Homemade Doughnuts
I remember how fun it was to watch my parents making doughnuts. The making of the dough, then cutting the dough into circles. The dough circles would then rise on the counter, under linen towels until puffed up. Gently they would be fried, then set on paper towels to drain. Once cooled, the filling would be piped into them through a pastry bag filled with some wonderful jelly or jam.
I also remember learning to fill them. Squeezing the jelly from the pastry bag into the doughnut was tricky. You wanted to make sure there was enough filling, but not so much that they split open. After a couple of tries, I realized you could figure it out by the weight of the filled doughnut in your hand.
My parents were both excellent bakers. My father had even been a professional baker at one time. I thought it was normal to have parents who made doughnuts. It was the norm in my family.
My folks only made them for special occasions. Unless my Mom got a taste for homemade jelly doughnuts. Then, my dad would make them for her. She loved jelly doughnuts. More than pretty much anyone else I knew.
You can fill them with any number of jellies, jams and cream fillings. You can also use a doughnut cutter to create a round doughnut and a doughnut hole. These can be glazed or rolled in powdered sugar, instead of being filled.
Light and Fluffy Classic Doughnuts
1 ¼ c. milk
2 ¼ teaspoons (one package) active dry yeast
2 eggs
½ c. butter, melted and cooled (1 stick)
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough
2 quarts oil, for frying, plus more for the bowl.
Heat the milk until it is warm but not hot, about 90 degrees. In a large bowl, combine it with the yeast. Stir lightly, and let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes. Using an electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, beat the eggs, butter, sugar and salt into the yeast mixture. Add half of the flour (2 cups plus 2 tablespoons), and mix until combined, then mix in the rest of the flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Add more flour, about 2 tablespoons at a time, if the dough is too wet. If you’re using an electric mixer, the dough will probably become too thick to beat; when it does, transfer it to a floured surface, and gently knead it until smooth. Grease a large bowl with a little oil. Transfer the dough to the bowl, and cover. Let rise at room temperature until it doubles in size, about 1 hour. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface, and roll it to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut out the doughnuts with a doughnut cutter, concentric cookie cutters or a drinking glass and a shot glass (the larger one should be about 3 inches in diameter), flouring the cutters as you go. Reserve the doughnut holes. If you’re making filled doughnuts, don’t cut out the middle. Knead any scraps together, being careful not to overwork, and let rest for a few minutes before repeating the process. Put the doughnuts on two floured baking sheets so that there is plenty of room between each one. Cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm place until they are slightly puffed up and delicate, about 45 minutes. If your kitchen isn’t warm, heat the oven to 200 at the beginning of this step, then turn off the heat, put the baking sheets in the oven and leave the door ajar. About 15 minutes before the doughnuts are done rising, put the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, and heat it to 375. Meanwhile, line cooling racks, baking sheets or plates with paper towels.
Carefully add the doughnuts to the oil, a few at a time. If they’re too delicate to pick up with your fingers (they may be this way only if you rose them in the oven), use a metal spatula to pick them up and slide them into the oil. It’s O.K. if they deflate a bit; they’ll puff back up as they fry. When the bottoms are deep golden, after 45 seconds to a minute, use a slotted spoon to flip; cook until they’re deep golden all over. Doughnut holes cook faster. Transfer the doughnuts to the prepared plates or racks, and repeat with the rest of the dough, adjusting the heat as needed to keep the oil at 375. Glaze or fill as follows, and serve as soon as possible.
To fill doughnuts use a pastry bag fitted with a long tube tip for filling. I have these handy plastic syringes which are easy to use. Insert tube tip into doughnut and squeeze gently until doughnut is filled with jam. Be careful not to overfill or doughnut will split. Once filled doughnuts are topped with a powdered sugar glaze or rolled in powdered sugar.
Apricot Filling
12 oz. dried apricots, chopped up
2 c. water
2 c. sugar, or to taste
Combine apricots with water in saucepan and simmer, covered until apricots are really tender. This will take at least an hour- add more water, if needed. Add sugar to taste and cook until thickened. Puree mixture in a blender.
