A Recipe For Two Doughnuts

Here’s the thing:  when my brain convinces me that I need a homemade doughnut, it’s not telling me that I need a dozen homemade doughnuts.  As a solo person in a houseful of cakes, I’ve come to hack desserts to half their size for my own sanity.  Remember ages ago when I made Single Lady Pancakes? Yup:  spot on.  I even remade them here with a massive amount of blueberries The Single Pancake. Not a single regret. 

I’d also like to remind you of French Toast For One (or Two), which is a tremendous idea any day of the week.  

Which brings us to doughnuts – a recipe for just two.  Both for you or a wonderful opportunity to display your unlimited generosity.  

They’re twisted, yeasted doughnuts (not a bit of dough is wasted) drenched in cinnamon sugar.  

How ’bout it? 

Here’s what you’ll need doughnut friends:  

•  a cup of flour

•  an egg, a pat of butter, and a dash more than a splash of whole milk

•  yeast and warm water, sugar, and salt

•  oil for frying

•  cinnamon and sugar for dredging.  

We’ve made all sorts of doughnuts around here.  For a step-by-step of doughnut dough in the making see Banana Cream Pie Doughnuts.  

I use an electric stand mixer with a dough hook to bring the dough together.  It’s actually very simple, once the yeast is combined with the warm water to activate it, the rest of the ingredients are just combined in the bowl and mixed to smooth.  

The fat will make a velvet smooth and pliable dough. 

Allow the dough to rest in a warm place in the kitchen for an hour or so.  It will puff and double in size. It’s really very satisfying. 

Now let’s make two doughnuts! 

Divide the risen dough in half. 

Roll each half into a 15-inch dough rope.  

I find that I needed a bit of flour, but really not much at all.  You want the dough to stick to the counter just a bit, giving it enough resistance to stretch.  

Fold the dough rope in half so the ropes are parallel. 

And start to twist.  

This is where it also helps to have the dough be just slightly sticky.  It will help the dough ropes stick together once twisted.  

Twist to the end and tuck the edges under, sealing with a pinch.  

Let the twists rest for about 30 minutes.  The dough will puff up lightly and the inside twist will start to stick together. 

While the dough rests and rises we can whisk together the cinnamon and sugar in a large bowl.  

And we can start to heat the oil.  

I used 1 quart (that’s 4 cups) of oil in a 3 quart saucepan.  Even though we’re only making two doughnuts, we need enough oil, and depth of oil, to fully submerge and float our frying doughnut.  

What I’m saying is, don’t try to skimp on the oil.  We need this.  

For best results, exercise extreme patience and fry one doughnut at a time. 

The dough is cooked in hot hot oil (355 degrees F to be exact – get thyself a fry thermometer) to golden brown.  

From hot oil to a cinnamon sugar bath, and maybe an extra cinnamon sugar shower. Get it on there. 

All that hard work? 

We deserve a second cup of coffee and some quality time with this twist.  Call a friend, or you know… don’t. 

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