Donuts, fried or baked: a recipe for children's breakfast

• Preparation time: 10 minutes with the mixer, 20 minutes by hand
• Rising time: 4 / 5 hours
• Cooking time: 20 minutes
• difficulty: Media 

How to make donuts

I donuts (doughnuts) are the American donuts Classic, very inviting, especially when decorated with colorful sugar glaze. Their secret lies in the leavening, which takes time, but not our intervention.

Here our recipe, with these alternatives:

• flavored with lemon zest, orange zest, vanilla, chocolate chips
• natural, then stuffed with both sweet and savoury compounds

Ingredients (for 12 donuts)

• 250 00 grams of flour
• 250 g of Manitoba flour
• 250 ml of milk
• 2 eggs
• 70 grams of sugar
• 50 g butter
• 7 g of yeast

Preparation

• Prepare Bring all the fresh ingredients (milk, eggs, butter) to room temperature in advance.
• Withdraw a small amount of milk and dissolve the brewer's yeast in it.
• Pour the flours, yeast, eggs and sugar into the mixer (or a large bowl). Start mixing. knead with the leaf hook.
• If you proceed by hand, to amalgamate the ingredients in a bowl.
• Add half of the remaining milk and let it absorb.
• Proceed butter and, when this is well combined, continue kneading, slowly adding more milk, until you obtain a very soft but fairly stringy mixture (that is, one that almost doesn't stick to your hands).
• Seal the bowl with a silicone lid or with cling film, and leave to rise for at least two hours
• After this time, break the rising process, that is, deflate the dough, knead it for a few minutes, and let it rise again. This further stimulates the yeast's activity.
• After two or three hours, the dough will be nice and fluffy. It's time to make the donuts.
• Spread it out about a centimeter thick and, with the help of a pastry cutter, cut the round shapes. If you want, you can also make a hole in the center.
• Lining Line one or two baking trays with baking paper, place the donuts on them, well spaced apart, and let them rise for another half hour. They will swell a lot, so be careful to leave ample space between one and the other.
• Meanwhile turn on the oven at 180°.
• Once the donuts are nice and puffy, bake them in a preheated oven for about 15–20 minutes. They should be just golden brown.
• Remove them from the oven, let them cool and decorate them o stuff them to taste.
• Decoration with icing to the water: Dissolve 200 grams of powdered sugar in two or three tablespoons of water; spread on the donuts.
• Sugar decoration: brush lightly with melted butter and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

The fried version

• Donuts can also be fried: the result will be higher in calories, but definitely more delicious. The only restriction is that they must be eaten immediately, straight from the pan. The baked version allows you to prepare them a little ahead of time.
• If you don't have Manitoba flour available, it's also fine to use just 00 flour, but it must be of excellent quality.
• They will keep for a couple of days, no more, tightly closed in a plastic bag.

Read also:

• Brioche Bread: The Quick and Easy Recipe
• Sponge cake with strawberries and mascarpone
• Walnut cake with chocolate chips
• Potato and almond cake: a soft dessert with a hint of lemon.