Treat Day Wednesday–Vanilla Bean Glazed & Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

Alleluia school is back in session!!!  I can finally get more done in a day without having to hear “I’m bored”, “I’ve got nothing to do”,  “play with us”, or my favourite “entertain us”.  Nobody told me that when you had kids you were to entertain them 24-7, not sure I would have signed up.

But now they are back at school and I can go back to doing what I love to do, test recipes.  So what sparked this attempt?? As a Canadian, we love our donuts and this week news spread like wild fire about Burger King buying a Canadian icon, Tim Hortons or Timmies as we call it.  Now this could mean that Timmies might come farther south and I’d be down with that.  I love me my Timmies.

So that being said, I was craving some donuts.  I’ve never made fried dough donuts before and since the kids were gone, this was my chance.

I made the dough on Tuesday, as it requires to be chilled for 24 hours.  Of course, I was anxious and after 3 hours of chilling I pulled off some dough and tried to make some.  Bad idea, they didn’t rise  much and I burned the crap out of them.  I stepped away and left the rest in the fridge over night.

The next morning I took the dough out to proof and then I rolled it out and cut the donuts and let them rise.  This is my kryptonite, I hate waiting.  But the waiting paid off.  The donuts doubled in size and when I fried them up, they turned out perfect.  Apparently you shouldn’t guess when the donuts are done, timing is everything.

                            

Donut Dough:

• 1.5 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1 cups granulated sugar
• 2.5 cup cold milk
• 8 cup flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 tablespoons salt
• 2 whole eggs
• 2 ounces egg yolks
• 1.5 cups shortening

1. Add all ingredients in order to bowl of a stand mixer.  Using a dough hook, turn on low and mix until dough becomes smooth and elastic (15-20 minutes)
2. Put dough into a greased bowl.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.
3. Take out of fridge and let come to room temperature (about two hours).  Don’t rush, trust me.
4. Roll out on floured surface and cut out donuts using either a donut cutter or two round cutters (3” and 1”).  Cover and let proof one hour in dry warm spot.
5. Preheat 6 cups canola oil in a dutch oven or deep fryer.  Use a candy thermometer to monitor the temperature.  Don’t let the oil get hotter than 350 degrees.
6. Fry one or two at a time.  If too many, the oil temperature will drop.  Fry each donut 45-60 seconds per side.  They should be a beautiful golden brown colour.
7. Remove from oil and let sit on paper towel to drain.  Continue until all donuts and holes are done.
8. While still warm, the donuts can then be dipped in vanilla bean glaze or cinnamon sugar.
9. Enjoy!  Lets just say I ate a few of these.

Vanilla Bean Glaze

• 3 cups confectioners sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste

1. Whisk together until combined.  If too thick, add more milk; if too thin, add more sugar.

Cinnamon Sugar

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup cinnamon

1. Mix together until combined.

So what did the kids think?  Abby loved them, even brought a few friends over to try.  Rowan decided she didn’t want to try and asked for cheesies.  We joke that Rowan isn’t a true Canadian, she’s been in the US longer than she lived in Canada, hence why she doesn’t appreciate a really good donut.

I also offered them to friends on our street because I made a double recipe, so I had a few lying around.  They got thumbs up all around.  Even the guys who came to clean the carpets gave them 4 thumbs up. So I’ll say success all around.

So these are a must!

Thanks for looking!

Battle of the Donuts–Fried Vs. Baked

Do you have a donut side?  Sprinkles vs sugar? Filled vs non-filled? Or more importantly fried vs. baked?

I’m a Canadian and we love our donuts.  More specifically we love our Tim Horton’s donuts.  So it only seemed right to give them a whirl.  I was a bit hesitant to try fried donuts because I love them so much  and that I knew I’d eat them all. Sadly, I almost did.   I also write this as I watch Donut Showdown on The Cooking Channel.  Sheer coincidence actually since I started this Friday but fun non-the-less.

