Easy To Make Doughnuts

Homemade Doughnuts

Cutting out doughnuts with my old cutter

I have been researching flour and trying to find a better quality and healthier brand to use.
I came across an article in the Mother Earth News magazine my husband recently picked up for me. It’s about bread making and using a more natural flour.  One of the flour brands recommended was King Authur.

There is nothing better than homemade-fresh-from-the-oven bread topped with real butter.  When growing up my mother made us loaves of bread, and I have yet to taste better.




I decided to purchase a bag of unbleached white all purpose flour and a bag of 100% whole ground wheat. King Authur Flour was founded in 1790, and is America’s oldest flour company and is wholly owned by the employees. I like that. Their whole wheat flour is milled from the entire wheat kernel which gives it a much higher nutritional quality. I like that too. They also carry organic and gluten free flours. I have found that most commercially produced breads make me sick, give me an upset stomach, bloating and headaches, (pasta is the same) but if I make it at home, I do not get the same reaction.

Doughnuts and holes ready to cook

Most of the ingredients I use, in this recipe and others, I try to purchase either all natural or organic products. There is a difference between the two. For me, natural products are products with no added preservatives or ingredients I can’t even pronounce or read. The least amount of ingredients in a product the better in my opinion. Organic means food grown without synthetic fertilizers, chemicals or pesticides.

Recently, my son had five of his friends over for the night (happens a lot) so this was my chance to try baking something with this new flour to see if it would pass their flavor test. All of these kids are 20 to 21 and eat a lot of processed food, so whenever their here I try to cook something homemade for them.

I decided to make doughnuts using the unbleached white flour.  (I'm saving the 100% whole wheat for bread). My sister Julie usually adds half white and half wheat flour when she is baking, which is another good idea and one I am going to try.  Although fresh fruit and berries along with organic oatmeal would probably be better for breakfast, I’m just pleased to get the kids to eat something other than processed or fast food!

Where did the doughnut come from, you ask?  According to history, in early colonial times, US. Dutch immigrants discovered fried cake. So, the story goes, a cow kicked a pot full of boiling oil over onto some pastry mix, thus inventing the golden brown delight. Apparently, they didn't share this great discovery with their homeland and the fried cakes became a staple in the harsh conditions that existed in the American colonies.

My deep fryer

I know the new craze is to “bake” homemade doughnuts, but I used a good old fashioned deep fryer. I have a small counter top model, an inexpensive Hamilton Beach version. Its sets easily on my cooktop under the exhaust hood, but also has an air filter, so there is very little odor or mess.

The recipe I used is easy and basic, which are qualities I always love in a recipe! These are simple cake style doughnuts, flavored with a little ginger and nutmeg then coated with cinnamon sugar.  I like vanilla so I added a little of that too. If you want less ginger, use cinnamon instead.

Make sure to use a good quality oil

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

4 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup of buttermilk (or use milk)
Oil for deep frying.

Roll doughnut around in cinnamon and sugar, yum

Directions

Heat oil in deep-fryer to 350 to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, mix together 1 cup of sugar and the cinnamon. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger and nutmeg. Set aside. Beat the eggs, buttermilk and remaining 1 cup of sugar together in a medium bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the egg mixture. Stir together to form a moist and sticky dough. On a heavily floured surface, working with half the dough at a time, roll or pat to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a doughnut cutter, or use two round biscuit cutters of different sizes. Re-flour between cuts.

Carefully lower doughnuts into hot oil, a few at a time. Do not overcrowd or oil may overflow. Turn doughnuts once after they rise and turn golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Place doughnuts in bowl of cinnamon sugar and coat, then transfer to a serving plate.

*Hint: Doughnuts can also be coated in powdered sugar in stead of cinnamon sugar.

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Gotta run, no I mean it,  really,  I just had doughnuts for breakfast, yikes!
Hope the New Year finds you happy and content,

Elizabeth

History of the Doughnut

What is Whole Grain:  "A whole-grain kernel is comprised of three parts: the germ, the bran and the endosperm. In conventional grain refining, most of the bran and germ are removed, resulting in the loss of dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, lignans, phytoestrogens, phenolic compounds and phytic acid. In addition to helping maintain healthy body weight, these key nutrients can reduce the risk of several chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke, gall bladder disease, respiratory dysfunction, gout, osteoarthritis, certain types of cancers and premature death." ` ~ Mother Earth News