From Scratch to Scrumptious

Happy National Donut Day!

Did you know that the first Friday of June is National Donut Day in the United States? (Donut? Doughnut? Let’s not get into that.) I don’t celebrate many “National This or That” Days, but for this one, I’ll celebrate!

My kids are pretty excited that National Donut Day falls on the last day of school this year. Can you imagine a better start to the summer? Our plan is donuts for dessert to celebrate the last day of school, and leftover donuts for breakfast on the first official day of summer!

If frying donuts scares you, keep reading for a chance to learn enough to get really comfortable. You may just find that it’s not that big of a deal.

If you still feel like frying donuts is too much for you right now, you can celebrate National Donut Day with baked donuts or donut muffins. Donut muffins are simply baked donuts made in a muffin pan instead of a donut pan. Easy-peasy, delicious as donuts!

Are you the more adventurous type?! Are you ready to fry some donuts?! Then let’s get going!

Yeast: A classic glazed donut is yeast-raised, resulting in a light and fluffy donut.

Water: Use water between 95-115°F to activate the yeast. Water too hot can kill your yeast. Use a candy thermometer to check the temperature of your water.

Milk: Milk makes donuts richer and softer than making with water alone. Feel free to use whole, 2% or fat-free.

Shortening: Plain crisco works fine.

Sugar: granulated sugar. The donut itself is mildly sweet so that it doesn’t compete with the sweetness of the glaze.

Egg

Salt

Nutmeg: Ground nutmeg is the classic donut flavor.

Flour: all-purpose flour. To measure properly: gently spoon flour into measuring cups and level off the top. Alternatively, measure by weight. Add enough flour to produce a sticky, soft dough.

Oil for frying: I prefer to use vegetable oil. It’s neutral (doesn’t have it’s own flavor), frugal, and it’s sold in large quantities for occasions like National Donut Day. Most importantly, it has a high smoking point. You can heat it to 400-450°F without burning it.

Canola oil, corn oil or peanut oil can also be used with good results.

I do NOT recommend using olive oil. It has a lower smoking point (375°F), which is the temperature that you’ll be frying. Plus, your donuts would start tasting like olive oil, not ideal.

Glaze: A must for glazed donuts! The glaze is a powdered sugar icing made with milk. I like to add vanilla to boost the flavor.

The most important piece of equipment you need for for frying yeast-raised donuts is a candy thermometer. Also called a deep-fry thermometer. It’s relatively inexpensive (about $10) and completely necessary.

You’ll use this first when you proof the yeast to check the water temperature. You’ll also need this to keep the oil at the right temperature.

If the oil is too cool, the donuts will soak up too much oil. Gross. If the oil is too hot, the outside will burn before the inside can cook. Donuts that are burnt and underdone? Also gross.

The candy thermometer is your best friend. He’ll help you get perfect donuts.

I also recommend using a pizza cutter for cutting out the donuts. It goes a little bit quicker than struggling with a knife. Of course, a knife works fine if you don’t have a pizza cutter.

Next, you’ll want a saucepan to fry in. I would love to have a deep-fryer, but my husband is afraid I would use it all the time. He’s probably right. We don’t need to get into that.

The saucepan I use holds 3 quarts and is 4″ deep. Depth is important. You need to be able to fit enough oil so that the donuts float on top without touching the bottom of the pot. Donuts that sit on the bottom will scorch.

First things first, proof the yeast. You’ll want to use water between 95-115°F. Add the yeast to the water, and let it sit for 5 minutes until it’s bubbly. Next, add the milk, shortening, sugar, egg, salt, nutmeg and about half of the flour. You can either use an electric mixer or do this step by hand.

Now add more flour until a soft dough forms. Your dough will be sticky.

If you’re using an electric mixer, knead in more flour using a dough hook until a soft dough forms. Knead for about 6-8 minutes until the dough is soft and smooth. It will still be a bit sticky.

If you’re kneading by hand, you can keep the dough in the bowl you’re already using to minimize your mess. Add flour and knead until the dough becomes soft and smooth.

Let the dough rise, covered, in a greased bowl for about an hour. If your bowl has a cover, this works well. If not, use a slightly damp tea towel to cover the dough. Because the tea towel is moist, it keeps the dough from drying out.

