Flower Donuts

• 份量: 12 servings
• 准备时间: 30 minutes
• 总时间: 3 hours 20 minutes

配料

3/4 cup (180ml) milk of choice, warmed to ~110F (I place in the microwave for ~45 seconds; it should feel like a warm bath, but not too hot)

1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar, divided

2 1/2 tsp (11g) active dry yeast (substitution: instant yeast)

1/2 cup (120g) Greek yogurt or sour cream, at room temperature

1/2 cup (113g) salted butter, melted and slightly cooled

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp (4g) vanilla bean paste or extract

4 cups (480g) bread flour (substitution: all-purpose flour)

1 tsp salt

Avocado oil (or oil of choice), for frying

2 1/2 cups (300g) powdered sugar

4-6 tbsp (60ml-90ml) milk of choice

1/2 cup (113g) salted butter, melted and slightly cooled

1 tsp (4g) vanilla bean paste or extract

Large pinch of salt

Favorite preserves/jams of choice, or lemon curd

步骤

Start by activating the yeast for the dough. Pour the warm milk into a small bowl or glass measuring cup. Add 1 tbsp (12g) of the granulated sugar and sprinkle the yeast overtop. Stir and allow to sit for 5-7 minutes, until frothy and activated. If using instant yeast, no need to wait for it to bloom; go straight into mixing the dough together!

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Set aside.

Once activated, pour the yeast mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if mixing/kneading the dough by hand). Add the rest of the sugar (1/4 cup minus the 1 tbsp that was used to activate the yeast), Greek yogurt or sour cream, melted and cooled butter, eggs, vanilla, and the flour mixture.

With the dough hook attachment (or with a wooden spoon if mixing by hand), mix on low speed for 1 minute, until barely combined. Allow to rest for 5 minutes so the flour can soak up the liquids.

Then, mix on medium speed for 5-7 minutes, until the dough is elastic, smooth, and is pulling away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough seems a little too sticky, you can add 1 tbsp more flour at a time, until it starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Don’t add too much, you want the dough to be slightly sticky! I ended up adding ~2 tbsp more flour. If you are mixing and kneading by hand, pour the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 5-7 minutes by hand.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and allow to rise in a warm environment for 1-1.5 hours, or until doubled in size. I did a full 1.5 hours!

Once the dough is almost finished rising, cut out 10-12 squares of parchment paper and spread them across 2 baking sheets. These will be used for the donuts to sit on once shaped and make it easier to transfer the donuts to the oil once ready to fry.

Once the dough is doubled, punch it down and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out to ~1/2” thickness. Using a 3” donut cutter, cup, or mason jar lid, cut the donuts out. Take the remaining dough an re-roll to cut out more donuts (the ones that come from the re-rolled dough won’t be as pretty, but will still look great). You should get 10-12 donuts total.

Place the donuts onto the prepared parchment paper squares on the baking sheets.

To cut out the petals to create the flower shape, make six cuts (about 3/4”-1” long), equally spaced out along the circumference of the circle. Use your fingers to lightly squeeze and pinch just the edges of the petals to make them more rounded (see video above for visuals if needed).

Use the end of a wooden spoon, another utensil, or your finger to make an indent in the center of each flower donut (the hole should be about a 1/2” wide). When you are pressing down, press down as far as you can without going through the donut, you don’t want to press all the way through so the filling can sit nicely in the center once they’re fried!

Loosely cover the baking sheets with the donuts on them with a kitchen towel and allow to proof for 30-45 minutes, until puffy.

While the donuts are proofing, prepare the vanilla bean glaze. In a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, melted butter, vanilla, and salt, until well combined and smooth. The mixture should be pretty runny, this will give you a nice thin, crackly coating. If you want to double dip/glaze the donuts, I recommend doubling the glaze portion. I personally did this, and they turned out great!

When the donuts are almost done proofing, fill a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven with oil, filling ~2” in the pan. Heat on medium-high until it reaches 350F-365F.

Once the oil is hot enough, carefully transfer the parchment paper squares with the donuts on them slowly into the hot oil, 2-3 at a time. After 10-15 seconds, pull the parchment paper away from the donuts (it should almost immediately release). Fry the donuts for 1-2 minutes on each side (2-4 minutes total), until golden brown.

Using a slotted spoon, carefully remove the donuts from the oil and to the rack with paper towels. Repeat with the remaining donuts.

While the other donuts are frying, dip the warm donuts into the glaze, making sure to generously coat both sides. Then place onto a cooling rack that’s positioned on top of a baking sheet to let the glaze set. If you are double glazing, wait for the first coat to just slightly set, then dip the donuts into the glaze again, making sure to coat both sides. Some of the glaze will settle into the center of the indentation you made, you can use a small spoon to remove some it to create space for the preserves/curd.

Once the glaze has set, spoon a small dollop of your favorite preserves, jam, or lemon curd into the center of each flower donut.

Serve warm with a cup of coffee.

Enjoy!