Strawberry Filling
1 lb. strawberries
1½ c. sugar
½ c. water
3 T. cornstarch
Crush berries and place in saucepan with the sugar. Cook until berries are tender, about 10 minutes. Combine water with cornstarch and add to strawberries. Cook until thickened and bubbly. Cool. , Puree. Makes 2 cups.
Classic Glaze
2 c. powdered sugar
¼ c. milk
1 t. vanilla
Whisk together sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth. When the doughnuts are cool enough to handle, dip into the glaze. Put on racks to let the glaze harden.
Cooking Camp – Biscuit Doughnuts
I always feel like I am cheating when I make these doughnuts. As most people know, I am all about making stuff from scratch. I also live in the real world and I know people just don’t always have time to make everything from scratch.
These doughnuts are made from refrigerator biscuits. Yes, those little blue tubes of dough in the dairy counter at the store.
We made these in cooking camp yesterday. The kids loved making them. Some were left whole, others had holes poked in them, so we had doughnuts and doughnut holes.
Here is how to make them.
I heated up oil in a mini deep fryer. You want to heat the oil to 350-360 degrees. If you don’t have a fryer with a built in thermometer, you can heat up oil in a deep pan and toss in a kernel or two of popcorn as the oil is heating up. Popcorn pops at 350 degrees so when it pops you will know the oil is hot enough. I fried the biscuits, 6-7 at a time, for a minute or so per side, or until they were golden brown. Then I drained them on paper towels.
The kids had three options for finishing the doughnuts. We mixed a couple of cups of powdered sugar with some water and vanilla to make the glaze. We also had a bag of powdered sugar and a bag with cinnamon sugar. They could either dip the warm doughnuts in the glaze or roll them in the sugars. They were a big hit.
If you don’t have biscuits laying around- I normally don’t have them- you can make biscuits from scratch and do the same thing. Great when you have unexpected guests- or just a taste for a warm doughnut.
Note: Additional options. We could have melted chocolate chips with a little milk and made a chocolate glaze. I have made these before where I use a small cake decorating tip to insert jelly. Sprinkles can be used on the glazed doughnuts, if you like.
Homemade Doughnuts
I remember how fun it was to watch my parents making doughnuts. The making of the dough, then cutting the dough into circles. The dough circles would then rise on the counter, under linen towels until puffed up. Gently they would be fried, then set on paper towels to drain. Once cooled, the filling would be piped into them through a pastry bag filled with some wonderful jelly or jam.
I also remember learning to fill them. Squeezing the jelly from the pastry bag into the doughnut was tricky. You wanted to make sure there was enough filling, but not so much that they split open. After a couple of tries, I realized you could figure it out by the weight of the filled doughnut in your hand.
My parents were both excellent bakers. My father had even been a professional baker at one time. I thought it was normal to have parents who made doughnuts. It was the norm in my family.
My folks only made them for special occasions. Unless my Mom got a taste for homemade jelly doughnuts. Then, my dad would make them for her. She loved jelly doughnuts. More than pretty much anyone else I knew.
You can fill them with any number of jellies, jams and cream fillings. You can also use a doughnut cutter to create a round doughnut and a doughnut hole. These can be glazed or rolled in powdered sugar, instead of being filled.
Light and Fluffy Classic Doughnuts
1 ¼ c. milk
2 ¼ teaspoons (one package) active dry yeast
2 eggs
½ c. butter, melted and cooled (1 stick)
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough
2 quarts oil, for frying, plus more for the bowl.
