Pretzels

Okay, so this challenge was for October. It felt appropriate. This actually wasn’t originally on my list. I had Japanese Cheesecake on my list, but then someone I know made one, and it wasn’t that exciting to me, so then I decided on pretzels instead.

I will NOT call this a failure (ahem, unlike the mirror glaze cake), but it wasn’t awesome, and I have some tips for people if they were going to try it. Do as I say, not as I did.

Here’s the recipe I used: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/74590937563889060/

Ingredients:

1 c whole milk

1 packet active dry yeast *I ended up using instant yeast (more on this later)

3 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

2 ¼ c flour

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp baking soda

1 ½ c warm water

Coarse salt (for topping) *I didn’t have this… I thought I did. Double check. You’ll want this.

2 tbsp butter, melted for brushing later

1. Warm the milk in the microwave or on the stove for about a minute until 110 F. If it’s too hot, it will kill the yeast. *Going on a long side note, so bear with me. First of all, I think my milk was bad. I tried doing this in the microwave at first, which I never do- I always do it on the stove. It started to separate and curdle. I was like WTF. I stirred it, and it seemed okay, so I checked my temp. DO NOT put it at 110F- the packet says BETWEEN 100 – 110F. Trust the packet. I usually try for about 105 in case of thermometer being off a bit or something. Anyway, so microwaved milk + yeast. Did nothing. Nothing. So then I was like Ima do this on the stove. What if the microwaving fucked up my milk? (I don’t know if that’s a thing, but I really didn’t want to go get more milk). Nope, same thing. So THEN, I went and bought new milk. Five dollar milk…. From the gas station… I’m still salty about it. Anyway, so I heat it on the stove to 105F and put in my yeast. It doesn’t do shit. I check my yeast- it doesn’t expire until 2020. SO, fourth attempt. I heated my milk and then had to use the instant yeast. I don’t think you’ll have this chaos that was my milk-gate 2018, so just use the active dry yeast. One would think it should be fine. Okay, back to the action. 

 

2. Stir in the active dry yeast and allow to sit for about 3 minutes. *It took me like 10 minutes for the yeast to be happy.
3. Add the butter and sugar. *Maybe you should add the sugar with the yeast? Yeast likes to eat sugar. Maybe this recipe is stupid and you shouldn’t listen to it. I say try to put the sugar with the milk and the yeast. I BET it will get happy faster. Everyone like sugar. Even yeast.
4. Once yeast is happy and butter and sugar are in, add flour one cup at a time. Then add salt.
5. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes in a stand mixer with the hook attachment or by hand until smooth and elastic. *I did a little of both. I am a new yeast dough-er, so I do the stand mixer, but then I still do some hand kneading because I am learning what it should look and feel like, and that’s easier with hands.
6. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning once so that the whole ball is completely covered. Cover bowl with plastic wrap.

7. Let rise in a warm place for about an hour or until it doubles in size. **This is not my tip; it’s this author’s tip, but I liked it and used it. Preheat your oven to the lowest setting. Turn it off before you start kneading your dough. Place the covered dough in the warm oven to get fatty.

Making the dough into pretzels:

1. Remove dough from the bowl once it has risen.

2. Preheat oven to 400F.

3. Combine the warm water and baking soda into a bowl and set aside. *I call bullshit. I don’t think that this really did anything for my dough. I saw Trisha Yearwood, the day after I made this, do it a little differently. She had the water boiling on the stove. She put the baking soda in. I think this is better. More details in a minute.

4. Punch down the dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. *Maybe if you have a fancy kitchen with like marble countertops, you should flour. I have cheap laminate countertops. I do NOT want flour- you are about to try rolling these into snakes so you can twist into pretzels. The flour makes for zero traction while trying to roll.

5. Divide dough into 12 – 16 pieces. Roll the dough into logs (or snakes) as thin as you can. *I did 16 pieces, and I think maybe you should do 12. I had small snakes, and it made for stupid looking pretzels without clear twist definition.

