CinnamonToastCrunch and strawberryshortcake donuts
Classic Donut Dough:
* 3/4 cup (180ml) milk of choice, warmed to ~110F (I place in the microwave for ~45 seconds; it should feel like a warm bath, but not too hot)
* 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar, divided
* 2 1/2 tsp (11g) active dry yeast (substitution: instant yeast)
* 1/2 cup (120g) Greek yogurt or sour cream, at room temperature
* 1/2 cup (113g) salted butter, melted and slightly cooled
* 2 eggs, at room temperature
* 1 tsp (4g) vanilla bean paste or extract
* 4 cups (480g) bread flour (substitution: all-purpose flour)
* 1 tsp salt
* canola oil (or oil of choice), for frying
Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Glaze :
* 2 1/2 cups (300g) powdered sugar
* 1/2 cups cream cheese
* 4-6 tbsp (60ml-90ml) milk of choice
* 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
* 1 tsp (4g) vanilla bean paste or extract
* Large pinch of salt
INSTRUCTIONS
Activate the yeast for the dough:
1. Start by activating the yeast for the dough. Pour the warm milk into a small bowl or glass measuring cup. Add 1 tbsp (12g) of the granulated sugar and sprinkle the yeast overtop. Stir and allow to sit for 5-7 minutes, until frothy and activated. If using instant yeast, no need to wait for it to bloom; go straight into mixing the dough together!
Continue preparing the dough:
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Set aside.
2. Once activated, pour the yeast mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if mixing/kneading the dough by hand). Add the rest of the sugar (1/4 cup minus the 1 tbsp that was used to activate the yeast), Greek yogurt or sour cream, melted and cooled butter, eggs, vanilla, and the flour mixture.
3. With the dough hook attachment (or with a wooden spoon if mixing by hand), mix on low speed for 1 minute, until barely combined. Allow to rest for 5 minutes so the flour can soak up the liquids.
4. Then, mix on medium speed for 5-7 minutes, until the dough is elastic, smooth, and is pulling away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough seems a little too sticky, you can add 1 tbsp more flour at a time, until it starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Don’t add too much, you want the dough to be slightly sticky! I ended up adding ~2 tbsp more flour. If you are mixing and kneading by hand, pour the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 5-7 minutes by hand.
5. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and allow to rise in a warm environment for 1-1.5 hours, or until doubled in size. I did a full 1.5 hours!
6. After proofing they need to DRY in open air for at least 15 minutes before frying. This helps set the outer skin, makes them easier to move without losing shape, and gives you nice racing stripe proof lines in the fryer. Otherwise the spread can be a little out of control and you get misshapen donuts
Prepare parchment paper squares & shape the donuts:
1. Once the dough is almost finished rising, cut out 10-12 squares of parchment paper and spread them across 2 baking sheets. These will be used for the donuts to sit on once shaped and make it easier to transfer the donuts to the oil once ready to fry.
2. Once the dough is doubled, punch it down and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out to ~1/2” thickness. Using a 3” donut cutter, cup, or mason jar lid, cut the donuts out. Then, using a smaller 1” cutter or the wide end of a piping tip, cut out little holes in the middle of each donut. Save the little holes for donut holes or add back to the remaining dough to re-roll to cut out more donuts. You should get 10-12 donuts total.
3. Place the donuts onto the prepared parchment paper squares on the baking sheets. Loosely cover with a kitchen towel and allow to proof for 30-45 minutes, until puffy.
Fry, coat, and serve the donuts:
1. While the donuts are proofing, prepare the vanilla bean glaze. In a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, melted butter, vanilla, and salt, until well combined and smooth. The mixture should be pretty runny, this will give you a nice thin, crackly coating. If you want to double dip/glaze the donuts, I recommend doubling the glaze portion. I personally did this, and they turned out great!
2. When the donuts are almost done proofing, fill a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven with oil, filling ~2” in the pan. Heat on medium-high until it reaches 350F-365F.
3. Line a wire cooling rack with a thick layer of paper towels.
4. Once the oil is hot enough, carefully transfer the parchment paper squares with the donuts on them slowly into the hot oil, 2-3 at a time. After 10-15 seconds, pull the parchment paper away from the donuts (it should almost immediately release). Fry the donuts for 1-2 minutes on each side (2-4 minutes total), until golden brown.
5. Using a slotted spoon, carefully remove the donuts from the oil and to the rack with paper towels. Repeat with the remaining donuts.
6. While the other donuts are frying, dip the warm donuts into the glaze, making sure to generously coat both sides. Then place onto a cooling rack that’s positioned on top of a baking sheet to let the glaze set. If you are double glazing, wait for the first coat to just slightly set, then dip the donuts into the glaze again, making sure to coat both sides.
7. Serve warm with a cup of coffee.
8. Enjoy!
Strawberry Shortcake Crumbs
Ingredients
* 85 grams vanilla pudding mix (3 ounces)
* 85 grams strawberry jello (3 ounces)
* 1/4 cup all purpose flour
* 1/4 cup salted butter, softened
* 405 grams Golden Oreos (one package – 14.3 ounces)
Instructions
* Preheat the oven of 350 degrees F.
* Add the strawberry jello powder to a bowl along with the butter. The butter must be soft! It cannot be melted, but it must be super soft.
* Beat the butter into the jello until well combined. It will become very bright pink and look like sand.
* Now, add in the vanilla powder and beat it into the pink mixture.
* Finally, beat in the flour until mixed through and no white spots are left.
* Spread this mixture out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes.
* Remove from oven and allow to cool for 3 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to your fridge and let the mixture cool for at least 15 minutes.
* Using a food processor, dump in the Golden Oreos and pulse until the cookies are crumbly. You don’t want to over work the Oreos. Don’t aim for sand, but more like little pebbles. Transfer the crumbled cookies to a bowl and set aside.
* Retrieve the jello mixture from the fridge. Break it up into manageable pieces. Transfer the pieces to your food processor and pulse until crumbly. Again, don’t completely break down the pieces. Just like what you did with the Oreos, aim for pebble-sized pieces. Transfer the crumbs to the bowl with the Oreos.
* Use a spatula or spoon to toss and mix the pink strawberry crumbles into the beige Oreo crumbs until well combined.