Baked Doughnuts
*Don’t over bake these, if anything, under bake them a bit – they will
continue baking outside the oven for a few minutes. You want an interior
that is moist and tender – not dry. Also, be sure to cut big enough holes in
the center of your doughnuts – too small and they will bake entirely shut.
Remember they rise, and they rise even more when they are baking. These
really need to be made-to-order, but you can make and shape the dough the
night before if you want to serve them for brunch. after
shaping, place doughnuts on baking sheet, cover and place in the
refrigerator overnight. Pull them out an hour before baking, and let rise in
a warm place before baking.*
Ingredients
Baked Doughnuts
1 1/3 cups warm milk, 95 to 105 degrees (divided)
1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
5 cups all-purpose flour (alternately, white whole wheat might work –
haven’t tried it yet)
A pinch or two of nutmeg, freshly grated
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions
Place 1/3 cup of the warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the
yeast and set aside for five minutes or so. Be sure your milk isn’t too hot
or it will kill the yeast. Stir the butter and sugar into the remaining cup
of warm milk and add it to the yeast mixture. With a fork, stir in the eggs,
flour, nutmeg, and salt – just until the flour is incorporated. With the
dough hook attachment of your mixer beat the dough for a few minutes at
medium speed. This is where you are going to need to make adjustments – if
your dough is overly sticky, add flour a few tablespoons at a time. Too dry?
Add more milk a bit at a time. You want the dough to pull away from the
sides of the mixing bowl and eventually become supple and smooth. Turn it
out onto a floured counter-top, knead a few times (the dough should be
barely sticky), and shape into a ball.
Transfer the dough to a buttered (or oiled) bowl, cover, put in a warm place
(I turn on the oven at this point and set the bowl on top), and let rise for
an hour or until the dough has roughly doubled in size.
Punch down the dough and roll it out 1/2-inch thick on your floured
countertop. Most people (like myself) don’t have a doughnut cutter, instead
I use a 2-3 inch cookie cutter to stamp out circles. Transfer the circles to
a parchment-lined baking sheet and stamp out the smaller inner circles using
a smaller cutter. If you cut the inner holes out any earlier, they become
distorted when you attempt to move them. Cover with a clean cloth and let
rise for another 45 minutes.
Bake in a 375 degree oven until the bottoms are just golden, 8 to 10 minutes
– start checking around 8. While the doughnuts are baking, place the butter
in a medium bowl. Place the sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.
Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let cool for just a minute or two.
Dip each one in the melted butter and a quick toss in the sugar bowl. Eat
immediately if not sooner.
*Makes 1 1/2 – 2 dozen medium doughnuts.*
