Easy donuts with sugar glaze

Woohoo, it’s a National Donuts Day aka a perfect excuse to eat that delicious puffy treat!

Actually I believe any day is a good day for donuts because there’s some sort of magic power in them.

Your girl friend is feeling down? Bring a box of donuts to cheer her up!
Your best friend scores a dream job? Bring a box of donuts to celebrate the moment.
Having a road trip with your family? Bring a box of donuts to start it on a (b)right note.

See? It’s not just a piece of the most fluffy and airy dough hidden under the crisp almost crunchy exterior. It’s not just a sweet treat coated in a shiny mirror-like glaze. It’s basically a medicine 😉

If you’re anything like me and avoid the recipes which have yeast in them, fear no more! This is literally the most easy and quick recipe I’ve ever made. Knead -> wait for 2 hours -> shape -> fry -> done!

For the dough:

7 g dry yeast
30 g water, lukewarm
1 egg
40 g butter, at room temperature
60 g sugar
175 g milk
340 g all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

vegetable oil, for frying

In a small bowl combine dry yeast with lukewarm water and let the mixture sit for 7-10 minutes. Meanwhile microwave the milk until it’s slightly warm to a touch.

In a bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment place an egg, butter, sugar and yeast mixture. Mix on a low speed until all ingredients are just combined. Change the attachment to a dough hook.

Add 1/2 of flour and knead the dough for 2-3 minutes. Pour in warm milk and continue to knead until all ingredients are evenly incorporated. Then add the remaining flour and knead the dough for approx. 5-7 mins. It should become smooth and uniform (the dough can remain slightly sticky).

Lightly flour the work surface and transfer the dough to it. Hand knead for a few adding a bit of flour if needed. Shape the dough and place it into a bowl greased with oil. Tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place for 1.5-2 hours. During that time the dough should increase in size and become very soft to the touch.

Lightly flour the work surface, transfer the dough there and divide it into 3 parts. Working with one piece at a time roll the dough until it’s 1.5 cm/1 in thick. Cut the donuts using two cutting rounds (I used 7.5cm and 2.5cm). Repeat with the remaining dough.

In a large pan pour vegetable oil enough for frying donuts (about 2.5cm in height). Heat the oil till 180 C/350 F on a medium heat. When it’s ready carefully transfer two donuts to a pan. Cook the donuts flipping occasionally until they become nicely brown in color. Using slotted turner transfer the donuts to a cooling rack covered with paper towels (they will absorb excess oil).

Continue the process with remaining donuts checking the temperature of oil from time to time.

For the sugar glaze:

the recipe is adopted from King Arthur’s site

150 g powdered sugar (you may need more)
15 g butter, melted
1 tbsp corn syrup
2 tbsp milk (you may need more)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

gel food coloring, optional

In a dry bowl sift powdered sugar to prevent any lumps in the glaze. Add corn syrup, melted butter, milk and vanilla extract to the same bowl and stir all ingredients together. Thoroughly whisk the mixture adding additional milk or powdered sugar to reach a desired consistency of the glaze.

If you want to make colored donuts, divide the glaze between two bowls and add there different food colorings. Stir well until fully incorporated.

Working with one donut at a time, dip it into the glaze, jiggle it a bit (still upside down) to remove any glaze excesses and transfer to a plate or a cooling rack. When all donuts are glazed decorate them with glaze stripes of alternate color and/or sprinkles.