6. Shape each dough into pretzel shapes. Here’s the video that I looked at (it’s the same one from the original recipe) https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=sFuwBOQWHPg

7. Dip them into the baking soda water. *I dipped them. I don’t think it did anything. Like I said, try out the boiling water. Trisha kept them in the water for like 30 – 45 seconds. I literally dipped and moved on. Try keeping them in longer. I think this will help with the crust on the pretzels.

8. Place on a greased baking sheet and sprinkle with coarse salt. *I just had regular iodized table salt, and this was sad. Don’t be like Jenna. Be better.

9. Bake for 7 – 11 minutes until browned.

10. While still hot out of the oven, brush with the melted butter. Serve with cheese sauce. * I did make this, see recipe below. It was pretty good. It’s not like a queso. Just know this going in. I was picturing like a nacho cheese. It’s not quite like that.

Cheese sauce

2 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tbsp flour

1 c milk

8 oz extra sharp cheese, shredded *don’t buy the pre-shredded stuff- it has an anti-caking agent on the outside so it doesn’t stick together- this means it doesn’t melt as nicely. Build up some forearm muscle and shred it yourself.

Pinch of salt *I also did a pinch of pepper because I think you always should.

1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter.

2. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 30 seconds, whisking continuously.

3. Slowly whisk in the milk until there are no more lumps.

4. Stirring constantly, bring the milk to a simmer over medium-low heat until it thickens (about 3 – 5 minutes).

5. Remove pan from heat and whisk in the shredded cheese, stirring until all melted together.

6. Add a pinch of salt (and pepper) to taste. 

Rating (Scale 1 - 5):

Difficulty: 2

Amount of time: 2

Awesomeness: 3

*I will say that I took them to the Halloween party that night, and they were gone immediately, so obviously they're not that bad, but I'm jaded. 

**also, here's me and my dog as hipster Ariel and Sebastian! 

Cookies and Cream Drip Cake

This particular cake challenge has a funny history. So my husband wanted me to do this cake for his birthday: https://www.tastemade.com/videos/giant-funfetti-cookie-dough-cake

It was a total bitch of a cake, and I never even got to the drip part because the cake lost structural integrity and fell over. At like 11pm on a Monday night… There were tears.

Anyway, 8 months later, I have decided to finally do the drip cake- not that fucking cookie cake cake that required 6 layers of 4 different kinds of cookie and cake. No. Never. Again. I did, however, decide to do a cookies and cream drip cake- a little nod to the travesty that was the original plan.

So this cake was for my friends Nina (my photographer extraordinaire), and John’s birthdays. It has like 4 parts to it, but all the parts were pretty easy.

I used this recipe for most of it: http://www.confessionsofacookbookqueen.com/fudgy-cookies-and-cream-cake/#_a5y_p=1139949

For the cake:

2 c granulated sugar

1 ¾ c all-purpose flour

1 c cocoa powder

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 c milk

½ c vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water *I’m lazy and just put water in my coffee pot and ran it through.

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and grease and flour two 8 or 9 inch pans *First of all, I used my goop recipe like I always do to prepare my cake pans. Also, it’s gonna tell you later to cut the cakes so you have four layers. I just put the batter into three 8-inch pans and had three layers instead of four.  

2. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

3. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla to the dry mixture. Beat on medium speed for two minutes.

4. Add the boiling water and stir on LOW *it’s hot, so be careful. Then once it was incorporated, I scraped the bottom and put it on medium high speed for about 2 minutes.

5. Pour into prepared pans and bake for about 30 minutes. *the batter will be pretty thin, so don’t worry if that happens to you. ** Like I said, I did three pans instead of two, but it still took about 30 minutes for my cakes.

