Do You? or Do-U-Not? Do... DOUGHNUTS!!

We all know that they are VERY fattening! They are not good for you, pure and simple. But do you or do you not just crave a doughnut now and then? Do you or do you not eat them from time to time?

Every so often I sure do crave a GOOD doughnut. And a few weeks ago this craving would not go away. I thought about them day and night for two days. I did not go out to buy any. I considered it. I even considered purchasing some at the market. Can you believe that? I don't know that I have ever bought doughnuts from the regular market. Then I started thinking some more.... My mom always loved her grandmother's homemade doughnuts. Why can't I make my own. Especially since I have a deep fryer now!

Yes. The decision was made. I WOULD make doughnuts from scratch. Now for the recipe. I took a look around my cookbooks. Not much to offer in the way of doughnuts. Then our great vast web. There are plenty to be found here. It seems most doughnuts were of the yeast variety. These are good and I shall try it sometime but when it comes to doughnuts, I usually want the cakier type of dense doughnut or old fashioned glazed doughnuts. Not to say that the chewy Crispy Cream yeast doughnuts aren't tasty. They ARE.

Upon perusal I found a few recipes I really wanted to try. But one really stood out. Because I love the old fashioned buttermilk doughnuts and because I happened to have some buttermilk that needed to be used before it went bad, I tried a recipe for Buttermilk Doughnuts that I found on Stephan's site, This Engineer Can Bake. His Recipe is sited as being adapted from Baking Illustrated.

While my doughnuts were not THE most perfect shape in the world, they did come out as very presentable and wonderful tasting. The only problem is that doughnuts are only really really good the day you make them. And one doughnut is really all one should ever eat in a day. So we all ate TWO! Then I gave some to my mom and grandmother. I also froze some as soon as I though it would not melt the plastic bag I put them in. The frozen doughnuts were pretty darn good several days later. I simply heated them in the toaster oven until warm all the way through. This is definitely the way to go if you don't want to eat them all and feel like a heavy ton of bricks.

Note: I do not have a doughnut cutter. But I do have a very sturdy round cookie cutter which I used for the basic shape. For the hole, I used the cap of a water bottle. It worked well enough but the doughnut holes (which I did fry up as well) were not so perfect looking because they sometimes stuck to the cap.

Buttermilk Doughnuts
Adapted from Baking Illustrated

Makes 15 to 17 doughnuts (assuming they all work out)

3 1/2 cups (17 1/2 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1 cup (7 oz) sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

3/4 cup buttermilk
4 tbsp (2 oz) unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs, plus 1 yolk

6 cups peanut/sunflower/safflower oil

Cinnamon Sugar

1 cup sugar (7 oz)
1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon

1. Mix 1 cup (5 oz) flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

2. Mix the buttermilk, butter, and eggs including the yolk in a 2-cup measuring cup. Add the wet ingredients to the dry; beat on medium speed until smooth, about 30 seconds. Decrease the speed to low and add the remaining 2 1/2 cups flour, and mix until just combined, about 30 seconds. Stir the batter once or twice with a wooden spood or rubber spatula to ensure all the liquid is incorporated. (The dough will be moist and tacky, like a cross between cake batter and cookie dough.)

3. Fit a candy thermometer to the side of a cast iron kettle or large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (or simply use a deep-fryer); gradually heat the oil over medium-high heat to 375 degrees. Meanwhile, turn the dough onto a floured work surface. Roll with a heavily floured rolling pin to 1/2-inch thick. Stamp out the dough rings with a heavily floured doughnut cutter (the width of the ring should be about 3/4 inch or less), re-flouring between cuts. Transfer the dough rounds to a baking sheet or large wire rack. Gather the scraps and gently press them into a disk; repeat the rolling and stamping until all the dough is used. (Cut doughnuts can be covered in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 2 hours.)

4. Carefully drop the dough rings into the hot far 4 to 5 at a time, depending on the size of your pot. As soon as they rise to the surface, turn the doughnuts with tongs. Fry the doughnuts until golden brown, about 50 seconds per side (mine took about 3 minutes). Drain on a paper towel-lined baking sheet or wire rack. Repeat frying, returning the fat to temperature between batches and adjusting the heat as necessary to keep the oil from overheating.

5. Mix cinnamon and sugar in a bowl or pie plate. After the doughnuts have cooled for about 1 minute toss with cinnamon sugar to coat. Alternately, you can also use non-melting powdered sugar if it is available in your area.

