I received free samples of Swerve  mentioned in this post. By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by Swerve and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.

 

Growing up,  Dad was always responsible for the donuts.

 

On random Saturday mornings, the four of us would tumble downstairs to see the sight of the Lester’s Donuts box on the kitchen table. There was  always a dozen– glazed, chocolate glazed, chocolate cake (my faves) and a few eclaires, too. The family  happily ate them throughout the day and occassionally into Sunday. Except on the Saturdays that my cousins were in town. On those days, they were gone within the hour. My cousins still talk about “Lester’s Saturdays”.

 

I didn’t know it then, but those donuts would become an important food memory in my childhood. It’s one that reminds me of my Dad (and his love for sweets) and the days he chose to surprise and delight his kids with something as simple as a donut. He was always my hero, but was even more of a hero on those donut days. Those days also represented a carefree time with my parents–mixed in with lots of hand knitted afghans, pj’s and Saturday morning cartoons. Now that I’m a parent, the effort he went to for us is not lost on me.  I’m also not naive enought to realize that there may have been times when those donut runs were for him–and we happened to reap the benefits.

Now 78, Dad has since developed Type 2 diabetes which transitioned into Type 1 diabetes after a pre-cancerous tumor was removed from his pancreas a few years ago. He is fairly regimented about his diet, but still loves and craves sweets. Often times, I’ll text him a picture of a recipe I’m working on or a dish I’m eating in a restaurant and his response is always the same.

Looks delicous. How many carbs?

 

 

Baked Chocolate Covered Banana Donuts

Makes 1 dozen donuts