D is for Doughnuts or Donuts, Whichever You Prefer! Part One (Jennifer)

Dear Donut Divas and Dudes,

A delicious donut is a delightful way to start a day. Perhaps not the healthiest way to begin a day, but a delightful way, yes. While I was getting my hair done today, I noticed in this month's Self magazine a small article titled "Donut or Nothing?" In the article, it stated a donut being a healthier alternative to eating nothing for breakfast because the brain needs the nourishment to get going in the morning. So, while a donut may not be best, it will still nourish your body, while also nourishing your soul! A win-win for all involved. : )

Note: For anyone wondering about the different between a "doughnut" and a "donut," after consulting many trustworthy resources like various food blogs (including one by a guy who posts about nothing but donuts and donut shops) and websites like Wikipedia, it seems to come down to preference. There's not much of a real difference, though some will claim "donuts" are not made of "dough." How could that be, I wonder? Anyway, for the full scoop, check out the etymology section of Wikipedia found here.

Back to the challenge: this week's letter "d" led me to doughnuts or donuts. To be completely honest with you, the challenge, while seemingly easy, threw me a few curve balls. The first challenge being the multitude of amazing recipes one finds when searching "donuts." Oi! I could make donuts for weeks, months, maybe even years if I were to go through all of the recipes I saw that piqued my culinary interests. The second challenge mastering the cooking technique for donuts. The dough part is no problem...it's what you do with the dough after it's mixed that is tough. Let's just say I had my fair share of charcoal donuts...whoops! Finally, the last challenge references the first challenge, and that was simply narrowing down my selections to just two recipes. So, without further adieu, continue after the jump to see the winning recipes.


Nutella Doughnuts, courtesy and copyright Lorna Yee from "The Newlywed Kitchen" cookbook. Reposted from TartletteMakes about 14 doughnuts

Note: to adapt these gluten free, I replace the flour with 1/2 cup superfine sweet rice flour, 1/4 millet, 1/4 cup sorghum flour, and added 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum for a smooth dough.

3 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
8 ounces whole-milk ricotta
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Canola, vegetable, or peanut oil for frying
Powdered sugar for dusting doughnuts
1 cup Nutella

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the eggs, sugar, ricotta, salt, and vanilla extract. Add the flour and baking powder, and mix until just combined.

Heat 3 inches of the oil in a deep pot until it registers 375 degrees F on a deep-fat thermometer. Drop a tablespoon of batter into the oil and cook for about 3 minutes on one side, and 2 minutes on the other side. (Do not make the doughnuts much bigger, as the outside will brown too quickly and they won’t cook through.) Don’t overcrowd the pot--you will probably need to fry the doughnuts in three batches. Cut one doughnut open to make sure it’s cooked through before removing the rest of the batch from the oil. When the doughnuts are cooked, scoop them out and allow them to drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining batter.

Dust the doughnuts with powdered sugar and pipe Nutella into the center of each one, if you'd like. I just got a knife and slathered this heavenly spread all over each side. Yum! These doughnuts are meant to be devoured warm out of the fryer, so make them just before you’re both ready to eat them.

Review: This is a very simple recipe and with practice, the frying part became easier and easier. The only tip I would give is make sure you are using a deep fry thermometer to test your oil temperature! I thought I could get by with using my mom's candy thermometer when my sister and I attempted this recipe on Mother's Day morning. Big fail! The candy thermometer cracked and broke, which led us to believe that mercury had seeped out and contaminated our donuts, so we threw out the whole batch--sadness! After tossing the donuts, my dad told us he thought the donuts probably would have been fine as companies no longer use real mercury in thermometers--double fail. Oh, well. Just buy the deep fry thermometer, to be safe. It was $9.99 at Target. Gotta love that place. : )

Enjoy!!
Jen