For some people, June marks the start of summer. For the rest of us, it means National Donut Day is coming. Every year, donut fans eagerly await the first Friday in June to celebrate the fried dough rings that make mornings brighter. Sure you could wait on line in the hopes of scoring a free donut. Or you can try your hand and making your own. They are a lot easier to make than you think and one basic recipe is all you need. Then, you can get creative with toppings, decorations and flavors. Let’s get cooking – it’s time to make the donuts.
Basic Donut Recipe
- 2 cups sifted flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- Dash of cinnamon
- Dash of nutmeg
- Dash of salt
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons melted shortening
- 8 cups vegetable oil
Sift the dry ingredients together in a bowl. In another larger bowl, beat the egg and sugar together until the egg is pale yellow and almost double in volume. Stir in the milk and shortening. Working in batches, stir the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until it is all incorporated and well combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Add the vegetable oil to an electric fryer or large, deep heavy duty pot and heat until it reaches 375 degrees. When the dough has chilled, remove from the fridge and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, flatten the dough out to about ½ inch thickness . Cut out donuts using a donut cutter or circle cookie cutter. Carefully fry donuts 2 at a time using a spatula. Flip when one side is brown. Remove from oil and let drain on paper towels.
Variations:
Churro Donut
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
Mix all ingredients together and roll warm donuts in mixture until well coated. Drizzle with chocolate sauce.
Birthday Cake Donut
Mix 1 cup of sprinkles into dry ingredients in basic donut recipe. After the donuts been fried and cooled, top with vanilla icing and more sprinkles
Donut Ice Cream Sandwich
Slice donut in half and top one side with ice cream. Cover with the other half of the donut and carefully role in chocolate chips so that the ice cream is coated.
Nutella Donut
Add two tablespoons of Nutella to the melted shortening in the basic donut recipe and mix well. After the donuts have been fried and cooled, drizzle more Nutella over the top.
crayons & craft beer 