Chad Groetsch
Doughnuts are easy to make and a fun project for the whole family. Who doesn’t like to decorate their own doughnut? 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!
Old-Fashioned Cake Doughnuts
Be a Doughnut Boss. This is an essential fried cake doughnut recipe. How you finish them off is up to you!
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 2 tbsp shortening
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup milk
- cooking oil to fry in
Instructions
- 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 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 doughnut 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 doughnut 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.
Notes
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 doughnut 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 doughnut.
