Doughnuts are soft, but have a crunch when you bite into them; they are slightly salty from the dough, but sweet from the icing. Aren’t doughnuts such a heavenly combination of all things good? Not only are they tasty, they can be made into various sizes such a large and mini doughnuts and can also be used for a number of concepts, such as a doughnut sandwich, a doughnut cake and so much more! So without making you wait any longer, here is a simple and easy- to-use recipe for homemade doughnuts.

Ingredients and instruments:

490 g sifted plain flour

55 g caster sugar

3 teaspoons dried yeast

Pinch of salt

3 egg yolks

100 g butter

250 ml warm milk

Canola oil to fry (500 ml – 1 L)

Rolling pin

8 cm cutter (round)

3.5 cm cutter (round)

Baking tray

Mixing bowls

Instructions:

1. First combine all the dry ingredients (flour, caster sugar, dried yeast and salt) in a big bowl.
2. Make a hole in the middle of the dry ingredients and add all the wet ingredients (egg yolks, butter and milk).
3. Scatter some flour on a countertop and knead the dough until the dough is smooth. What is the purpose of kneading? It is simply to activate the glutens in the flour; this is what gives baked goods their structure and texture.
4. Grease a bowl using butter or oil and leave the dough at room temperature to prove or rise for about an hour and a half. You will notice that the dough doubles in size.
5. It’s time to knead again! Ensure you have scattered some flour over your countertop and start kneading and punching the dough for about two minutes.
6. Scatter some flour over a rolling pin and roll out the dough until it is about 1 centimeter thick. Leave the dough to rest for a minute or so.
7. Using your cutters, cut out the desired size. Use the 8 centimeter round cutter and then the 3.5 centimeter round cutter to cut out the centre, giving the doughnut its popular ring shape. Tip! Don’t throw out the centres; combine them and reroll to make more doughnuts.
8. Line a baking tray with baking paper or oil and carefully place each doughnut onto the tray. Leave it for about 20 minutes to slightly rise.
9. You can use a deep fryer, but if you don’t have one, a deep pot will do. Add the canola oil to the pot and let it heat up to 180 degrees celsius.
10. Depending on the size of your fryer or pot, you can fry three to four doughnuts at a time, for 40 seconds on each side until they are golden.

Now that your doughnuts are puffy and ready to eat, you can decorate them however you wish. You can opt for a cinnamon sugar coating, a simple sugar glaze, or you can add some coloured icing with as many toppings as you wish! An easy recipe with rewarding results, now you can enjoy your own homemade doughnuts. Remember to share some with your dearest and closest.