When it comes to the perfect snack of sweetness, few things in life beat out the doughnut.
Delicious at any time of the day, these soft, doughy treats are consumed anywhere from breakfast all the way through to the midnight munchies.
Not only are they craveable round the clock, but they also come in an unfathomable variety of shapes, sizes, sweetness, and colors.
Of course, the sweetest things in life are also often the most simple. While a nice bavarian créme-stuffed doughnut or a sweet and savory maple bacon bar make for excellent food-fare, sometimes it’s the plain and simple doughnuts that we crave.
And it doesn’t get any simpler than a home-cooked, soft, sugar-dusted doughnut!
That’s right, we said “home-cooked”. People have gotten so used to these delectable goodies coming from a bag at some store or, if they’re lucky, a high-end doughnut shop. But, the good news is that they are incredibly easy to make right at home!
The most difficult thing about them is waiting for the dough to rise, but if you’ve got some chores to catch up on, or maybe even your favorite show, the wait will seem like a breeze.
Here’s what you’ll need to get started:
- 2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
- 3/4 Tablespoon of sugar
- 1 3/4 teaspoons of Instant or “Rapid-Rise” Yeast
- 1/2 a teaspoon of salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1/2 a cup + 3 1/2 Tablespoons of warm whole milk
- 2 Tablespoons of butter, softened
- 1 liter of oil for deep frying
- 1/2 a cup of sugar for dusting
Now that you have everything gathered, it’s time to get started!
Step 1- The dough
The first thing you’ll do is combine the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Make sure they are well-mixed.
Use your spatula to make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the egg and vanilla. Then, slowly pour in the warm milk.
Stir it all together with your spatula until it starts to come together and the dough is beginning to form. It will still be pretty sticky at this point.
Step 2- Knead it
After the dough has begun to come together, use your hand to knead it for several minutes just until it begins to stick to itself. Then, add the butter.
Work the butter into the dough as you continue to knead it. Once all of it has been incorporated, keep kneading it for 15-20 minutes.
Step 3- Let it rise
After you’re done kneading the bread, shape it into a nice round loaf shape and place back in the bowl. Drizzle it lightly with oil and rub the dough down with it and the bottom and sides of the bowl as well.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a tea towel to keep it dark and warm, and leave it to continue rising for an hour, or until doubled in size.
Step 4- Knead some more
Once your dough has doubled in size, punch it down softly and knead back down until roughly it’s original size. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and continue to knead for a few more minutes.
Then, shape the dough into a thick log and cut in half. Cut each half into 4 even part for a total of 8 logs. Now, shape each piece into a nice round ball of dough.
Cover again with plastic wrap and a tea towel and set aside for another 20 minutes to double in size once more.
Step 5- Shape the doughnut
Use a doughnut cutter to cut the center out of each dough ball. If you don’t happen to own one of these, a small glass, baby food jar, or anything else with a small, cylindrical shape to it will work.
Once you’ve shaped all your doughnuts, cover them with the tea towel once more and let them rise another 10 minutes.
Step 6- let’s get cooking
Heat a pan full of oil over medium heat and fry the doughnuts for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown on each side. When they’re the perfect golden color you prefer, pull them out with a chopstick, the handle of a wooden spoon, or, if you must kitchen tongs. Just make sure not to pinch your fresh doughnut too hard with them or they might tear.
Lay them out on a paper towel to drain the excess oil off.
Step 7- Dust in sugar
Now, all that’s left to do is roll each side of each delectable doughnut in sugar and taste the slice of Heaven you just cooked up in your kitchen.
This recipe is inspired by El N Recipe.
Get the step-by-step tutorial in the video below!
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By Jessica Adler
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Jessica Adler is a contributor at SBLY Media.
