Sugar Doughnuts

📝 Ingredients

• 3½ cups (500 g/17.5 oz.) all-purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons (75 g /2.6 oz.) granulated sugar
• 2¼ teaspoons (7 g/0.25 0z) instant yeast
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk, lukewarm
• ¼ cup (1/2 stick/56 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small cubes
• 1 teaspoon lemon or orange zest (, optional)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon brandy or rum (, optional)
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons granulated sugar (, for coating)
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon (, for coating)
• 4 cups (1 liter) canola or vegetable oil, for frying

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Make the dough: In the bowl of a standing mixer, mix flour, sugar, and yeast. Fit mixer with the dough hook, and add egg, milk, butter, zest, vanilla extract, and brandy to the flour mixture. Mix on low-medium speed until a soft ball of dough starts to form, about 3 minutes. Add in salt. Keep mixing for 8 minutes, until dough is soft and elastic and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest in a warm place for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
2. 2Gently punch the dough to remove air. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into 1/2 –inch thickness. Cut into doughnuts using a doughnut cutter or with a 2¾-inch/7 cm round cutter and with a ¾-inch/2 cm round cutter for the holes (or use any cutter that you want or have available depending on your preferred doughnut size). Re-roll scraps and repeat. Place doughnuts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest to rise for about 60 minutes, or until doubled in size.
3. 3Make the cinnamon sugar mixture: Place 8 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon in a small bowl and toss to combine. Set aside.
4. 4Frying: In a large, deep, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat 2 in/5 cm of oil until a thermometer inserted into the oil reaches 300F/150C. If you don’t have a thermometer to test, insert a wooden spoon into the oil; it’s ready for frying when tiny bubbles appear around the stick. If it bubbles vigorously, it’s too hot. Carefully add doughnuts, a few at a time, depending on how large the saucepan is. Fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side. Drain doughnuts on a paper towel-lined plate. While doughnuts are still warm, dip them in cinnamon sugar mixture and coat from all sides.
5. 5Doughnuts are best the same day they are made.