Homemade Glazed Donuts Pioneer Woman Recipe 465

Steps:

• Basic Milk Glaze: Add a couple inches of water to a medium pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Into a large heatproof bowl, add confectioners' sugar, salt, and milk. Snugly fit the bowl on top of the pot to make a double boiler, making sure the bottom of the bowl isn't touching the water; whisk until glaze is combined and smooth, 3-5 minutes. Set aside. (Note: Basic Milk Glaze can be made in advance, cooled, and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 1 week. Reheat over double boiler when ready to use.)
• Make donut batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add egg yolks and sugar. Mix on medium speed just to combine, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixture is pale and fluffy and ribbons start to form, about 3 minutes. Reduce to medium speed, then slowly stream in the melted butter and buttermilk; mix until combined, about 5 seconds.
• Turn the mixer off. Add dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and baharat. Mix on low speed just to combine, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium and continue mixing until batter is smooth and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, 20 to 30 seconds.
• Prepare a work surface by taping a 12" x 16" sheet of parchment paper to your counter to keep it from slipping. Generously dust the parchment with flour. (Keep extra flour nearby to use as needed. You'll dust off excess flour before frying, so don't skimp.) Scrape down the paddle attachment and turn all the batter out onto the floured surface. The batter will be very sticky and loose. Dust the top of the batter with more flour, including the edges; flour your hands thoroughly. Place a second piece of parchment paper on top of the flour-dusted batter. Roll the batter between the parchment paper into a ½-inch thick rectangle, about 10" x 14". Using only the weight of the rolling pin itself, very gently ease it along the parchment paper-first from top to bottom, then from side to side-to evenly flatten the batter without rolling it too thin. Once you've achieved the right thickness, slide the dough (still sandwiched between parchment) onto an overturned baking sheet. Freeze for 30 minutes and up to overnight.
• Preheat the frying oil: In a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add 2-3 inches of oil. Clip a deep fry thermometer onto the side of the pot and heat oil to 350 degrees F. After at least 30 minutes, remove dough from freezer. Generously dust your work surface with flour. Peel the top layer of parchment off the dough. (It's ok if some of it sticks-just be gentle and persistent!) Flip the baking sheet with dough onto the floured surface, so the bottom piece of parchment is now on top. Remove this layer of parchment and use a pastry brush to brush excess flour off dough.
• Cut donuts: Working quickly, use two sizes of ring cutters to make the donut shapes. Flouring the cutters well and often to prevent sticking, stamp out as many 2.75-inch circles as possible; then use the 1-inch cutter for the holes. The dough scraps can be gathered together, re-rolled and cut for more donuts.
• Fry the donuts: Carefully lift the dough rings with a spatula and slide them into the oil, about 4 at a time, depending on the size of your pot. After about 1 minute, the edges will begin to brown; flip the donuts and fry for another minute, then flip again and fry until golden brown and delightfully puffy, another 30 seconds. (Total frying time for each donut will be about 2½ minutes.) Transfer donuts to a rack set over a paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain. Repeat with remaining donuts and donut holes. (Donut holes take 60 to 90 seconds and tend to flip themselves.)
• Glaze the donuts: Warm up the milk glaze in a double boiler and stir until smooth. Hold the bottom of the donut with your fingertips and submerge the top in warm glaze, a little more than halfway up the sides. Remove the donut from the glaze and, with a twist of the wrist, turn it right-side up, allowing the excess glaze to cascade down the sides. Place on a wire rack to cool completely, 10-15 minutes, before serving. After the donuts are cool, store in an airtight container for up to 24 hours.

Steps:

