Who Likes Doughnuts?

As a special Thanksgiving morning treat, Christopher and I made apple cider doughnuts. I think these are the perfect addition to any breakfast this holiday season. The original recipe came from Hannaford’s Magazine (a free magazine given out at the grocery store we shop at).

Active Time: 45 minutes (not including letting the dough sit)

Yields: 44 small doughnuts or over half a dozen large ones

 Ingredients:

·         2 eggs

·         ½ cup light brown sugar

·         ¾ cup of sugar (for bother dough and cinnamon sugar)

·         4 to 5 cups of vegetable oil or as needed (for frying)

·         ½ cup of apple cider or apple juice

·         ¼ cup of unsweetened apple sauce

·         ¼ cup of apple butter (if you do not know what this is, it is found in the jam section)

·         1 cup of white whole wheat flour

·         2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour, plus extra for later working the dough

·         1 ½  tsp. of baking powder

·         1 tsp. of baking soda

·         ½ tsp. of salt

·         ¼ tsp. of ground nutmeg

·         2 tsp. of ground cinnamon (for both dough and cinnamon sugar)

Directions: 

1.  In a large bowl beat eggs, brown sugar and ¼ cup of sugar until light (about 30 seconds to a minute). Blend in 3 Tbsp. of the oil, juice or cider, apple sauce and apple butter
2. In a separate bowl stir together both flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and 1 tsp cinnamon. Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet ones. 
3.   On  a work surface, lay out a long sheet of plastic wrap, scoop half the dough into the plastic and pat into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Freeze overnight. (Please do wrap it up! I forgot to do this step and was paying for it later. It really helps to keep the shape
4. When ready to cook, pour remaining oil into a frying pan or stock pot, about 1 inch. Heat oil on high until it reaches 335 to 340 degrees (do check the heat!)
5. In a small bowl combine remaining ½ cup of sugar and 1 tsp. of cinnamon and mix well (change proportions depending on whether you want them more sugary or cinnamon-y)
6. While oil heats, roll out chilled dough on a floured work surface into a rectangle, about 3 to 4 inches wide and just under ½ inch thick. Cut rectangle widthwise into ½-long strips. Lightly roll each into a snake (rattle, python, whatever) and form into a ring (one ring to rule them all!) There should be about twenty two small rings. Transfer rings to a plate and repeat with second batch of dough. 
7.  Carefully pace doughnuts in hot oil, 4 to 6 at a time. Fry for about a minute, turn and fry for a little less than a minute, until doughnuts are dark golden brown.  Add oil as needed and make sure to maintain temperature (the more bits and pieces that fall into the pot, the more difficult it will be to maintain temperature)
8. When doughnuts are cooked, roll in cinnamon sugar and mercilessly devour.