Doughnuts
-2 tsp of instant dry yeast
-1/4 cup warm water
-1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
-1/2 cup white sugar
-1 teaspoon salt
-2 eggs
-1/3 cup Butter
-5 cups all-purpose flour
-1 quart vegetable oil for frying (or however much you think you will need)
-Gently stir the yeast into warm water with 1 tsp of the sugar. Let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes
-In a large bowl, combine yeast mixture, milk, remaining sugar, salt, eggs, shortening and 2 cups of the flour.
-Mix in remaining flour half a cup at a time.
Note: The dough should be slightly sticky as it is a sweet dough. If you mix in too much flour your doughnuts will be turn out too tough, so try to stick to around 5 cups of flour.
-Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until it becomes smooth and elastic.
-Form into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover.
-Let rise until doubled in size. Tip: you can tell your dough is ready if you touch it and the indentation remains
Forming the Doughnuts
-Turn out dough onto a floured surface and roll it out until it's 1/2 inch thick.(if your dough already has excess flour, I would recommend a greased surface instead)
-Cut out doughnuts. (you can use a doughnut cutter, or use a cup and the lid to your vanilla if you don't have a cutter)
-Place doughnuts on parchment paper or greased surface and allow to rise until about double their size.
NOTE: Put remaining unused dough from the cuttings in a pile and let rest for about 5 minutes. This is an important step. If you reuse this dough immediately, your doughnuts will be tough. After the dough has has sufficient time to rest, gently roll out again, and let rest again before cutting out more doughnuts.
Frying the Doughnuts
-Heat the oil in a deep frying pan to the temperature of about 350 degrees.
NOTE: The temperature of the oil is important. If the oil isn't hot enough, your doughnuts will absorb too much oil and be greasy. If the oil is too hot, your doughnuts will either turn out a darker color or the insides will still be doughy and the outside with cook too much. I suggest experimenting a little with doughnut holes to test the oil temperature before cooking the doughnuts.
-Slide doughnuts into oil and let cook for about a minute or until it is browned to your desired color. Flip and cook remaining side.
-Place cooked doughnuts on paper towels to absorb excess moisture.
Glazing the Doughnuts
-I don't have a specific recipe for the glaze. I just mix a bit of softened butter, vanilla, and milk with confectioners sugar. If the glaze is too thick, I add water to make it thinner.
Tricks to lessen the mess:
-Get a large mixing bowl and a couple long handled mixing spoons that will sit across the edge of the bowl.
-After dunking the still very warm doughnuts into the glaze, slide the doughnut on the handle of the spoon and place the spoon over the bowl so it can collect the extra glaze. Add doughnuts to the handle but make sure they aren't touching. Let sit there until the glaze has dried.
-If you want icing on your doughnuts, just make the glaze thicker and only dunk one side into it. You can add food coloring, maple flavoring, cocoa, or sprinkles to add variety to your doughnuts.
