Nuts for Donuts

As I've become increasingly health conscious over the years, there are several foods that I love but rarely let myself have. One such food is donuts. I used to love a good donut. They are pretty much a symbol of all that I love in the world: bread and sugar. Donuts were always a special treat for sister and I, usually bestowed upon us when we were traveling to visit family out of state. To this day, one of my favorite parts about visiting my dad's family for Thanksgiving was the Thanksgiving morning trip to Dunken Donuts my dad would make, returning with my all time favorite donut: chocolate frosting with rainbow sprinkles.  

I've never tried to make a donut in the home, this is largely due to my fear of frying food. There's literally nothing cooking related that terrifies me more than a grease fire. So, when I got a hankering for a donut and stumbled upon a slew of recipes for baked donuts, I had no choice but to give it a go.

  

My first venture into donut making was a success and while this is definitely not something I'll be doing often (for health reasons), it is definitely nice to add this to my growing repertoire of food creations!

Baked Donuts

Genius behind this treat found here

Ingredients

Donuts: 

• 1 1/3 cups warm milk, 95 to 105 degrees
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• A pinch or two of nutmeg, freshly grated
• 1 teaspoon salt

Topping:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Preparation

1. Place the warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the yeast and sugar. Add the butter. Mix the eggs, flour, nutmeg, and salt. Beat the dough with the dough hook attachment (or with a wooden spoon and eventually your hands) for 2-3 minutes at medium speed. Adjust the dough texture by adding flour a few tablespoons at a time or more milk. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl and be very soft and smooth but still slightly sticky – don’t overflour!
2. Knead the dough for a few minutes (again, by mixer or by hand) and then transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for about an hour or until it has doubled in size (the exact time will depend on the temperature of your kitchen)
3. Punch down the dough and roll it out to about 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured counter. Using a doughnut cutter or a 2-3 inch circle cookie cutter, cut out circles in the dough. Carefully transfer the circles to a parchment- or silpat-lined baking sheet and stamp out the smaller inner circles using a smaller cutter. Be sure to make the holes large enough that as the donuts rise again and bake, they don’t fill in the doughnut hole with the puffiness of the dough. Cover the tray with lightly greased plastic wrap. (At this point, you can refrigerate the donuts overnight or proceed with the recipe.)
4. Let the doughnuts rise for about another 45 minutes, until they are puffed and nearly doubled
5. Bake in a 375 degree F oven until the bottoms are just golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Start checking the donuts around minute 8. They should still be pale on top, not golden and browned, and just barely baked through.
6. Remove the donuts from the oven and let cool for 1-2 minutes. Dip each one in the melted butter and toss or sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar. Serve immediately :)

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