Warm Yeast-Raised Glazed Doughnuts

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Pillowy yeast doughnuts with a shatter-thin vanilla glaze that soaks in while they're still hot. The whole recipe is built around two things that decide whether doughnuts are great or greasy: knowing exactly when the dough is proofed, and holding your oil at 360°F. One dough, clear cues, no doughnut fryer required.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup whole milk, warmed to 110°F
• 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast (one 1/4-oz packet)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 tbsp unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces

• 6 cups neutral oil, such as canola or peanut (about 2 quarts)

• 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/4 cup whole milk, plus up to 2 tbsp more
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp fine sea salt

Instructions

1. Whisk the warm milk (110°F — warm bath temperature, not hot), yeast, and 1 tablespoon of the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let it sit 5 minutes until foamy on top. If nothing happens, your yeast is dead; start over.
2. Add the remaining sugar, the flour, salt, egg yolks, whole egg, and vanilla. Mix with the dough hook on low for 2 minutes until a shaggy dough forms, then increase to medium-low and knead 4 minutes.
3. With the mixer running on medium-low, add the softened butter a piece at a time, waiting until each is absorbed. Once all the butter is in, knead 6 to 8 minutes more. The dough is ready when it pulls away from the sides of the bowl in a smooth, slightly tacky mass and a stretched piece turns translucent without tearing. By hand: knead 12 to 15 minutes on a lightly floured counter.
4. Scrape the dough into a greased bowl, cover, and let rise at warm room temperature for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until doubled and domed. Press it with a floured finger — the dent should fill back in slowly, not instantly.
5. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured counter and pat (don't roll hard) to an even 1/2-inch thickness. Cut rounds with a 3-inch cutter and holes with a 1-inch cutter. Gather scraps, rest 10 minutes, pat out again, and cut the rest. You should get 12 doughnuts plus holes.
6. Set the doughnuts and holes on squares of parchment on two baking sheets, at least 2 inches apart. Cover loosely with a clean towel and proof 45 to 60 minutes. They're ready when visibly puffy, jiggly when you shake the pan, and a light touch leaves a dent that springs back only halfway. Under-proofed doughnuts fry up dense; over-proofed ones collapse and drink oil.
7. While they proof, whisk all glaze ingredients in a wide bowl until smooth and just pourable — it should coat a spoon and drip off in a ribbon. Add milk 1 teaspoon at a time if too thick. Set a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet.
8. Pour oil into a heavy 5- to 6-quart Dutch oven to a depth of 2 inches and heat over medium to 360°F on a clip-on thermometer. Keep the thermometer in the pot the whole time and adjust the burner constantly: below 350°F the doughnuts go greasy, above 375°F they brown before the centers cook.
9. Lift a doughnut on its parchment square, invert it into the oil, and peel the paper off with tongs. Fry 2 or 3 at a time, 60 to 75 seconds per side, flipping once when the underside is deep golden and a pale ring shows around the middle. Total time is about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes.
10. Transfer to the rack. Let the oil climb back to 360°F between batches. Fry the doughnut holes last, 45 to 60 seconds total, rolling them with a spider or slotted spoon.
11. Glaze while the doughnuts are still hot to the touch, about 1 minute out of the oil: dip one face, then the other, let excess drip off, and return to the rack. The heat thins the glaze so it sinks in and sets into a thin crackly shell.
12. Let the glaze set 10 minutes and eat within the hour — these are at their absolute best warm and do not keep.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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