6. Once cooked, allow to cool for a few minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Once the cakes are room temperature, wrap and chill (preferably overnight). *Ain’t nobody got time for that. I just let it come to room temp and then started assembly. It was fine, although the cakes are delicate, so gentle touches if you’re rebelling like me. Suuuuuper gentle touches if you have to cut your cakes; or you know, maybe you should chill yours. 

For Oreo whipped cream filling:

2 c heavy whipping cream, COLD

½ c powdered sugar

15 Oreos, crushed *I just put it in a food processor and pulsed it up

1 tsp vanilla

1. Place a metal mixing bowl in the freezer along with the whisk attachment for about five minutes. *I did this- I feel like maybe it’s not super necessary, but it does help to keep everything very cold.
2. Remove from freezer and add heavy cream, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Beat on high until you have stiff peaks.3. Gently fold in crushed Oreos.
4. Put in the fridge until assembly time.

For fudge frosting:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

½ c cocoa powder

3 c powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

4 tbsp hot water *again, I just did the coffee pot water

1. Beat butter and vanilla on medium speed until smooth.

2. Add in cocoa powder and powdered sugar a bit at a time.

3. Add hot water and mix on high for about two minutes. *I had never made a chocolate frosting like this, so it was weird to me, but the frosting is delicious, so just try it.

For the chocolate ganache:

I “used” this recipe as a decorating inspiration and the ganache: https://www.sugarhero.com/cookies-and-cream-cake/

I say that I “used” it because the amounts to me were totally off, so I only kind of used it.

The recipe calls for 4 oz dark chocolate and 6 – 8 oz of heavy cream. No way man.

What I probably actually did:

6 oz heavy cream

6- 8 oz dark chocolate

1. Put both heavy cream and dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Put in the microwave at 30 second intervals.

2. Whisk until it all comes together. If it’s too thick, add more cream. If it’s too thin, add more chocolate. *You want it thin enough to run, but thick enough to stop dripping! As you can see in my video, it’s making ribbons on top of itself- the chocolate doesn’t just run right back into itself when you pull up the whisk. 

Assembly:

1. Level off cake layers if need be. *also if you did two cakes, you’ll need to cut each cake into two layers so you have four total- I didn’t do this, so I didn’t have to cut cake. #winning.

2. Put a dollop of the frosting or filling on cake stand to hold the cake on the plate. Put down first layer of cake.

3. Add the oreo whipped cream on top of the cake layer *note that this is only filling, so you’re not going to put this on the outside. Also, I did one layer and then stuck it in the freezer for a few minutes to firm up before adding the next layer. *I had extra, so I put it in a piping bag for decoration later.

4. Repeat with second layer of cake and filling. Finish with third layer of cake. *Or keep going if you did the four layers.

5. Put back in the freezer and make the fudge frosting while you let that cool off.

6. Put a crumb coat of the fudge frosting all around the cake and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before continuing to frost. *A crumb coat is just a thin layer of frosting to catch all the crumbs. I don’t always do a crumb coat, but this cake is very delicate and crumbly, so I’d suggest.

7. Once it’s sturdy, go ahead and finish frosting the cake. So, you're going to add another layer of the fudge frosting to your crumb coat. *I smoothed it by running my offset spatula under hot water and smoothing out the frosting.

8. Prepare the ganache. The recipe calls for putting it into a squirt bottle to help with dripping easily. *Did I read this beforehand? No.

9. If you don’t have a squirt bottle like I didn’t, spoon some ganache onto the top of the cake and gently push to the side of the cake. At intervals, push some ganache off the side to let it drip down.

10. Place back in fridge to harden.

11. Decorate how you like- I just took that Oreo whipped cream that I put in a piping bag with a star tip and made 8 star blobs (technical term) on top of the cake and put half of an Oreo on each one. * A smarter person may have bought mini Oreo cookies for decorating too. That would be a good idea.

