Donuts are easy to make and a fun project for the whole family. Who doesn’t like to decorate their own donut? I regret that the donuts were so good with sprinkles that our kids devoured them before I had a chance to take pictures. The directions are here to make your own and, trust me, you will love them as much as we do!
Ingredients
- Cooking Oil(Whatever you choose to fry with)
- 3 1/2c flour
- 1c sugar
- 3tsp baking powder
- 1/2tsp salt
- 1/2tsp cinnamon
- 1/4tsp nutmeg
- 2Tbsp shortening
- 2 eggs
- 3/4c milk
Directions
- Heat oil to 375°. Whatever you choose to cook in, make sure you have 2 to 3 inches of oil in the bottom to allow the donuts to “bathe” in. (We use a regular cast iron pan)
- Beat together all ingredients with just 1 1/2c of flour to an even and texture and color.
- Add the remaining flour. For this stage you will want to hand mix it because the dough will become much stiffer.
- Turn dough onto a well floured surface.(Don’t skimp! You don’t want to have the dough sticking to the surface.)
- Flour the top of your dough in the same manner and then roll it out with a rolling pin to approximately 3/8″.
- If you have a donut cutter then use it, otherwise the rim of a standard rocks glass makes a great outside cutter and the top of a plastic bottle makes a great inside hole cutter.(Tip: If you cut the top off of the plastic drink bottle you can easily get the cut-out “hole” dough through the back side instead of potentially getting it stuck in the bottle.) You can take the cut out bit and re-roll them or just fry them up to make donut holes.
- Carefully slide uncooked donuts into the hot frying oil so as to not splash yourself.
- The donuts will sink to the bottom of the oil. Once they float up to the top, flip them with a fork or tongs.
- Fry about 1 minute until both sides are a nice golden brown color.
- Remove donuts from oil and allow them to drain on an absorbent material such as paper towels. This recipe makes about 2 dozen donuts.
- Once they’ve cooled, top them with whatever you fancy. We like just eating them old fashioned style but our kids appreciate iced with sprinkles.
For toppings, Here are some ideas:
- Powdered or Sugar-Cinnamon – Place topping in an empty bread bag and have the kids shake to coat.
- Iced – A simple mix of 1c powdered sugar, 1Tbsp milk, and 2tsp vanilla(or some other flavoring) makes a great icing. Just place the donut in the icing and turn it clockwise, then remove and allow to dry.
- Sprinkles – Just add them to the iced donuts. Icing makes a great mortar to stick your topping to a donut.