I make doughnuts on Father's Day each year and maybe one other day during the year because I really do not care for frying things. It's messy, it's a waste of oil, it's unhealthy, I'm sure you understand. But, I always make doughnuts on Father's Day. For the past 5 or 6 years I've been using a perfectly delicious doughnut recipe and I wasn't in search of a new one...but I found myself mixing up a batch of doughnuts just the other day...a day that was not Father's Day. But that is the kind of thing that happens when you are searching for something on pinterest...something that you didn't think would lead you to doughnuts, but you happened to see a page full of really tempting doughnut pictures plastered across your screen. You repin one of those pictures and then you see it again and again whenever you log into pinterest and before you know it there you are mixing up a batch of doughnuts.
Some things on pinterest don't live up to the hype, but these certainty do. They are super fast to make and completely delicious. They reminded us of the apple cider doughnuts we get when we take the kids to the pumpkin patch every fall. Feel free to coat them in cinnamon and sugar, powdered sugar, a sugar glaze, or dip them in chocolate. You really can not go wrong. So delicious!!!
They do require sourdough starter though, so if you don't have any you will have to grow one which takes a good week or so...which means that you'd better start now! By the way, sourdough starter isn't just for making sourdough bread...it makes a mighty fine batch of pancakes, waffles, english muffins, doughnuts, pita bread and more.
Sourdough Doughnuts
adapted from Under the High Chair - click on the link for a shortcut method to making a sourdough starter if you want to make these but don't want to grow your own wild yeast starter.
1/2 cup sourdough starter
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup buttermilk
oil for frying
Fill a medium sized heavy saucepan with 2 inches of oil. Over medium heat bring oil up to 360°F. Line a sheet pan with newspaper or paper towel and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. In a large bowl whisk the wet ingredients. Pour the dry ingredients into the large bowl and combine until a shaggy dough forms. Flour the counter and transfer dough onto counter. Knead a few times until all of the flour is combined and dough is smooth. Dust the counter a bit more and then roll dough out until it is 1 inch thick. Cut doughnuts out and reroll leftover dough as needed. Fry doughnuts until they are a nice dark golden brown, make sure to flip halfway through to cook evenly. Remove and place on lined sheet pan. These taste best fresh.