Heat the milk until it is warm but not hot, about 90 degrees. In a large bowl, combine it with the yeast. Stir lightly, and let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes. Using an electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, beat the eggs, butter, sugar and salt into the yeast mixture. Add half of the flour (2 cups plus 2 tablespoons), and mix until combined, then mix in the rest of the flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Add more flour, about 2 tablespoons at a time, if the dough is too wet. If you’re using an electric mixer, the dough will probably become too thick to beat; when it does, transfer it to a floured surface, and gently knead it until smooth. Grease a large bowl with a little oil. Transfer the dough to the bowl, and cover. Let rise at room temperature until it doubles in size, about 1 hour. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface, and roll it to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut out the doughnuts with a doughnut cutter, concentric cookie cutters or a drinking glass and a shot glass (the larger one should be about 3 inches in diameter), flouring the cutters as you go. Reserve the doughnut holes. If you’re making filled doughnuts, don’t cut out the middle. Knead any scraps together, being careful not to overwork, and let rest for a few minutes before repeating the process. Put the doughnuts on two floured baking sheets so that there is plenty of room between each one. Cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm place until they are slightly puffed up and delicate, about 45 minutes. If your kitchen isn’t warm, heat the oven to 200 at the beginning of this step, then turn off the heat, put the baking sheets in the oven and leave the door ajar. About 15 minutes before the doughnuts are done rising, put the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, and heat it to 375. Meanwhile, line cooling racks, baking sheets or plates with paper towels.
Carefully add the doughnuts to the oil, a few at a time. If they’re too delicate to pick up with your fingers (they may be this way only if you rose them in the oven), use a metal spatula to pick them up and slide them into the oil. It’s O.K. if they deflate a bit; they’ll puff back up as they fry. When the bottoms are deep golden, after 45 seconds to a minute, use a slotted spoon to flip; cook until they’re deep golden all over. Doughnut holes cook faster. Transfer the doughnuts to the prepared plates or racks, and repeat with the rest of the dough, adjusting the heat as needed to keep the oil at 375. Glaze or fill as follows, and serve as soon as possible.
To fill doughnuts use a pastry bag fitted with a long tube tip for filling. I have these handy plastic syringes which are easy to use. Insert tube tip into doughnut and squeeze gently until doughnut is filled with jam. Be careful not to overfill or doughnut will split. Once filled doughnuts are topped with a powdered sugar glaze or rolled in powdered sugar.
Apricot Filling
12 oz. dried apricots, chopped up
2 c. water
2 c. sugar, or to taste
Combine apricots with water in saucepan and simmer, covered until apricots are really tender. This will take at least an hour- add more water, if needed. Add sugar to taste and cook until thickened. Puree mixture in a blender.
Strawberry Filling
1 lb. strawberries
1½ c. sugar
½ c. water
3 T. cornstarch
Crush berries and place in saucepan with the sugar. Cook until berries are tender, about 10 minutes. Combine water with cornstarch and add to strawberries. Cook until thickened and bubbly. Cool. , Puree. Makes 2 cups.
Classic Glaze
2 c. powdered sugar
¼ c. milk
1 t. vanilla
Whisk together sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth. When the doughnuts are cool enough to handle, dip into the glaze. Put on racks to let the glaze harden.
Tiramisu Doughnuts
These doughnuts are inspired by the flavors of tiramisu, a traditional Italian dessert. They are a filled doughnut, like jelly doughnuts. I used the filling that I would normally use for making tiramisu. It is an egg custard, combined with mascarpone cheese and whipped cream. After the doughnuts are filled, they are topped with a mocha ganache. The end result is sublime.
I started making these doughnuts a number of years ago. It was Fat Tuesday and I was making jelly doughnuts, a family tradition. Not everybody likes jelly doughnuts and I wanted to switch things up. As a kid, I loved the cream filled doughnuts my folks would make. I decided to use the filling recipe I used for tiramisu. To finish it off, a little coffee is added to the ganache to give it the flavors of classic tiramisu.
You do need to store finished doughnuts in the fridge, assuming any are leftover.
I won’t lie, these doughnuts are a bit of work, but worth the effort. Here is the recipe.
Tiramisu Doughnuts
Filling:
5 egg yolks
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. Marsala wine (not cooking wine)
2 c. whipping cream
4 T. sugar
1 lb. mascarpone cheese
Make zabaglione (egg custard). In double boiler, over simmering water, beat together egg yolks and sugar until lemon colored. Stir in Marsala and continue cooking, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and will mound on a spoon. This will take about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool down. You can place in bowl in fridge 30 minutes or so. Beat together whipping cream and sugar until stiff peaks form. Beat in mascarpone and chilled zabaglione. Chill 1 hour.
