Donuts

Donuts (1/1/11)
My sister-in-law and her husband were over the other day and she mentioned that she wanted to make donuts. 30 seconds after she mentioned it, we were in the kitchen searching for a recipe. I wanted to make a good yeasted donuts, nice and airy, think something like Krispy Kreme. The recipe I found was called "Good Raised Doughnuts" and I thought it sounded like what I was looking for. Unfortunately, they didn't quite meet my mark for the yeasty donuts. The dough didn't rise like I thought it would and the doughnuts ended up being quite dense. They still were good, just more of a cake donut than a yeasted donut like I was looking for. Here is the recipe we used.

You will need:

2-1/4 teaspoons yeast
1 cup of milk, scalded and cooled
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cup sugar
3-1/2 cups flour
3 Tablespoons shortening
Powdered sugar (for covering donuts)
Cinnamon and sugar mix (for covering donuts)

1. Dissolve yeast in lukewarm milk. Set aside about 10 minutes until yeast bubbles up.

2. Add 1-1/2 cups flour and beat until smooth. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled.

3. Combine sugar and shortening.

4. Add salt, egg, and nutmeg.

5. Stir into yeast sponge.

6. Add remaining flour and beat wel.

7. Place in greased bowl and let dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled.

8. Roll dough out on floured surface to 1/2" thick.

9. Cut with donut cutter if you have one. If you don't, I used a drinking glass to cut the shape of the donut. Then I used the lid to the oil bottle to cut out the hole in the donut.

10. Let donuts rise for 45 minutes.

11. Fry in 375 degree oil. Each side of the donut only needs 2 minutes. I fry both the donuts and the cut-out centers to make donut holes.

12. After donuts have cooled, coat them with powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar. I find the easiest way to do this is to put the coating in a large ziploc bag, add in a few donuts, and shake until coated. I usually do 2 coats.

These donuts taste best the day they are made.

Source: Bill and Juke's "Talk of the Town" Cookbook