Doughnut Time

I think Matt just became the most popular officer in the West precinct. He brought in 3 dozen doughnuts. I don't know what it is about cops and doughnuts, but they do have a special appreciation for this sweet treat.

Ever since Matt's grandpa gave us a deep fryer, I have wanted to try making doughnuts. Now that we have brought out the deep fryer for some other tasty treats (french fries, onion rings, sweet potato fries, beer-batter fish and chips...) I figured it was doughnut time. As I was searching for a recipe, I came across many types. Some doughnut recipes have a cake-like batter, while others have a yeast dough. Since I've recently become a little more confident with yeast dough, I decided to give it a try. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com.

Crispy and Creamy Doughnuts

2 (.25 ounce) envelopes active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water (105 - 115 degrees)

1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk

1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/3 cup shortening

5 cups all-purpose flour

1 quart vegetable oil for frying

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let stand for 5 minutes, until foamy.

In a large bowl, mix together the yeast mixture, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix for a few minutes on low speed.

Beat in the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl. Knead for about 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic (I used the dough hook attachment for this).

Let the dough rise, covered, in a greased bowl until doubled in size. The dough is ready if you touch it and the indentation remains instead of springing back.

On a lightly floured surface, gently roll the dough out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a doughnut cutter, or a set of small cookie cutters in different sizes.

Doughnut cutter that used to be my Grandma's

Place doughnuts onto a cookie sheet, cover, and allow to rise again until doubled in size.

Don't forget to save to doughnut holes! I used the scraps to make some twisty shapes. They weren't pretty, but they were delicious.

Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large heavy skillet to 350 degrees. Slide doughnuts into the hot oil and fry on each side until golden brown - just a minute or two for each side. Remove from hot oil to drain on a rack and top with glaze.

Glaze station!

Since this was my first time making doughnuts, I wanted to try out a few different kinds of glazes. The favorites seemed to be maple and plain glaze, and Matt loved the ones that I tossed in cinnamon sugar. The trick is to get the toppings on while the doughnuts are still warm. That way, everything sticks and coats the doughnuts nicely. Here are the toppings I used:

Cinnamon Sugar topping

This was the simplest and one of the tastiest, in my opinion! I just mixed about 1/2 cup sugar with a few tablespoons of cinnamon and tossed warm doughnuts in the mixture.

Powdered Sugar topping

Simply toss warm doughnuts in powdered sugar until coated.

Maple Glaze

found at Prudence Pennywise

2 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons maple extract

4 tablespoons milk

Mix ingredients together until smooth and brush onto warm doughnuts with a pastry brush.

Chocolate Glaze

from allrecipes.com

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a double-boiler over hot (but not boiling) water, combine chocolate chips, butter, and corn syrup. Stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, then add in vanilla. Using a small spatula, spread over warm doughnuts.

Classic Glaze

found with the doughnut recipe at allrecipes.com

1/3 cup butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

4 tablespoons hot water (or as needed)

In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in hot water until the glaze is thin, but not watery. Dip warm doughnuts directly in glaze, turning to coat. Place on cooling rack to harden and allow excess glaze to run off.