NOW THAT I have conquered bagels, I decided it was time to try making another delicious breakfast treat: doughnuts.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go as expected, but I’ll get to that.
To begin this tasty culinary exercise, I searched online for “best homemade doughnut recipe” and quickly came across a hit for “Homemade Glazed Doughnuts” by The Pioneer Woman, originally posted Feb. 8, 2010, at tinyurl.com/PDN-Doughnuts.
The recipe includes far more steps than I anticipated, but after reading through it, it seemed fairly simple.
I began making my doughnuts at about 6 a.m. before work one day. And after getting through the first stage, I take issue with the recipe’s claim that it requires just 25 minutes of prep time.
It took a little longer than an hour for me to get through all of the Stage 1 steps.
Of course, that includes two 10-minute rest periods for the dough. I used those rest periods to clean up the mess I had made so far and to rinse the used dishes.
Having recently made bagels (see my May column online at tinyurl.com/PDN-My-Bagels), I can assure you that making dough for doughnuts is much easier and more fun.
My used but still usable stand mixer was able to handle the entire process of mixing the wet ingredients with the dry. Also, watching the dough hook go round and round while slowly adding the dry ingredients became quiet hypnotic. It was almost like meditating.
After completing Stage 1, I put the dough in the fridge and left for work.
Mistakes were made
Halfway through the day, I realized I’d made an error.
The recipe calls for one and one-quarter stick butter. My half-asleep, non-functioning brain interpreted that to mean “one stick and one-quarter cup of butter.”
Oops. But the final product doesn’t taste like butter so all’s well that ends well, right?
Except, that it didn’t all go well.
When I got home that evening, I rolled out that dough and went to cut it when I realized that I didn’t have the right size cutters. I had a 3-inch cutter, but not a 1½-inch cutter.
Making the best of it, I used the 3-inch cutter for the overall doughnut shape and then poked a hole in the center of each round and stretched it out.
After allowing the dough to rest for an hour and 15 minutes, as recommended, I realized it hadn’t risen at all. I think my house is too cold or something to allow dough to rise properly.
This wasn’t an issue when I made bagels so I didn’t know what to do.
Misadventures in oil
I decided to move forward and to heat the vegetable shortening until it had melted into oil.
I recently bought a liquid digital thermometer to assist with monitoring the oil temperature.
On its first time out, the thermometer slipped through my fingers, directly into the now nearly 400-degree oil which I was trying to cool back down to 375 degrees.
Rest in peace, digital thermometer, I hardly knew ye.
With the oil now compromised and the thermometer warped and unusable, I turned to the internet for advice and discovered the doughnuts could be baked.
At 350 degrees, I baked the doughnuts for five minutes, rotated the tray and baked another five minutes.
As I prepared to make the glaze, I discovered one more sleep-deprived error I had made that morning: I used kosher salt in the dough instead of regular salt.
I’m not sure what affect that might have had on the dough, but I’m sure it didn’t help.
The final result of baking the underproven dough turned out to be more like glazed shortbread-ish cookies.
They taste fine but they are definitely not doughnuts.
Lessons learned
I’ve always believed that nothing is a failure unless nothing was learned from the experience.
Thinking back, I learned the following things:
1. Don’t mix ingredients before my brain is fully functioning.
2. Find a warmer location to allow dough to properly rise.
3. Keep moving forward.
4. Make the best of an unexpected situation.
Homemade Glazed Doughnuts
By The Pioneer Woman
Doughnut ingredients:
1 1/8 cup whole milk, warm
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons (one package) instant or active dry yeast
2 whole large eggs, beaten
1 1/4 stickunsalted butter, melted
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
All-vegetable shortening
Glaze
3 cups powdered sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup cold water or milk
To make the dough:
Make sure milk is nice and warm, but not overly hot.
Add sugar to milk. Stir to dissolve.
Add yeast into a small bowl.
Pour milk/sugar mixture over yeast. Stir gently, then let sit for 10 minutes.
Melt butter in separate bowl until butter is almost melted. Stir to finish melting so butter won’t be overly hot.
Add beaten eggs to melted butter, stirring constantly to make sure the butter’s not too hot for the eggs.
Add the egg/butter mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook.
With the mixer on 3 or medium-low speed, pour in the yeast mixture.
Allow the dough hook to stir this mixture for a couple of minutes, making sure it’s thoroughly combined.
With the mixer still going, add helpings of the flour mixture in 1/4 to 1/2 cup increments until all the flour is gone.
Stop the mixer, scrape the bowl, then turn the mixer on the same speed for five whole minutes.
After five minutes, stop the mixer and scrape the bottom of the bowl.
Turn on the mixer for 30 seconds.
Turn off the mixer and allow the dough to sit in the bowl undisturbed for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Toss the dough to coat, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place straight in the fridge.
Refrigerate dough for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
To make the doughnuts:
Remove bowl from fridge and turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface.
Roll out to 1/4 to 1/3-inch thickness.
Using a 3-inch cutter, cut as many rounds as you can, then roll out remaining dough and cut as much as you can, etc.
Cut holes out of each round using a 1½-inch cutter.
Place both doughnuts and holes on a floured baking sheet.
Cover with large tea towel and place in a warm place in your kitchen; my kitchen is very drafty, so I have to briefly warm the griddle, then turn it off and set the sheets on top to keep warm.
Allow doughnuts to rise undisturbed for at least 1 hour; 1 hour 15 minutes if necessary. Doughuts should be visibly puffier and appear to be airy.
To fry the dougnuts:
Heat plenty of vegetable shortening in a large pot until the temperature reaches 375 to 380 degrees — do not let it get hotter than 380 degrees; 375 is ideal. Keep the thermometer in the pan to continually monitor.
One to two at a time, gently grab doughnuts and ease them into the hot oil. Allow them to cook 1 minute on each side; they will brown very quickly.
Remove doughnuts from the oil with a slotted spoon, allowing all oil to drip off.
Place doughnut immediately on several layers of paper towels. Count to five, then flip it over onto a clean part of the paper towels. Count to five, then flip it over again; the purpose, obviously, is to drain as much grease as possible before it soaks into the doughnut.
Repeat with remaining doughnuts and holes. The holes will cook more quickly than the doughnuts; about 30 seconds per side.
Allow doughnuts to slightly cool.
To glaze:
Mix all glaze ingredients in a bowl until completely smooth.
One by one, dip doughnuts into the glaze until halfway submerged. (Note: completely submerge doughnut holes, then remove with slotted spoon.)
Remove from glaze, then turn right side up on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet (to catch dripping glaze.)
Serve warm if possible, or room temperature.
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Emily Hanson is a copy editor/paginator for the Peninsula Daily News. She is also a beginning baker and clumsy cook. She can be reached at 360-452-2345 ext. 560-50 or ehanson@peninsula dailynews.com.
