Cinnamon & Sugar Donuts

Donuts. Cinnamon and sugar donuts. Just saying those words remind me of Donut King’s melt-in-your-mouth fresh-outta-the-fryer donuts. Hot, soft, sweet donuts. My very favorite.

Safe to say, I was pretty eager to try this recipe out when I came across it. It’s originally from Lara Ferroni’s book Doughnuts and they're ah-mazing let me tell ya. But oh, one does not simply describe these doughnuts as amazing. I think irresistibly-tasty-softer-than-soft-melt-in-your-mouth-donuts would describe them somewhat better.

I must mention that these do need a bit of preparation in advance. One hour waiting for the dough to rise, plus a further 20 minutes waiting for the donuts to double in size. But I think it’s so worth it. When you eat them hot and fresh outta the oven {yes! They’re baked! That makes them healthy… ish} you forget about all that. And, you also forget about that mountain of washing-up you now have waiting for you. Fortunately for me though I have an in-house dishwasher person who mostly doesn’t mind doing the washing up for me. Woo!

This recipe itself is fairly easy to put together so what are you waiting for? Go make yourselves a batch now! They’re really good.

Cinnamon & Sugar Donuts

{makes 18}

Note: I don’t have a cookie cutter so I used a cup and an eggcup to make the donut shape instead. It worked a treat!

1 egg
1/4 cup castor sugar
1 cup milk, slightly warmed
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ½  to 3 ½ cups all purpose flour, divided, plus more for kneading
1/2 cup butter, cut into cubes and at room temperature

Topping:
½ cup butter, melted
1 cup castor sugar + 2 tablespoons cinnamon (more or less, depending on your taste), mixed together

In a bowl, beat the egg and sugar on medium speed until blended, about 1 minute. Add the slightly warmed milk, yeast, salt and vanilla, and stir to blend. Let it sit for a minute for the yeast to become active. With the machine on low speed, add 2 cups of flour, about 1/2 cup at a time, and beat until the dough is thick and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Switch to the dough hook. With the machine on medium speed, add the butter one piece at a time, and beat until no large chunks of butter are left in the bottom of the bowl, 3-5 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add the additional flour until the dough gathers around the hook and cleans the sides of the bowl. It will be soft and moist, but not overly sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead gently until the dough no longer sticks to your hands. Lightly grease a large mixing bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl and turn to coat. Cover with a damp tea towel and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Punch down the dough and roll out to 1/2 inch thick. With a doughnut or a cookie cutter, cut out 3 inch diameter rounds with 1 inch diameter holes. Preheat the oven to 200 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the doughnuts at least 1 inch apart on the baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm spot until nearly doubled in size, about 20 minutes.

Bake until the doughnuts are light golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes, being very careful not to overbake them. Immediately out of the oven, dip into butter, then directly into cinnamon sugar mixture.

Note #2: Don’t be like me and try to get as much cinnamon and sugar mixture as possible on the donut. Give the donut a really good shake after you’ve coated it with the mixture because you really can have too much sugar on these.

These are best eaten immediately after they're made.