As I introduce today’s recipe, I think it’s important that I give credit where credit is due and that’s to my boyfriend Andrew. This recipe would not have been born without his sweet tooth and his constant flow of dessert ideas he wants me to try. The cycle of recipe development in our house is that I have a master list of ideas that strike me usually in the car, and I’ll ask for Andrew’s input and he’ll throw out some kind of dessert he wants me to try instead. Usually I resist merely to avoid having sweets in my house, but he won out on this one and as a consequence of that we all win because these Easy Old Fashion Doughnuts are delicious!
I had actually been curious about making my own doughnuts for a while but Andrew’s suggestion was the final push I needed. As you all know, I like taking things that people spend money on getting out, and seeing if I can recreate them at home. Then there’s the important questions which are (1) are they better? (2) are they cheaper to make than to buy; and (3) is it worth it?
With this recipe I think the answer has to be yes to all three! Unlike making your own bagels which are delicious but time consuming, making your own doughnuts really doesn’t take much time and is super easy! There’s no proofing or resting of the dough required, you just make it, shape them, and fry them, I swear if it didn’t end up being so easy, I wouldn’t be sharing the recipe.
When I made these for the house, we saved them and ate them as snacks all week, but they’re so good fresh so I highly recommend making them if you’re having a brunch party or need something to bring to the office and want to impress people with your cooking skills!
Now, most recipes online will tell you to get a doughnut cutter for this recipe, and that would certainly make it easier, but I got very creative and used a pint glass to cut the bigger piece and a wine bottle opening to cut out the middle hole and it worked like a charm. That being said, if you try this recipe and are like OMG I’m making doughnuts all the time now, investing in the special cutter might be for the best.
These doughnuts are relatively simple so I’ve already promised myself to attempt more challenging ones in the future, stay tuned!
Lots of Love,
Jackie
- 2 cups Cake Flour
- ½ cup all purpose flour, plus more if necessary
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ¾ tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup cane sugar
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 egg yolks
- ⅔ cup greek yogurt
- 2-3 cups of vegetable oil, enough for frying
- powdered sugar for garnish
- In a medium bowl, whisk the cake flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, sea salt, nutmeg and cinnamon until combined.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or other large bowl, whip the sugar and butter together until mixed. Add in the egg yolks and continue whisking. Finally add in the Greek yogurt and continue whisking until the mixture is smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and fold until it forms a dough. Empty the dough onto a clean, lightly floured surface. If the dough is too sticky to handle, continue adding flour about ¼ cup at a time until it forms a firm, slightly sticky dough. I think by the end I likely added another ½ cup of flour in. For this step, I prefer to use all purpose flour because adding more cake flour makes the dough too sweet.
- Using a rolling pin (or a wine bottle if you're me) roll out the dough into a square. It should still be about an inch thick. Cut the doughnuts out using a doughnut cutter, or, if you don't have one, you can use a pint glass to cut the big circle and the opening of a wine or other similar bottle to cut out the middle. Set the cut doughnuts aside to prepare for frying. Continue kneading the leftover dough back into itself and cutting out doughnuts until you have no dough left. You can choose to work the middle circles back in, or you can set them aside as well and fry as doughnut holes. You should have 8-12 doughnuts by the end.
- In a large, heavy bottomed pot, heat the oil until it reaches 375 degrees. If you don't have a thermometer, you'll know it's ready if flour sizzles in it. You can also test it with one doughnut hole and see if it floats when dropped in.
- Fry the doughnuts no more than two at a time for about 1 minute on each side until they turn a golden brown color. Remove the doughnuts from the oil and place onto a drying rack. Sprinkle powdered sugar over the doughnuts and you're done!