In record time!

The clock says 5:15 (pm). I haven't thought about dinner yet. It is high time I do so. Sometimes the whole "what should I make tonight" for a daily meal becomes a chore. Unless I am "creating" or "playing" or totally craving something in particular. So I ask Danielle from time to time what she thinks. Last night she said "pizza!!!" Like I had to ask! 95% of the time she would say pizza. I didn't think we needed to call the "pizza man". I didn't want a frozen one (I usually buy a frozen one for tired days or days when I get a chance to break away and have time to myself). Nicholas was still napping. He went down really really late (not totally unusual for my kids- we have a late schedule). Could I.... No... Not enough time for rising... But maybe.... ???

I run up to the computer and using the handy dandy Food Blog Search designed by Ximena of Lobstersquad, I type in "pizza dough". I get a list of Google searched blogs. I quickly give them a once over. Click on a few and speed down to rising time. Too long. Nope not this one, too long. I check out 3 or 4 and then... THERE IT IS! 20 minutes! YES! Andrea's Recipes had it. Do I have all the ingredients? Quick scan. Okay. No wheat flour. So what. I have bread flour. I use Andrea's recipe to the T guys! EXCEPT I just used 2 cups of bread flour (the higher gluten content helps the elasticity of the dough) instead of the wheat flour and all-purpose flour.

I ran downstairs with a post-it of ingredients and began throwing it in the mixer. My helper was all too pleased to help find and hand things off to me. The ball came together quickly and after a few minutes of needing, we let it "take a quick resty in order to grow up to be a big dough." It is 6:00 pm.

Pull out the sauce pot and can of chopped tomatoes. Dump in a little of this and a little of that. Quick quick. My helper begins a sad but faithful job of shredding cheese. I finish up for her. We finish in record time. But Nicholas still sleeps. The longer both he and the dough rest the better. We might as well clean up quickly.

It is 6:45. The oven is now at 450º. The pizza stone is hot. We roll out the dough.

It stretches nicely and easily rolls out into a thin disc. We like thin crust in our house. I slap it onto the paddle, brush a little olive oil and slide it onto the stone. Nicholas still sleeps.

About 5-7 minutes later, I quickly and carefully flip the dough and brush the other side with oil and cook for another 5 minutes.

Pull that baby out and slop on some sauce. Douse with a ton of cheese and throw it back in. Nicholas is still asleep. Better wake him. He doesn't like it but perks up at the smell of food and a fresh sippy cup of milk.

About 10 minutes later I pull out this beauty! Just as I set it on the counter, we hear the door open. Huh??? "Daddy!!!!!!!!!" the kids yell. Home from work surprisingly early. "Oh my favorite and I am hungry."

Well I had no idea I could pull this off so quickly. I have made plenty of pizzas before. But at this speed? No way. It was incredible and quite a rush. I cannot say that it is the best pizza I have ever had or made. But it was a long way off from the worst! It was rather tasty if I do say so myself! The four of us nearly polished off the whole thing. Andrea likens the dough to Trader Joe's prepared dough. I actually found it a little better but not my very favorite of doughs.

But wait! I am NOT done yet!

Emboldened by this brazen and yet pretty successful act, I pick up the extra dough that I purposely set aside. "Time to help mommy make doughnuts, Danielle!"

I had made Giada De Laurentiis's Italian doughnuts on one other occasion and decided to do so again. Why not? I was on a roll. They are so easy too. The dough is already made.

Heat the oil. Plop them in. Giada makes doughnut shapes (circles with holes in the middle) but really it doesn't matter. Danielle wanted hearts. Hearts are always good. I cut out a few holes too. Got lazy about that. Stopped putting holes in the center and some puffed up so cute and fluffy.

After cooling just a bit but still warm, roll them in some cinnamon sugar.

Giada also suggests making a chocolate glaze. I had some heavy whipping cream but not much and no milk chocolate. OH WELL! Dump the cream in a pot add some dark chocolate and a sprinkling of sugar. Good enough I imagine.

It didn't really set up that well though. And it was very rich.

And really just okay looking.

But the doughnuts with just the cinnamon sugar were so sweet and when warm, quite tasty too. They really hit the spot and are fun and easy. I do suggest eating them right away, however. After an hour or more, they seem limp and soggy and not worth it. The next day? Forget it!