Dough:
4 c. flour
2 T. sugar
1 t. salt
½ c. butter
1 packet yeast
¼ c. warm water
2 t. sugar
1 c. evaporated milk
2 eggs, beaten
Combine flour with sugar and salt. Cut in butter and set aside. Dissolve yeast in warm water and 2 t. sugar and set aside. Combine milk with eggs. Stir in yeast mixture and add to flour mixture stirring well. On lightly floured surface knead dough until dough is smooth, about 5 minutes. Dough will be very sticky. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1½ hours. Remove dough from bowl and punch down. Using about a third of the dough at a time roll dough out to about an ½ -inch thickness and cut out with a 2½ -inch biscuit cutter. Re-roll scraps and cut out. You should get about 2 dozen. Place dough circles on a floured surface and cover with a towel until doubled, about an hour. Heat oil in a deep pan until it reaches 375 degrees. Cook doughnuts a few at a time until golden on both sides, about 1 minute per side. Drain on paper towels and cool before filling.
Note: You can also refrigerate the dough after kneading it if you would prefer. Just place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight. Roll and cut dough into doughnuts when cold from the fridge. Allow to rise, covered, until doubled in bulk, about 2-3 hours. Fry as directed.
To fill doughnuts use a pastry bag fitted with a long tube tip for filling. I have these handy plastic syringes which are easy to use. Insert tube tip into doughnut and squeeze gently until doughnut is filled with cream (or jelly). Be careful not to overfill or doughnut will split. Once filled doughnuts can be frosted or topped with a sugar glaze. For the Tiramisu Doughnuts I made a mocha ganache.
Mocha Ganache
2 c. chocolate chips
1 c. whipping cream
1 T. instant coffee powder
Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe dish and heat in microwave for 2 minutes. Stir mixture until smooth and return to microwave if chocolate is not fully melted. Heat in microwave for 30 seconds more at a time, stirring after each time until mixture is smooth. For extra smooth mixture strain before using. Dip the top of the filled doughnuts in ganache.
Tiramisu Doughnuts
Tiramisu Doughnut
These doughnuts are inspired by the flavors of tiramisu, a traditional Italian dessert. They are a filled doughnut, like jelly doughnuts. I used the filling that I would normally use for making tiramisu. It is an egg custard, combined with mascarpone cheese and whipped cream. After the doughnuts are filled, they are topped with a mocha ganache. The end result is sublime.
I started making these doughnuts a few years ago. It was Fat Tuesday and I was making jelly doughnuts, a family tradition. Not everybody likes jelly doughnuts and I wanted to switch things up. As a kid, I loved the cream filled doughnuts my folks would make. I decided to use the filling recipe I used for tiramisu. To finish it off, a little coffee is added to the ganache to give it the flavors of classic tiramisu.
You do need to store finished doughnuts in the fridge, assuming any are leftover.
I won’t lie, these doughnuts are a bit of work, but worth the effort. Here is the recipe.
Tiramisu Doughnuts
Filling:
5 egg yolks
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. Marsala wine (not cooking wine)
2 c. whipping cream
4 T. sugar
1 lb. mascarpone cheese
Make zabaglione (egg custard). In double boiler, over simmering water, beat together egg yolks and sugar until lemon colored. Stir in Marsala and continue cooking, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and will mound on a spoon. This will take about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool down. You can place in bowl in fridge 30 minutes or so. Beat together whipping cream and sugar until stiff peaks form. Beat in mascarpone and chilled zabaglione. Chill 1 hour.
