you only eat ONE for dessert. Right.

I used a boxed chocolate doughnut mix, but I made the raspberry ice cream. I had some leftover jam from last week’s Raspberry Jam Cookies and some fresh raspberries which I added to the basic ice cream recipe in Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream at Home Cookbook. If you don’t want to buy the cookbook, here’s the recipe so you can make it at home. Make this homemade ice cream JUST ONCE, and store bought ice cream will never measure up.

But anyway, even if you haven’t been gifted with a mini-doughnut maker, you can still whip these up:

1. Buy mini-doughnuts and slice them in half (like a hamburger bun).

2. Buy your favorite ice cream.

3. Spoon 2 Tablespoons of the ice cream in between the sliced doughnut.

4. Frost them… or not.

5. Place in the freezer to firm up or serve immediately.

And remember, a serving size is ONLY ONE. Riiiight…