Baked Doughnuts

Today is April Fool's Day and it seems like everyone has been getting in on the fun.  Even nature played a wonderful prank on us this morning with snow.  What a strange sight it was to see my day lilies covered in snow.  As my husband was leaving for work, my daughter hugged him goodbye, looked down and said, "Your shoe's untied."  He looked down as she giggled, "April Fool's!"  It's such a fun day.  Last year, I had my family thinking I was pregnant again.  That was a nasty trick!  Scroll to the bottom of this post to see cupcakes I made to look like spaghetti and meatballs.  Those were so much fun to make and really made you look twice before you bit into them! 

So, today I baked doughnuts, which happens to be my 300th recipe post.  300 recipes in a little over a year -- no fooling!  This was the perfect way to celebrate.  I love how these doughnuts are not fried.  They are so light and fluffy and have become my go-to doughnut recipe.  I found them over at Brown Eyed Baker, where Sugar Crafter guest posted the recipe.  Salad for lunch, salmon for dinner and doughnuts for dessert!

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1/4 c sugar 
• 1 c milk, heated to 115 degrees
• 1 tbsp active dry yeast 
• 1 tsp salt 
• 2 tsp vanilla 
• 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 c all-purpose flour, divided 
• 1 stick butter, cut in 1-inch cubes 

Directions:

In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment,  Beat the egg and sugar on medium speed for 1 minute.  Add the milk, yeast, salt and vanilla.

Turn the speed down to low and gradually add 2 cups of the flour.

Attach the dough hook to your mixer.  Add in the butter, one piece at a time, until smooth. 

Using the remaining flour, add just enough until the dough sticks to the hook and pulls away from the sides of the bowl (1 cup white flour plus 1/2 cup whole wheat flour did the trick for me).  The dough should be soft and moist but not sticky.

Knead the dough on a lightly-floured surface.  Cover and allow to rise until double in size, about 1 hour.

Roll out the dough to 1/2-inch thickness.  Cut out 3-inch circles with 1-inch holes in the middle (I used a drinking glass and a double shot glass).  Don't forget to save the holes and bake the, too!  Place them on greased baking sheets 1 inch apart.

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover the doughnuts set them on top of the oven while it is preheating (I was doing laundry, so the laundry room was the perfect warm room) until the dough doubles, about 25 minutes. 

Bake in the oven for 5 to 8 minutes, until light golden in color.

Top as desired.  You could dip the hot doughnuts in the melted butter and then coat with a cinnamon-sugar mixture.  I coated some of mine in melted chocolate for my daughter.  My husband requested jelly-filled, so I made a few without the cut-out, 1-inch circle, filled it with strawberry jelly and coated it with confectioners' sugar.  If you coat with confectioners' sugar, be sure to dip the hot doughnuts in melted butter first.  For me, I drizzled melted white and milk chocolate over them.  YUM!

Serve immediately; doughnuts are best eaten the same day they are made.

Enjoy!

Madelyn Rating:

"Muy bien!"