The most recent of these obsessions is donuts. I tried to make them from scratch a few weeks ago and was not pleased at all with the results. My husband started talking about a donut shop that used to be here in Utah called Spudnuts. We looked it up on the internet and discovered a recipe and a local place that sells Spudnut mix. That seemed the best way to proceed.
So, this past week my husband stopped by this place and bought a bag (a 25 lb bag!)
Today was the day for my first attempt. I need to write down the recipe and some important notes.
Original Spudnut Donuts (Makes about 30 donut)
2 1/8 Cups warm water (100-100 degrees)
2 Tablespoons dry instant yeast (that's the rapid rise kind)
pinch of sugar
6 cups Original Sputnut Donut Mix
extra donut mix, as needed
Parchment paper or waxed paper cut into 30 - 4inch squares
Olive oil/and or vegetable oil (I used vegetable oil)
Glaze:
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup hot water
2 drops vanilla extract
In a large mixing bowl, add water, yeast and a pinch of sugar. Gently stir. Cover bowl and let stand 5 to 8 minutes or until foamy.
Add Spudnut mix to the yeast mixture. Blend together for 5 minutes. If using an electric mixer, use the dough hooks. Constantly scrape sides of bowl. Add extra Donut Mix if needed (1 T at a time). Blend again for 5 more minutes until smooth and elastic. (Rene's notes: I used my Kitchen Aid with the dough hook. I used a flat wooden spatula to keep pushing the dough off of the sides. I didn't discover that I needed any "added donut mix" until I took the dough out of the bowl. It was a little too sticky so I put it back in the bowl, added 1 tablespoon of mix and blended it.)
Turn dough into a light greased bowl. Cover. Let rise for 30 minutes.
Punch dough down and let rise again for 30 minutes. While dough is rising, cut waxed paper into 30 - 4 inch square.
Punch dough down. Spray counter with cooking oil. Turn dough onto greased counter. Divide dough in half. Roll each half of dough to 1/2" thickness. Let rolled dough rest for 3 minutes. Cut with a floured donut cutter. Press down in the middle of the donut cutter so the center hole makes a clean cut. Remove dough from center cut. Flour donut cutter before each new cut. Gently place donuts on the paper pieces. Place them on large cookie sheet pans. Cover. Let rise until very light and fluffy (45 to 60 minutes. Rene's note: I think it's actually more like 60 to 90 minutes)
While donuts are rising, make glaze. Put powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add hot water and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Set aside.
While donuts are rising, prepare oil. Heat oil to 375 to 380 degrees. (If oil is smoking, it is too hot! Use a cooking thermometer.) Make sure the oil doesnt cool down while you're frying. Check oil temperature often. Carefully add 1-2 donuts and fry about 20 to 25 seconds until golden brown. Use long wooden sticks to turn donuts over and then fry about 20 to 25 seconds on the other side. Use the long wooden sticks to remove the fried donuts and place on paper towels to cool.
Using the long wooden sticks, gently place each fried donut into the glaze. Place on cookie sheet. Serve while fresh and warm.
Rene's notes (and I have a lot):
- I questioned the reason for the individual pieces of waxed paper. But I did it anyway. Thank goodness. Do NOT skip this part. Having the dough on its own piece of paper allows you to pick it up to fry it without disturbing the other donuts. The donut dough is pretty fragile after it has been cut into donuts and risen. The less handling the better. The way that I got the donuts into the oil was to use the flat scoop that came with my Fry Daddy. I took one of the donuts on its little piece of waxed paper, and gently placed it paper side up on the scoop/spatula thingy. I then peeled the wax paper off of the back and slid the donut off of the spatula into the oil.
- I bought the Fry Daddy for this venture. Smartest $20 that I ever spent. It was perfect. After every two or three donuts, I'd stop for just a minute or two to let the oil heat back up.
- Rather than dipping the donuts in the glaze, we painted it on them with a pastry brush. We did this when they were warm. My husband wanted them with more glaze, so we let them cool and brushed another layer on them.
