Sourdough Doughnuts

Deep fat frying terrifies to me. I don't have, and will never have, a fryer as I'm not a fan of specialized kitchen equipment. Though, I make an exception for the garlic press. In the long run, it is probably a good thing for my health that I fear pots of boiling oil. However, there are some things that are worth facing my phobia for. One of these happens to be sourdough doughnuts. I know of nowhere that it is possible to buy sourdough doughnuts. In fact, other than the ones I've made I don't think I've ever had them. Like most things sourdough I find them absolutely delicious.

Doughnuts are in some ways the quintessential American food. There is a bit of a debate as to where they originated, but most believe they evolved in Dutch settlements. The term doughnuts is found going back to the first decade of the 18th century; so, they have been around for a while. The idea of fry bread isn't revolutionary. The interesting thing about a doughnut is its shape, and the various toppings and fillings that have been developed for it. At some point, someone put a hole in the middle of their dough and discovered the modern doughnut. With the hole, it was easier to get the doughnut cooked through uniformly instead of having a gooey middle and a too crispy crust.

Doughnuts are really quite simple to make as long as you disregard the hot oil part. The general idea is that you are making a sweet bread, rolled it into a rope, and pinched together to make a circle. You let the doughnuts sit to rise, fry them in hot oil for just over a minute, top with whatever you desire and eat. Like many things, doughnuts are also much tastier when they are still warm from cooking, and warm doughnuts are difficult to find anywhere. The technique for making doughnuts is the same regardless of if they are sourdough or not, so if you do not have sourdough starter don't despair. Just make your favorite sweet bread, or look up a recipe for doughnut dough, and then follow the frying instructions below.

For me, the biggest issue with most doughnut recipes is the quantity they make. First, they are best fresh; so you don't want to make too many. Second, most of the time I am cooking for two, and forty doughnuts is too many regardless of how tasty they are. As doughnut recipes usually have eggs in them it is difficult to cut them down under the one egg level. Last time I did it, I made the below recipe for 20 doughnuts, and then got creative with the left over dough.

For: Sourdough Doughnuts (recipe adapted from epicurean.com)

1 cup Sourdough Starter
1/2 cup lukewarm milk or butter milk
1 cup flour
1 egg
2 Tbs oil
2 Tbs sugar (more if you like sweeter doughnuts)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Extra flour for kneading
Oil for frying-- The best common oils for frying are canola, vegetable, and peanut. Or you can of course use lard. Don't use olive oil as its smoke point is too low and you will likely burn the oil while trying to fry the doughnuts.

These are yeast doughnuts and need to rise, so start them a bit early. You can start them the night before if you want to do a double rise, but I would say it usually is not necessary. If you do start the night before, leave out the soda. Your doughnuts will be more sour but should still be light due to the long rise time.

Mix together the starter, milk, and 3/4 a cup of the flour until smooth. Add eggs and oil and beat well.

In a separate bowl mix remaining 1/4 cup flour, sugar, salt and soda. Combine with the starer mixture.

Either knead the dough in the bowl by adding extra flour and then working the flour in with your hands or a spoon, or turn the dough onto a well floured surface and knead until the dough is soft and has absorbed about 1/2 cup of flour. It will still be a bit sticky, especially since sourdough is always more sticky than normal dough. You do not want to knead the dough for too long, just knead enough to get the flour worked in and the dough smooth. The longer you knead it for, the tougher the doughnuts will be.

Once you are happy with the consistency of your dough, grease a baking sheet, flour your hands, take a generous handful of dough, roll it with your hands into a dough rope about 5 inches long, and then join the two ends to form a circle. Place the raw doughnut on the baking sheet and repeat. You can make your doughnuts as big or as small as you like. It makes the cooking easier if they are all close to the same size. Once you have made as many doughnuts as you wish, set the rest of the dough aside, and cover. Cover the sheet of doughnuts with a dry dish towel and let rise for 45 minutes.

When there is about 10 minutes left in your rise time add oil to a pot. The oil needs to be about three to four inches deep. A small soup pot usually works if you're only making a couple of doughnuts. Place the pot on a burner at medium high and allow the oil to heat. If you have a thermometer then let the oil heat up to 375 degrees and maintain it at this temperature. I don't usually use a thermometer, so I let it heat for 5 to 10 minutes and then test it with a pinch of dough.

To test the oil, put a bit of dough on a spoon and carefully lower into the pot. With boiling oil you never want to make sudden movements. If you surprise it, it will start popping and crackling and spit all over you. Trust me, oil burns are never fun. If when added, the small ball of dough starts sizzling immediately then the oil is ready. If not then let the oil heat for longer, and turn the heat up on the burner. Test again in another two minutes. If the doughball sizzles like crazy and turns a burnt dark brown color then it's too hot. Reduce the temperature, wait a few minutes, and repeat the doughball test.

Once you're happy with the oil temperature, take a doughnut off the sheet and with a utensil (tongs, a metal spatula, silverware) or your fingers carefully lower it into the oil. The side that was facing up on the baking sheet should be facing up in the oil. Add as many doughnuts as the pan will hold without becoming too crowded. Let them fry for about a minute and then, with metal tongs or a fork with a long handle, flip them over and fry for another minute. If the oil is hot enough they should cooked through after two minutes. Take out of the oil with tongs and place on a plate lined with paper towels. Finish cooking any remaining doughnuts.

Last time I made these I coated them with cinnamon sugar (1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 - 1 tsp cinnamon) and served while still warm with honey. You can top them with whatever you like, but the cinnamon sugar and honey went quite well with the sourdough flavor.

Now, what to do with that left over dough? Well, I let mine rise until double and then formed it into a braided bread (make three long dough ropes and braid together) and placed it on a pizza stone dusted with cornmeal (you could use a greased baking sheet). You can brush with an egg wash if you would like to make it shiny. Then let it rise for another 30 minutes and bake it at 375 for 25 minutes. You also don't need to braid it, instead just shove the dough into a bread pan. Sourdough doughnut bread is almost as good as sourdough doughnuts and makes tasty french toast.