From Scratch

Hello All,

I am a member of Just A Pinch Recipe Club. A while back I came across a doughnut recipe and thought, "this would be neat to try one day." Well, as it is with most things, two months passed, and I had yet to try my hand at it. Well, last week I got the very same recipe in an email from the Club, and felt it was a message from above. The recipe made 3 dozen doughnuts plus holes! Let me just say, there were none left for dessert after dinner! I promised you all a doughnut recipe and here it is!!!

Homemade Doughnuts submitted by Peggi Anne Tebben (club member)
Ingredients:
DOUGHNUTS
1/2 c warm water (not hot)
2 pkg active dry yeast
3/4 c milk, lukewarm
1/4 c sugar
1 tsp salt
4 c all-purpose flour, sifted
1/3 c shortening
2 eggs

GLAZE
1-3 tbsp warm water (as needed, more to thin, less to thicken)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 confectioner's sugar, sifted

1. Soak yeast in 1/2 c warm water for approx. 5 minutes. Tip: throw in a 1 tsp sugar to kick it in the butt to get it going.
2. Warm the milk and shortening together.
3. Pour milk over sugar and salt in a bowl. Stir until dissolved. Make sure mixture is warm, not hot.
4. Add 1 cup of flour, eggs, and yeast mixture. Beat until smooth. Add remaining flour to make a soft dough. When the dough leaves the sides of the bowl, turn out onto lightly floured board.
5. Knead until dough becomes smooth and elastic. Place in lightly oiled bowl and cover wax paper or plastic wrap. Allow to rise in warm place until doubled. (I turned my oven onto 100 degrees F/warm and sat it in there for 1 1/2 hours.)
6. Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thickness and cut circles with a clean, empty vegetable can or 2" diameter cup. Use a water bottle cap for cutting holes.



7. Let rise on board for 40-60 minutes. (I placed them in the warm oven to rise and cut the time in half.)
8. Heat Cooking oil to 325-350 degrees F. (I heated my oil up on high, then moved it off the eye to cool down.)



9. Drop into hot oil and turn when doughnuts are just barely brown. (It takes less than a minute, so keep a close watch on them.) Turn once and lift to drain.





10. Let doughnuts drain and cool on paper towels.

11. Mix glaze in a bowl. While doughnuts are warm, roll in the glaze and set to dry.



12. Watch them disappear!


ENJOY!
Mama D