I prefer to make donuts in the shape of a Long John. Why is that? Because it’s easy! Roll out once, cut once. No worrying about tough donuts from rolling out dough a second time. No frying donut holes.

I like things simple. A rectangle donut tastes as delicious as a round one, but is so much easier to make!

To shape them: divide the dough in half. Roll out to a small rectangle about 12″x6″. Cut into donuts 3″x2″.

Honestly, you could cut them into any size that makes you happy. I would rather eat 2 small donuts than 1 big donut. Plus, my kids love asking for seconds. Easier to say yes if they haven’t just eaten enough donut to feed a small army.

I find that the best way to cut donuts is using a pizza cutter. If it gets sticky, carefully rub some flour onto the sticky edge.

Place the cut donuts on a greased baking sheet to rise. Let the donuts raise until they double in size, about 30 minutes.

Don’t get distracted and forget about the donuts at this point! If the donuts rise too long, the air pockets in the dough will be too large and fragile and may burst as they fry.

Will they still be delicious? Yes, absolutely. But the texture won’t be the fluffy cloud you wanted.

The perfect frying temperature for donuts is technically 360°F, but shooting for a temperature between 350-375°F will work just fine.

Temperatures too low result in overly oily donuts. Temperatures too high result in donuts that are burnt on the outside and raw in the middle.

Keep your eye on the temperature constantly!

To start, heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat until you near 375°F.

To maintain the proper temperature, you’ll have to adjust the heat regularly. Adding donuts lowers the temperature drastically, so wait until it’s near 375°F before you add them.

Bump up the heat while donuts fry if the temperature starts dropping. When it gets close to 375, lower the heat.

Oh, how I envy people with a deep-fryer! If you have one, please comment below to tell me how I can convince my husband that we need a deep-fryer!

The trick for getting a perfect layer of glaze on your donuts is all about the temperature! Glaze should be added to the donuts while they’re still “hot”. Glazing cold donuts results in the glaze being soaked into the donut instead of staying on top.

If you want that perfectly-set crinkly glaze on top of your donuts, let them sit until just barely cool enough to handle, about 3-4 minutes. They should still be quite warm but cool enough to comfortably handle.

For the perfect cooling time. Fry the first batch of donuts and set aside to cool. After frying a second batch of donuts, the first batch is the perfect temperature for dipping.

After dipping, place them on a cooling rack without paper towels to let excess glaze drip off the sides.

If you are adding sprinkles, add them immediately after dipping each donut. The glaze hardens rather quickly, and sprinkles won’t stick.

Have you ever wondered why donut shops use cardboard boxes to package their donuts? It’s because it seals very poorly. A tight seal ruins glazed or frosted donuts!

To avoid gooey weepy glaze (is there anything worse?), keep your donuts barely covered. Layer them on top of paper towels in an open container with a dry tea towel draped over the top. The towel will keep them protected without making them gooey. The paper towels on the bottom will soak up excess oil.

Here’s the science: as any baked good sits, the moisture leaks out of the most moist part. In a well-sealed container, the moisture will settle into the driest part. In other words, the donut dries out and the glaze gets gooey.

In a poorly sealed container, the moisture leaks out of the donuts and dissipates into the air. The glaze is saved!

When the donuts dry out (if they make it that long), dip them in milk or coffee. This is my favorite way to eat leftover donuts!

My husband tells a story almost once a year about when his dad made bread pudding from stale donuts. He’s been a hero ever since.

Don’t throw that oil out! Your oil can be saved and used for frying again!

Strain any particles out before saving. To get even the smallest particles (loose, floating flour), place a coffee filter or paper towel in a funnel. Once your oil has cooled completely, pour it through the prepared funnel into a glass jar.

Be sure to label the jar along with the date. Store it in the fridge until ready to fry again.

While you can use the oil to fry anything, you may want to be a bit choosy. The oil will have a slight sweet nutmeg flavor from the donuts. Great for a second batch of donuts, maybe not so great for fried chicken.

Before frying, inspect your oil for any strange odors. It may become cloudy; that’s normal. It should clear up when reheated.