Old Fashioned Buttermilk Doughnuts Recipes

OLD-FASHIONED CAKE DOUGHNUTS (DONUTS)

Steps:

• In a large bowl mix the sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.
• Add eggs, milk and melted butter. Beat well.
• Add 3 cups of the flour, beating until blended. Add one more cup of flour and beat well. The dough should be soft and sticky but firm enough to handle. If you feel its necessary, add up to 1/2 cup more flour.
• Cover with plastic wrap and chill for *at* *least* one hour.
• Remove your dough from the fridge and begin heating about 1" of oil to 360F in a large metal skillet.
• Working half the dough at a time, roll it out on a floured surface to about 1/2" thickness. Cut out circles using a doughnut cutter or large biscuit or cookie cutter. For the center, I actually use the cap off my martini shaker ;) to cut the holes.
• Gently drop the doughnuts in batches into the hot oil. Flip them over as they puff and turn them a couple more times as they cook. They will take about 2-3 minutes in total and will be lovely and golden brown all over.
• Remove from the oil and set them on paper towels or brown paper bag (that removes all the fat, you know).
• Douse them with sugar and cinnamon, icing, chocolate dipped with sprinkles or whatever you like.

OLD-FASHIONED BUTTERMILK DOUGHNUTS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat the potatoes, eggs, sugar, buttermilk, butter and lemon zest until blended. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and baking soda; gradually beat into potato mixture and mix well., Turn onto a lightly floured surface; roll to 1/2-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. doughnut cutter. In a deep cast-iron or electric skillet, heat oil to 375°. Fry doughnuts, a few at a time, until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Combine sugar and cinnamon; roll warm doughnuts in mixture.

BUTTERMILK DOUGHNUTS

Steps:

• Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Whisk buttermilk, white sugar, and eggs together in a bowl. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon together in another bowl. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture until combined; add butter and knead until a soft dough forms.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface and roll to 1/4-inch thick. Cut dough into doughnut shapes using a 2 1/2-inch doughnut cutter.
• Beat confectioners' sugar, margarine, and vanilla extract together in a bowl until smooth. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly, until desired glaze-consistency is reached.
• Working in batches, cook doughnuts in hot oil until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Transfer cooked doughnuts to a paper-towel lined plate to drain. Dip hot doughnuts into glaze to coat.

BAKED BUTTERMILK DONUTS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Adjust an oven rack to upper-middle position. Spray a donut pan with cooking spray.
• Sift flour, sugar, cornstarch, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
• Whisk buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and vanilla extract together in a smaller bowl.
• Pour melted and cooled shortening into flour mixture and stir until absorbed. Add buttermilk mixture and mix well. Let batter rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Pour a scant tablespoon of batter into the well of each donut cup in the prepared pan. Use the back of a spoon to distribute batter evenly across the bottom of each; you won't use up all of the batter in this batch.
• Bake in the preheated oven on the upper-middle rack until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven; let cool in the pan for 2 to 3 minutes before removing onto a wire rack.
• Place powdered sugar into a small paper bag. Toss warm doughnuts in powdered sugar to coat.
• Spray the donut pan with cooking spray again. Spoon batter in tablespoonfuls into the hot pan for the next batch.
• Bake donuts in the preheated oven on the upper-middle rack until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool for 2 to 3 minutes before removing from the pan and toss in powdered sugar.

BAKED OLD-FASHIONED DONUTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray two 6-cavity doughnut pans with non-stick cooking spray.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla extract.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and gently stir together until just combined.
• Divide the batter into the prepared donut pans, filling almost full.
• Bake for 7-9 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly pressed.
• In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon.
• As soon as the donuts are cooled enough to handle (but still warm), remove from pan and coat in cinnamon-sugar. Set on a wire rack to cool.