Dough:
4 c. flour
2 T. sugar
1 t. salt
½ c. butter
1 packet yeast
¼ c. warm water
2 t. sugar
1 c. evaporated milk
2 eggs, beaten
Combine flour with sugar and salt. Cut in butter and set aside. Dissolve yeast in warm water and 2 t. sugar and set aside. Combine milk with eggs. Stir in yeast mixture and add to flour mixture stirring well. On lightly floured surface knead dough until dough is smooth, about 5 minutes. Dough will be very sticky. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1½ hours. Remove dough from bowl and punch down. Using about a third of the dough at a time roll dough out to about an ½ -inch thickness and cut out with a 2½ -inch biscuit cutter. Re-roll scraps and cut out. You should get about 2 dozen. Place dough circles on a floured surface and cover with a towel until doubled, about an hour. Heat oil in a deep pan until it reaches 375 degrees. Cook doughnuts a few at a time until golden on both sides, about 1 minute per side. Drain on paper towels and cool before filling.
Note: You can also refrigerate the dough after kneading it if you would prefer. Just place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight. Roll and cut dough into doughnuts when cold from the fridge. Allow to rise, covered, until doubled in bulk, about 2-3 hours. Fry as directed.
To fill doughnuts use a pastry bag fitted with a long tube tip for filling. I have these handy plastic syringes which are easy to use. Insert tube tip into doughnut and squeeze gently until doughnut is filled with cream (or jelly). Be careful not to overfill or doughnut will split. Once filled doughnuts can be frosted or topped with a sugar glaze. For the Tiramisu Doughnuts I made a mocha ganache.
Mocha Ganache
2 c. chocolate chips
1 c. whipping cream
1 T. instant coffee powder
Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe dish and heat in microwave for 2 minutes. Stir mixture until smooth and return to microwave if chocolate is not fully melted. Heat in microwave for 30 seconds more at a time, stirring after each time until mixture is smooth. For extra smooth mixture strain before using. Dip the top of the filled doughnuts in ganache.
Chocolate Buttermilk Doughnuts
Chocolate Buttermilk Doughnuts
These are a cake type doughnut- using baking powder as leavening instead of yeast. These doughnuts have a soft texture inside with a slight crispiness to the outside. We made them yesterday using a doughnut cutter so we got both rings and doughnut holes. I am happy just serving them with a dusting of powdered sugar. With the help of some creative kids we ended up with chocolate doughnuts glazed, sugared and decorated with sprinkles. So pretty and so tasty. Here is the recipe.
Chocolate Buttermilk Doughnuts
3 1/4 cups flour
1/3 c. cocoa
1 T. baking powder
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. salt
2 beaten eggs
1 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
2/3 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. butter, melted
oil for deep frying- I used coconut oil
assorted topping such as cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar, powdered sugar glaze, sprinkles, chocolate glaze
Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Beat together eggs, sugar and vanilla. Combine the buttermilk with the melted butter. Add half the flour mixture to the egg mixture and stir until just blended. Beat in half of the buttermilk mixture. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Cover and chill dough for at least a couple of hours before using. When ready to make doughnuts heat oil in a pan until it reaches about 375 degrees. While oil is heating, on floured surface, roll dough 1/2 -inch thick and cut out with a doughnut cutter. Fry doughnuts about 1 minute per side. Drain on paper towels. If rolling in sugar do so while they are still warm. They can be frosted and decorated with sprinkles when warm or at room temperature. Makes 20-25 doughnuts.
Decorating the doughnuts
Dipped in glaze and rolled in sprinkles
Ricotta-Cinnamon Fritters
Ricotta-Cinnamon Fritters
Still recovering from a wonderful day of making doughnuts with old and new friends. As promised I will be posting recipes for all the doughnuts we made on Fat Tuesday. I’ll start with the Ricotta Cinnamon Fritters. Light and not too sweet. They are also easy to make.
Ricotta-Cinnamon Fritters
3/4 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 T. cinnamon
1 c. ricotta cheese
2 eggs, beaten
3 T. sugar
2 t. vanilla
Powdered sugar for dusting
oil for deep frying
Heat oil to 370 degrees in heavy saucepan. While oil is heating combine dry ingredients with cinnamon and set aside. Beat together cheese, eggs, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Stir in dry ingredients. Working in batches spoon batter by level tablespoonfuls into hot oil, turning occasionally until golden brown, about 3 minutes in all. Transfer with slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Dust with cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar and serve. Makes about 3 dozen.
