Yeast Donuts

Welcome to day 2 of donut week! Technically I only have 3 recipes to share so it's not really a full week but whatever. It's my site. I do what I want! ;-)

When The Hubble and I were freshly married and moved to New York we decided not to pay for television.

I mean, we had a television...we just didn't purchase service for it.

We would watch movies (loved the discovery of Netflix!) and television shows on DVD (we were always at least a season behind everyone else).

Fast forward several years and a kidlet later...I quit my job to be a stay at home mommy and we moved closer to The Hubble's work (to a very small town known as Philadelphia...NY!).

We decided that since I would have nothing better to do than sit around a house with a newborn all day we would go ahead and finally pay for television service.

That is when I first became obsessed with The Food Network. You know if you are reading this you love that channel too.

I used to DVR the shows that I loved and would sit and watch with my computer handy so I could quickly search for any recipes I liked on the site and save them to my recipe box. That way I wouldn't forget about them.

While watching my beloved Food Network channel I discovered my love for Alton Brown. He's like a scientific cook/baker. Who wouldn't love that??? And he has attitude! I loved it!!

So I couldn't miss the opportunity to make Alton Brown's yeast donuts right?!?! Right!

So that is what I have for you today. Alton Brown's yeast donuts made from my kitchen.

You ready?? Good.

Grab your ingredients: Sugar, all purpose flour, milk, vegetable shortening, salt, ground nutmeg, active dry yeast, eggs and canola oil (for frying).

Pour about 3 inches of canola oil into a large pot or dutch oven and heat to 375 degrees F.

Place your milk in a small saucepan and set it on the stove on medium heat to start warming.

Pour some warm water in a small bowl and add the yeast to it. Set that aside for about 5 minutes to become frothy.

Now check on the milk. When it's warm enough, pour it over the vegetable shortening.

The milk should be warm enough to melt the shortening.

Back to the yeast. Is it frothy?? If yes, awesome! If not, toss and start again.

If your yeast is frothy, pour it into a large mixing bowl. When the milk and shortening mixture is lukewarm, add it to the yeast in the bowl. Then add the eggs, sugar, nutmeg and half of the flour to the bowl. Using the paddle attachment, slowly mix the ingredients. When combined raise the speed to medium to mix well.

Add the rest of the flour and do the same slow to medium mixing.

Once everything is mixed well, put the dough hook on and "knead" until the dough is smooth and starts pulling away from the bowl, about 3-4 minutes. (By the way, I really like this picture for some reason. That is all.)

Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise for an hour or until double the size.

Here's my funny story. I put the dough in a tupperware bowl that was a really good size larger than the bowl. I was cleaning out the fridge while my dough was rising. As I was shoulders deep in the fridge I heard this loud POP sound that scared the bejeesus out of me. I looked out the windows and could not find the source of this noise.

As I was doing the dishes from the fridge I looked over at the bowl and thought how stupid I was for not closing the lid of the bowl. How could I have forgotten that essential part!!! About 10 minutes later I was scared witless when the loud POP happened again. Only this time I realized that the yeast dough had created so much pressure that the lid popped off the bowl!

I am even more silly for not getting any more pictures of my process. But these were too good not to share!

Once the dough is fully risen and angry apparently, scrape it onto a well floured surface. Flour the top of the dough and roll it out to a half an inch thick. Then using a cookie or biscuit cutter cut out circles of dough. Use a decorating tip or smaller cutter to cut holes in the middle of the dough. Here's a picture I took when doing the blueberry donuts:

Once the donuts are cut out place them on a well floured parchment lined baking sheet. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Then cook them in the oil until golden brown, about 30-60 seconds on each side depending on heat of oil.

Place them on paper towels to dry and cool.

Grab some powdered sugar and heavy cream. Combine to make a glaze of your desired consistency.

Press the tops of the donuts into the glaze and roll the donut holes through the glaze. Then place on a cooling rack (set over waxed paper) and let set and dry.

Serve with a cup of coffee and enjoy!

Yeast Donuts
Retrieved from Alton Brown via The Daring Kitchen

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Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable shortening (can substitute butter, margarine or lard)
• 4 1/2 teaspoons (2 packages) active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup warm water (95°F to 105°F)
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 4 2/3 cups all purpose flour plus extra for dusting surface
• Canola Oil DEPENDS on size of vessel you are frying in – you want THREE (3) inches of oil (can substitute any flavorless oil used for frying)
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:

1. Place the milk in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat just until warm enough to melt the shortening. (Make sure the shortening is melted so that it incorporates well into the batter.)
2. Place the shortening in a bowl and pour warmed milk over. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let dissolve for 5 minutes. It should get foamy. After 5 minutes, pour the yeast mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer and add the milk and shortening mixture, first making sure the milk and shortening mixture has cooled to lukewarm.
4. Add the eggs, sugar, salt, nutmeg, and half of the flour. Using the paddle attachment of your mixer (if you have one), combine the ingredients on low speed until flour is incorporated and then turn the speed up to medium and beat until well combined.
5. Add the remaining flour, combining on low speed at first, and then increase the speed to medium and beat well.
6. Change to the dough hook attachment of the mixer and beat on medium speed until the dough pulls away from the bowl and becomes smooth, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. If you do not have a dough hook/stand mixer – knead until the dough is smooth and not sticky.
7. Transfer to a well-oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
8. On a well-floured surface, roll out dough to 3/8-inch thick. (Make sure the surface really is well-floured otherwise your doughnuts will stick to the counter).
9. Cut out dough using a 2 1/2-inch doughnut cutter or pastry ring or drinking glass and using a 7/8-inch ring for the center whole. Set on floured baking sheet, cover lightly with a tea towel, and let rise for 30 minutes.
10. Preheat the oil in a deep fryer or Dutch oven to 375 °F.
11. Gently place the doughnuts into the oil, 3 to 4 at a time. Cook for 1 minute per side or until golden brown.
12. Transfer to a cooling rack placed in baking pan. Allow to cool for 15 to 20 minutes prior to glazing, if desired.
13. Mix together powdered sugar and heavy cream (adding cream until desired consistency). Press tops of donuts into glaze. Place, glaze side up, on a cooling rack to dry and set.
14. Serve and enjoy!