once or twice a year i pull out grammy ellen's old recipe for doughnuts and mix some up. these were one of her specialties, along with those bread and butter pickles, her baked beans and some serious tea parties; complete with warm and gooey chocolate chip cookies.
this recipe makes a small and dense doughnut. there's no yeast involved. i use one of the old cutters my mother used to use::
here's where those paper bags come into play. this was always the best part, shaking them up with a nice sugar coating. o and bella took care of this step for me. one bag is sugar and one is cinnamon and sugar::
the recipe::
1 cup sugar
2 TBSP shortening
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
cream shortening and sugar together. slightly beat eggs, add milk then add this to the creamed mixture. add vanilla. sift in dry ingredients. roll out on floured board and cut out. handle as little as possible. fry in oil (about 375 degrees until nice and brown on both sides).
the dough is very very sticky. you'll need a lot of flour to work with it. the quicker you can get it cut and in the oil the better. its a little bit of work but its oh so worth it::
i usually pick a nice cool crisp fall morning to make these......but i just couldn't wait that long this year. i guess i'll have to make an additional batch when the leaves start changing......just to keep with routine!