12. Enjoy! Like there’s no other option. This shit’s delicious.

Rating (Scale 1 - 5):
Difficulty: 2
Amount of Time: 3
Awesomeness: 5

Challah Bread

This was a fun challenge! This was my first attempt at a yeasted bread, so this was a little scary. Having said that, there are few things more satisfying than making your own bread. I was going to just make some yeast dinner rolls, but of course, Nina was like let’s make something more exciting! Then, my friend Kate wanted to make some Challah for Rosh Hashanah, so we decided to just do the damn thing. It was awesome. Challah is an enriched dough. It is a rich, eggy, and buttery bread that is braided onto itself. I tried two different braiding techniques because this makes TWO loaves of bread. More bread, more better? PS, challah makes the absolute best French toast, so when you’re like what am I going to do with all this bread?! Make some French toast. You’ll thank me.

This recipe is from the book “Baking with Julia”. I borrowed this recipe from a friend’s copy… If you want the original recipe, let me know, and I can send you my crappy pictures of the book, or you can buy the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Baking-Julia-Savor-Americas-Bakers/dp/0688146570/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1545924568&sr=8-1&keywords=baking+with+julia+book

Anyway, I will write out all the steps and make sure to tell you if there were any deviations from the original.

Making the Dough:

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted *this is used to greasing, not in the dough

1 ½ tbsp. active dry yeast

½ c tepid water (80 to 90F)

1/3 c granulated sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1 c whole milk

1 tbsp honey

2 ½ tsp salt

4 large eggs

6 ½ c (approximately) high gluten flour, bread flour, or all-purpose flour *I used bread flour because you want the extra gluten.

1. Brush a large mixing bowl with some of melted butter, set aside. Reserve the remaining melted butter to brush the top of the dough later.

2. Whisk the yeast into the water. Add a pinch of sugar and let it rest until the yeast has dissolved and is creamy, about 5 minutes. *I did this in a small measuring bowl.

3. Cut the butter into small pieces and toss into a small saucepan with the milk; heat the milk and butter until milk is very warm to the touch and butter is melted. *Why do I need to cut butter if I’m gonna melt it anyway??? Hmm?? I get it makes the butter melt faster, but probably not completely necessary. Just saying. 

4. Pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl and add the remaining sugar, honey, and salt, stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar and salt. Make sure the mixture isn’t hotter than 110F so you don’t kill the yeast. *I did this in my stand mixer. I didn’t use a wooden spoon. It was fine.

5. Add the creamy yeast to the milk mixture, along with the eggs, and stir with a wooden spoon to mix. *Again, I didn’t use a wooden spoon.

6. Stirring vigorously, add ½ c of flour at a time, stopping when you have a dough that cleans the sides of the bowl and is difficult to stir. *or letting your stand mixer stir vigorously with a hook attachment, add 3 c flour to start, slowly adding more flour to get to the same clean sides bowl stage.

7. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead, adding more flour as necessary to keep dough from sticking to your hands. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. *If you do it in a stand mixer, still knead on low speed for 8 – 10 minutes until it’s smooth and elastic. You can still take it out and knead for a minute or so at the end to see how it feels. I did this because I'm new to dough. 

First Rise:

Form the dough into a ball and transfer to the buttered bowl. Brush the top of the dough with the reserved melted butter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and top with a kitchen towel. Let the dough rise at room temperature for 1 to 1 ½ hours, or until doubled in volume. *I’d suggest making a mark somehow so you know where you dough started. This makes it easier to see if it has doubled. I’d recommend a dry erase marker or a rubber band.

Second Rise:

When the dough is fully risen, deflate it *ie punch it down*, cover as before, and let it rise until it doubles in bulk again, about 45 minutes.

Shaping and Final Rise:

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. *I floured my surface, but then I had no traction as you can see, so maybe start with on flour and flour if you feel like it's sticking to the surface.* Cut the dough in half, covering up the half that you aren’t using so it doesn’t dry out.

3. This is where you are going to braid. There are several options here. I did two different ones- the long braid and the circular braid. Here are some YouTube videos that were helpful:

Round braid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7D8PSBsy1M&t=74s *I did the six strand braid, not the four.

