Doughnuts, a work in progress

I love doughnuts.

I really, really do.

However, the nearest Krispy Kreme is 40 minutes away, and getting them at the Giant isn't the same, unless you get there early in the morning.
(True, there's a dunkin' donuts only 5 minutes away...but...I'm a krispy kreme girl)
And the Safeway colossal doughuts are good, but tooooo big, and they don't have enough glaze for my liking.
So, logically, I've been trying to make my own doughnuts.

This past time will be the 4th or so time I've tried to make them, and definitely the best.
The reasoning? My stupid thermometer must not be calibrated properly (yes, it's giant-faced dial one, but I can't splurge on a nice digital one just yet). It would tell me the temperature was 350, when it was really probably 450...which, as you can figure, leads to hard, nearly burnt doughnuts with raw insides. D:

Eventually (read: Wednesday), I discovered that problem. My doughnut worries are over!

So today, I tried this recipe, and it was fantastic. The only problem was that I undercooked them slightly (the inside was cooked fine, at least), because I was still worried about burning them. XD

My doughnut making set up.
Left: Draining station
Center: Glaze (red) Cinnamon sugar (white)
Right: Decoration station.

Rising doughnuts

Glaze, a little thin.



Yeast Risen Doughnuts (Not donuts!) :
2 cups of flour (using high protein/bread flour = good idea. I had dumped in a cup of all purpose before remembering that I'd bought bread flour for just this reason...and they still turned out fine :P)
3/4 cup of sugar
5 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3 egg yolks (I TOTALLY FORGOT TO ADD THIS! And it still turned out okay. Next time, I'll remember them and see what the difference is, hahaha)
2 tsps instant yeast
Either 1/4 cup of dry/powdered milk + 1 cup of WARM water
OR
1 cup of warm milk (the recipe said to use the powdered milk, and I happened to have some, so I did)

Okay. See, you might have to add a lot more flour. I did. Just do it as you're kneading it. 'cause...this ended up being verrrry sticky.

Anyhoo, mix everything together, and knead until it's a nice soft dough.
Set it in a greased bowl, in a warm place, to rise until it's at least doubled in size.
After that, punch out some of the excess air, and roll out the dough to a 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch thickness. Cut out your doughnuts. (I use a bottlecap to make my doughnut holes, because I don't have any cutters small enough ;) )
Cover them, and let them rise in a warm place (warmth is soooo important) for at least an hour (but two hours is better, much better)
When you have about 15 minutes left, start heating 1-2 inches of oil in ...whatever, really. I used a 10 inch skillet :D
Get the oil to 350 degrees fahrenheit (medium, to medium-low heat on the stove should get you there, without the danger of burning the doughnuts. If you don't have a thermometer, just test using some doughnut holes )
Cook the doughnuts for about a minute on each side (you know, until they have that awesome color).
Draaaiiin, and either sprinkle with sugar (or cinnamon sugar) , or dip or drizzle with glaze.

Glaze? So simple. Milk + powdered sugar + vanilla. :)

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