Old-Fashioned Yeast Doughnuts
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm milk
- 1/4 cup sugar plus extra for dusting doughnuts
- Pinch of salt, or to taste
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil plus additional for frying
- 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour, approximately
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg or mace
- Place the water in a large bowl or in the bowl of an electric mixer.
- Sprinkle the yeast over it and stir it in.
- Add the milk, quarter-cup sugar, salt, egg and three tablespoons vegetable oil and mix.
- Beat in one cup of the flour until the mixture is smooth.
- Sift another cup of flour with the nutmeg or mace and stir it into the batter mixture with a wooden spoon.
- Add enough of the remaining flour to make a soft but manageable dough.
- Cover and set aside to rise until doubled, about one hour.
- Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a well-floured surface.
- Dust it liberally with flour and knead 8 or 10 times, until elastic and smooth.
- Cover dough with large inverted bowl and rest for 15 minutes.
- Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough to one-half-inch thickness.
- Cut with a floured three-inch doughnut cutter and, using a spatula, carefully place the cut doughnuts on a floured cloth or surface.
- Reroll the scraps and cut more doughnuts.
- Cover the cut doughnuts with a cloth and allow to rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, pour at least two inches of oil into a deep pan and bring it to 375 degrees over moderate heat.
- When the doughnuts have risen, slide them into the oil with a spatula and fry them, two or three at a time a minute or so on each side, until golden brown.
- Lift them out of the oil with a slotted spoon and place them on several thicknesses of paper towel to drain.
- Dust them with sugar while they are still warm.
warm water, active dry yeast, warm milk, sugar, salt, egg, vegetable oil, unbleached flour, ground nutmeg
Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/4049 (may not work)