I just made a simple yeast based dough and then made them both ways.  Saturday I made baked and today (Sunday) I made fried.  Same donut dough, same glaze different cooking technique.

Dough Recipe:

• 1 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 2/3 cup cold milk
• 5 1/4 cup flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 tsp tablespoons salt
• 2 whole eggs
• 6.6 ounces shortening

1. In bowl of a stand mixer combine all the ingredients together with dough hook.
2. Mix for 10-15 minutes on low.  The dough will become quite elastic.
3. Place in greased bowl, cover and refrigerate over night.
4. Remove from fridge and let dough come up to room temperature.
5. Roll out to 1/4-1/2 inch thick.  Cut using circle cutters or donut cutter.  Let rise 30 minutes.
6. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven
7. or Heat 3 cups of oil in a medium sized sauce pan to 350 degrees.  Fry donuts 2-3 minutes until golden and then flip and repeat.  Remove from oil.
8. Dust with cinnamon sugar and drizzle with glaze. (1 cup icing sugar 1 tbsp milk).
9. Let cool for 5 minutes and then enjoy!!!

Both of these were awesome but it was a tie for which one my family liked better. Abby and Rob preferred the fried and Rowan and I preferred the baked. But when push came to shove, I’d eat both gladly :)

The baked ones were denser and didn’t have the traditional donut look, where as the fried were a more tradition donut texture with the rounded edges that most would expect from their donut.  Obviously the baked were a titch healthier but to be honest, neither were like eating your veggies :)

Go ahead and make your own decisions. Just be careful because one tastes like more ;)

Thanks for looking!

Happy Non-Valentines Day ;)

Who’s a fan of Valentine’s day?  Who buys into the forced showing of affection day? The day the florists charge 3 times more for the same flowers you can get on any other day.  Where chocolates become the symbol of love and Hallmark is the only one who can tell your love how you feel.

Yup, I’m a hater!  No one should tell you where or when to tell someone you love them.  Or that only on this day of the year you should buy cheap chocolate(that taste like crap) and those over priced flowers, (that usually die the next day), to tell someone that you care about them.  You deserve so much more than that and so do I!

Who’s with me?

Anytime you want you should buy flowers for the one who holds your heart.  Whisper in their ear at the movies that you love them.  Hold hands whenever and where ever you want and spontaneous hugs are the best!

I know, some of my friends are asking who is actually writing this as I’m not the best displayer of affection out there.  Growing up, PDA…Public Displays of Affection weren’t something that our clan dd.  In fact it was frowned upon.  It’s a weakness or so I was told.  But as I’ve gotten older and maybe a little wiser, I’ve learned that not showing it is the weakness.  So I may not hug my friends as much as I should, but when it comes to my kids and my husband, I am that complete mush.

So when I found this awesome heart shaped donut pan at Target, I thought originally to wait until Valentines day.  But why wait???

So I give you heart shaped caramel donuts!

I don’t normally but I decided to be a cheater and use Pillsbury Flaky biscuits, homemade caramel sauce and a dusting of powdered sugar and voila, a tasty non-Valentine treat!

Recipe:

• 1 can Pillsbury Flakey Grands Biscuits
• 3 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp heavy cream
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. In saucepan, combine butter, cream and sugar. Heat until completely combined.
3. Spoon the caramel sauce into the bottom of each donut spot on pan.
4. Using a small circle cutter, turn the round biscuits into donuts by removing the center.
5. Place biscuit into heart shaped pan and form to fit.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
7. Let sit for 5 minutes before removing from pan.
8. Dust with powdered sugar.
9. Enjoy!

You could probably coat these biscuits in cinnamon sugar for some added goodness!

Don’t worry I’ll be doing some real Valentine treats, I do have kids :)

Happy Non-Valentines Day everyone!  Make these delightful little devils and go hug someone you love!

Thanks for looking!

Linking with:
Crazy Sweet Tuesday
The Kurtz Corner
Tea Party Tuesday
Get Your Craft On
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Mrs Fox's Sweets
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These Chicks Cook
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Sweet Treat Thursday