Three-strand braid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR6aIAh2Vt8 *This video is annoying, so watch with the sound off.

5. Place on a baking sheet and cover to allow a final rise. Let the loaves rise for about 40 minutes at room temperature until soft, puffy, and almost doubled.

Glaze, Topping, and Baking:

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 tbsp cold water or heavy cream

Coarse salt

Sesame, poppy, or caraway seeds (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Position racks in oven into thirds.

2. Whisk the egg, egg yolk, and water or heavy cream and push the glaze through a sieve. *I didn’t do this. Just whisk it so it’s not chunky. You’re brushing this shit on anyway, so if there’s something weird, take it off the brush. Or sieve. Maybe you’re that kind of person. I’m not.

3. Brush the tops and sides of the challahs; let the glaze sit for 5 minutes, then brush again. Reserve the leftover glaze to brush on during the bake.

4. Sprinkle coarse salt over the loaves. If you’re topping the loaves, dust them with seeds now.

5. Bake for 20 minutes. The loaves will expand and expose some of the inner dough. Brush the newly exposed dough with reserved glaze and bake for 15 to 20 longer, or until the loaves are golden and sound hollow when thumped on the bottom. If they start to brown too quickly, cover them with a piece of foil, shiny side up. *First of all, I think I brushed ALL of the bread again, including the newly exposed parts. I think maybe that’s why I still have some lighter parts and darker parts. Secondly, I had shitty baking sheets (this has since been remedied). I felt like the bottom of my bread was getting too brown, so I took them off the sheets halfway through and just set them right on the racks in the oven. This helped to not let it get too brown.  

6. Let cool before slicing.   

7. You can store this in a plastic bag for up to two days, or store them fully wrapped in the freezer for up to 30 days.

Rating:
Difficulty: 3
Amount of Time: 4 (including resting time)
Awesomeness: 5

Gateau Basque

 Never heard of it? Yeah, me either. Oh, you have? Well, I’m from the Midwest. Anyway, this is a delicious tart-like thing. It has a shortbread crust-like surround with a pastry cream and black cherry preserves- or mine does. More on that later.

I used this recipe: https://amp.foodandwine.com/recipes/gateau-basque

Now, I swear to God that I read this recipe before I went to make it. I swear!!! That being said, when I went to make it, I was like what the fuck is this? I didn’t buy some of these things. Here are the ingredients that it calls for- and what I actually used….

For the dough:

3 ¼ c all-purpose flour

1 c almond flour

1 ½ tbsp baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons salt

2 sticks PLUS 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

2 c granulated sugar

3 large egg yolks

2 large eggs

½ tsp lemon oil *What the hell? I used the zest of a lemon

½ tsp almond oil *I assume this is almond extract, but vomit. I hate almond extract, so I just used vanilla extract instead. No regrets.

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the four with the baking soda and salt.

2. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).

3. Add the egg yolks and eggs, lemon (zest) and almond (vanilla) extract. Beat until incorporated.

4. At a low speed, add your almond flour and all-purpose flour mixture. *the recipe didn’t say to mix the two flours together, but I don’t know why you wouldn’t? I ended up just throwing it all in at the same time anyway.

5. Scrape the dough out onto a clean surface and form into 3 disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and put in the fridge to chill- at least 4 hours or overnight.

*Note: you only need TWO of these disks….. why the recipe makes three, I don’t know. Anyway, make some shortbread cookies and a cup of coffee to calm your anger.

For the pastry cream:

2 ¼ c milk1 vanilla bean *I didn’t have this, so I just used vanilla extract again **If using vanilla extract, wait til you take it off the heat to add so you don’t burn it.

½ c cornstarch

½ c plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar

3 tbsp all-purpose flour

6 large egg yolks

2 large eggs

*not to be added to this mixture, but used on top, one cup of brandied cherries, drained. **again, I swear I read the recipe. Did I buy brandied cherries? No. I bought black cherry preserves. Still awesome.

