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.