BUTTERMILK POTATO DOUGHNUTS THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY

Steps:

• Cube peeled potatoes into 1 inch chunks and place them in a steamer basket over simmering water. Simmer, covered, until they are very soft and completely give way under the pressure of a fork. Immediately press the hot potatoes through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl. Weigh the riced potato to make sure you have 8oz and set the bowl aside to cool while you assemble the rest.
• Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl and mix thoroughly. (Weigh the dry ingredients and set half aside if you are planning to make two batches of doughnuts.)
• Place the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix until the sugar has dissolved and the eggs lighten in color.
• Add the buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla and continue to mix with the whisk attachment until well combined. Add the mashed potatoes and continue whisking until there are no obvious lumps. (Weigh these wet ingredients and set half of it aside in an air tight container in the fridge if you plan to make doughnuts tomorrow as well.)
• Switch out the whisk for the paddle attachment and add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in two portions. Continue mixing until the dough begins to come together and pull away from the edges of the bowl of the stand mixer. (If using Einkorn wheat, feel free to add flour here if the dough seems way too wet.)
• When ready to fry your doughnuts it will pay to clear the area on either side of your stove and remove anything extraneous, including your children. You will need a medium sized pot, a candy thermometer (a clip to hold the thermometer on the edge of your pan is very useful). Lay out a piece of parchment paper to the left of your fry pot and sprinkle it with flour so the raw, cut doughnuts do not stick to the paper. Place a baking wrack double lined with paper towels to the right side of the fry pot for the recently fried doughnuts. Place an easily visible timer somewhere within arms reach.
• Begin heating your lard. Put enough lard in the pan that it's at least three inches deep when melted. If possible turn on your range hood so that the house doesn't smell crazy when you're finished. Crack a nearby window with a fan blowing out if you don't have a hood. The lard will come to temperature slowly and make little popping sounds - that's moisture that's escaping. Don't worry. Heat to 365F and then manage the heat carefully to ensure that it stays at this temperature while frying. If the lard gets much hotter than this it will scorch the doughnuts. If you fry doughnuts much cooler than this (330 - 350F) the dough will take up too much fat and become heavy in your tum tum.
• Lightly flour (or heavily flour if using Einkorn) a clean work surface. Dust the top of the dough with flour. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a rectangle of sorts, 3/8ths to 1/2 inch thick. Use a doughnut cutter dredged in flour and press it into your dough, but do not twist. Twisting binds up the sides of the dough and prevents each doughnut from expanding as much as it would otherwise. Wipe the sides of the cutter after each use, since the dough can be wet, and re-coat with flour. Place each cut doughnut and hole on the parchment paper you carefully laid out to the left of your fry pot. You can lightly knead the scraps together and press or roll the remaining dough as flat as you did before to get the last few doughnuts possible. (Alternately you can follow me down to Braid Town: I take the scraps and roll them into little snakes - usually there are 5. I press the ends together and then kind of squint/cross my eyes and try to see patterns that if repeated will create a coherent braid. It's really fun. I pinch the end of this creation and smush both ends together so that it forms a circle. I fry this one huge braid first because - whatever. It's a one-off weird thing and it will be good to practice frying something once before the real doughnuts are up. It's also fun to have one big doughnut that can be sliced and shared at the table, but it is prone to failure, so do as you wish.)
• With a slotted spatula or spoon gently lower a doughnut into the hot lard and follow with another one or two depending on the size of your pot. (You may need to turn the heat up a little to account for the cooling affect of the cold dough.) Monitor the lard temperature closely. The ideal frying temperature is between 360-365F. The doughnuts will sink beneath the surface of the lard initially but come bobbing back to the surface as they cook. Flip each doughnut once every minute. The doughnuts will take approximately 4 minutes to complete cooking. Remove each doughnut with a slotted spoon and place on the paper towel lined rack to the right of your fry pot to cool. Repeat this process until all the doughnuts you cut have been fried. Now fry your holes about 9 at a time. Holes also take approximately 4 minutes to cook. The best results come from stirring the lard constantly with two chopsticks so that the holes are able do somersaults and cook evenly on all sides.
• If you plan to adorn your doughnuts wait until they have cooled slightly and get creative. Toss them in cinnamon sugar? Sprinkle with powdered sugar? Make a basic glaze? To do this, whisk a tablespoon or two of milk, half and half, or cream into a ½ cup of sifted powdered sugar. Mix vigorously until the glaze is smooth and then dip the tops of each doughnut into the glaze, shaking off the excess. Now you can take your glaze to Flavor Town! Add citrus zest, or vanilla, or finely ground coffee, or cocoa powder, or sprinkles! We can't wait to see what you do with your doughnuts.