1. In a medium saucepan, warm up the milk to a simmer. Add the vanilla beans now (or, like I said above, wait if you’re using vanilla extract).

2. In a heatproof bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, sugar, and flour.

3. Whisk the hot milk into the cornstarch mixture and then return to the pan. *why you couldn’t just put the cornstarch mixture into the pan, I don’t know. Maybe you should try it. Let me know what happens.

4. Start whisking constantly until it thickens. The recipe said it would take about 5 minutes to thicken a lot. It took mine like 2.5. Add the eggs to the saucepan *The recipe didn’t say to temper your eggs- I did anyway because I’m afraid. I just stuck my whisk that had a bunch of the hot goop into my eggs and stirred for a minute to let the eggs get cozy before I shoved them into the fire.

6. Stir for about 3 minutes until they’re all incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth. *Again, this took like 1 minute for me.

7. Put in a heatproof bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the plastic wrap touch the top of the cream so that you don’t get a film. Let it come to room temperature. *I stuck mine in the fridge because, as you have seen in previous recipes, I am impatient.

Assembly:

Here’s where it gets a little crazy. 

What the recipe calls for: a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom.

What I had: a 9-inch spring form pan- totally worked

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F.

2. Roll out one disk of dough to about a ¼ in thickness and cut out a 12 in round. *Or just eyeball it- you’re going to squish it into your pan in a minute anyway.

3. Slide it into the pan and push into the bottom and up the sides. If you’re in a tart pan, cut of the excess. If you’re in a spring form, make the sides even- mine came up about halfway to the top. Put back into the fridge to cool (about 10 minutes). *I am not a person to do secondary cooling if it’s not necessary. It IS necessary.

4. Get the second disk of dough and roll out to a ¼ in thickness. Cut into 9 in round to fit the top of your pan. Slide onto a parchment lined sheet tray and put back into the fridge.   *I just took the bottom of my pan and pressed an indentation into the dough so I knew where to cut.

5. After cooling everything, take out the pan with the bottom crust. Spread all the pastry cream into an even layer in the crust. *It will be a thick layer.

6. Then add the brandied cherries (or cherry preserves). *It called for a cup- I used ¾ of a jar of preserves- I WISH I had used the whole jar. Don’t be a cheap ass. Do it.

7. Cover the tart with the 9 in round of dough. Press to seal the edges together. *I thought maybe you’d need a vent hole like a pot pie. I didn’t do it though, and I am glad. You don’t need to vent.

8. Make indentations with a fork or a skewer to make a diamond pattern in the top crust. *the fork broke my crust, so I used a butter knife

9. Bake on the bottom rack for 20 minutes. Rotate the tart, and put back in on the top 1/3 of the oven for 40 more minutes.

10. Once done, transfer to a wire rack to cool. Let cool at least an hour before unmolding.

Rating (Scale 1 - 5)

Difficulty: 2
Amount of Time: 2
Awesomeness: 5 *This is better than it looks. I'd like to say it's better than I expected, but I had no idea what to expect. That said, it's better than I expected.

Doughnuts

First of all, my mom is the Doughnut Queen, not in that she makes the best, but that she eats the best. We love doughnuts, as I am sure pretty much any one does. There’s a bakery about half a mile from my house, and mom and I have walked there on several occasions to get doughnuts (if you walk a mile roundtrip for doughnuts, we don’t think the cals count). Anyway, I usually wait until we get back home to eat my doughnuts because I want them with coffee. Mom has usually eaten one and a half before we get out of the parking lot. You have to get at least two because the first one goes down so fast, you don’t even taste it. So, this challenge was a no-brainer. It HAD to be on the list. I did one basic fried doughnut recipe and three different glazes. I loved. Every. Single. One. Of. Them.