• To Make the Dough: 1. Make sure milk is nice and warm, but not overly hot. 2. Add sugar to milk. Stir to dissolve. 3. Add yeast into a small bowl. 4. Pour milk/sugar mixture over yeast. Stir gently, then let sit for 10 minutes. 5. Melt butter in separate bowl until butter is almost melted. Stir to finish melting so butter won't be overly hot. 6. Add beaten eggs to melted butter, stirring constantly to make sure the butter's not too hot for the eggs. 7. Add the egg/butter mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook. 8. With the mixer on 3 or medium-low speed, pour in the yeast mixture. 9. Allow the dough hook to stir this mixture for a couple of minutes, making sure it's thoroughly combined. 10. With the mixer still going, add helpings of the flour mixture in 1/4 to 1/2 cup increments until all the flour is gone. 11. Stop the mixer, scrape the bowl, then turn the mixer on the same speed for five whole minutes. 12. After five minutes, stop the mixer and scrape the bottom of the bowl. 13. Turn on the mixer for 30 seconds. 14. Turn off the mixer and allow the dough to sit in the bowl undisturbed for 10 minutes. 15. After 10 minutes, transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Toss the dough to coat, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place straight in the fridge. 16. Refrigerate dough for at least 8 hours, or overnight. To Make the Doughnuts: 1. Remove bowl from fridge and turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. 2. Roll out to 1/4 to 1/3-inch thickness. 3. Using a 3-inch cutter, cut as many rounds as you can, then roll out remaining dough and cut as much as you can, etc. 4. Cut holes out of each round using a 1 1/2-inch cutter. 5. Place both doughnuts and holes on a floured baking sheet. 6. Cover with large tea towel and place in a warm place in your kitchen; my kitchen is very drafty, so I have to briefly warm the griddle, then turn it off and set the sheets on top to keep warm. 7. Allow doughnuts to rise undisturbed for at least 1 hour; 1 hour 15 minutes if necessary. Doughuts should be visibly puffier and appear to be airy. To Fry the Dougnuts 1. Heat plenty of vegetable shortening in a large pot until the temperature reaches 375 to 380 degrees---do not let it get hotter than 380 degrees! 375 is ideal; keep the thermometer in the pan to continually monitor. 2. One to two at a time, gently grab doughnuts and ease them into the hot oil. Allow them to cook 1 minute on each side; they will brown very quickly. 3. Remove doughnuts from the oil with a slotted spoon, allowing all oil to drip off. 4. Place doughnut immediately on several layers of paper towels. Count to five, then flip it over onto a clean part of the paper towels. Count to five, then flip it over again; the purpose, obviously, is to drain as much grease as possible before it soaks into the doughnut. 5. Repeat with remaining doughnuts and holes. The holes will cook more quickly than the doughnuts; about 30 seconds per side. 6. Allow doughnuts to slightly cool. To Glaze 1. Mix all glaze ingredients in a bowl until completely smooth. 2. One by one, dip doughnuts into the glaze until halfway submerged. (Note: completely submerge doughnut holes, then remove with slotted spoon.) 4. Remove from glaze, then turn right side up on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet (to catch dripping glaze.) 5. Serve warm if possible, or room temperature.

Steps:

• For the doughnuts: Add the granulated sugar to the warm milk in a medium bowl, and then add the yeast. Allow it to sit until the yeast starts to bubble, 5 to 10 minutes.
• In a small bowl, beat the eggs and then pour them into a bowl with the melted butter, whisking constantly. Add the butter/egg mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer. Pour in the milk/sugar/yeast mixture. With the hook attachment, turn the mixer to low speed.
• Mix the flour and salt in a bowl, and then retrieve 1/2 cup at a time and add it to the mixing bowl, allowing it to slowly incorporate into the liquid mixture.
• Continue mixing for 5 minutes after the flour is combined. Stop the mixer, scrape the bowl and then mix about 30 seconds more. Then place the dough in a lightly-oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate, 8 to 12 hours.
• The next morning, remove the dough from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature and rise, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Put the dough in a warm spot, if necessary, to facilitate rising.
• Turn out the dough on to a floured surface and roll it out to about 1/4-inch thick. Use a doughnut cutter (or 2 concentric cutters) to cut out the doughnuts. Remove the holes and transfer the doughnuts to a lightly-floured baking sheet lined with a baking mat or parchment. Then - and this is the vital part - cover the doughnuts lightly with tea towels and place it in a draft-free area, at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours. It will take that long for them to rise. If they don't seem to be rising much, move the pan to a warm place.
• Melt the shortening in a pot over a medium-high heat until it reaches 350 degrees F on a candy thermometer. (Or you can drop one of the doughnut holes in the oil, if it sizzles and immediately rises to the surface, the oil is ready.) The doughnuts should immediately float to the top and puff up. Then use a metal spoon or spatula to carefully flip them over to the other side. Remove them from the oil as soon as they're golden brown on both sides (this should take less than 1 minute in total). At the end, drop in the doughnut holes and fry them until they are golden brown.
• Place the doughnuts on paper-towel-lined-plates to drain. Don't worry if they're a little imperfect; if your fingers leave impressions when you dropped them into the oil, that just means they were extra light and fluffy.
• For the glaze: To glaze the doughnuts, mix the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup cold water, salt and vanilla in a bowl until smooth. Drop in the doughnuts one at a time. Quickly turn them over then remove them. Place them on a rack so any excess glaze can drip off.
• To make the most of the glaze, set the holes underneath the doughnuts so they can catch the extra good stuff.