Just a little disclaimer- this requires you to make the dough the day before you plan to fry them up, so be aware of that going into it. Also, can I just say that this was my first time ever using yeast. I realize how ridiculous this is, but I have since remedied that, so back off!

Here’s the recipe I used for the dough and regular glaze: https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/homemade-glazed-doughnuts/

Doughnuts:

1 1/8 c whole milk, warm

¼ c granulated sugar

2 ¼ tsp (one package) instant or active dry yeast *I feel like you can’t say either one because they require a bit of a different care. I used active dry yeast- I prefer it because I like to be able to see if my yeast is good in the milk instead of waiting to see if the dough rises.

2 large eggs, beaten

1 ¼ stick unsalted butter, melted

4 c all-purpose flour

¼ tsp salt

*Oil for frying- I used vegetable oil

1. Warm up milk to 100 – 110F. *I warmed it up on the stove in a small saucepan, but I have been told you can do it in the microwave. I prefer the control I have of sticking a thermometer in the saucepan and waiting til it gets to the yeast’s happy temperature. I did 105F because I was scared.

2. Add the milk to a bowl or a standing mixer bowl.

3. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve.

4. Add the yeast and stir to combine. Let the yeast sit about 5 minutes. *I let it sit like 10 minutes because it felt like it wasn’t happy yet. I also didn’t stir in my yeast at first because I’m an idiot, so then I was like shit, and stirred it in and let it go a bit longer. You are looking for some bubbling action in the yeast.

5. Add beaten eggs and melted butter to the bowl and stir to combine.

6. While the mixer is running, slowly add the flour and salt and mix until the dough comes together. 

7. Mix for about 5 minutes to work the dough well. Turn off the mixer and let the dough rest for about 10 minutes.

8. After the 10 minutes, turn the dough out into a greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least 8 hours or overnight. *I made sure to flip my dough ball around in the bowl so the top of the dough also had a greasy sheen.

1. The next day, to form the doughnuts, remove dough from fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface until it’s ½ to 1/3 inch thick. Use a 3-inch doughnut cutter to cut out the doughnuts.

2. Place the cut doughnuts and holes on a lightly greased baking sheet.

3. Repeat rolling and cutting with the rest of the dough. *Eventually it will get to the point where the glutens are too worked and the doughnuts won’t keep their shape when you cut them. They’ll start to shrink back on themselves. So, when that happens, I’d say stop.

4. Cover the doughnuts and let them rise until doubled in size, about an hour. The doughnuts will be very puffy and airy looking. *Seriously, it’s magical. It’ll feel like a fluffy pillow if you touch it.

1. To fry the doughnuts, heat a few inches of oil in a large cast iron skillet or fryer over medium heat until the oil reaches 365 – 375F. Use a thermometer! *I used a Dutch oven, and this worked great for me. I also started making my glazes while the oil was heating up so that they were ready.

2. Carefully add doughnuts to the oil and fry until golden brown, about 1 ½ minutes on each side. The holes will take about 30 seconds on each side. *Be careful not to add too many doughnuts at a time so the oil temperature isn’t lowered.         

3. Use a slotted spoon to remove doughnuts from oil and set on a paper towel lined tray.

4. Let them cool slightly, and dip in any of your various delicious toppings.

Glaze:

3 c powdered sugar

½ tsp salt

½ tsp vanilla

½ c cold milk or water     

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Make sure to have the consistency thin enough to cover but thick enough to not run off too much. If it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar. Too thick, add more milk or water.

Caramel Glaze:

I used this recipe for the next glaze *this was my personal favorite: https://dailyhomemade.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/baked-cake-doughnuts/

4 tbsp unsalted butter

½ c brown sugar

1/3 c heavy cream

Pinch of salt

½ - ¾ c powdered sugar

1. In a saucepan, over medium heat, stir together butter, brown sugar, heavy cream, and salt.

2. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for one minute.

3. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.

4. Stir in sifted powdered sugar until you get a thick consistency that will stick to the doughnuts.

Chocolate Glaze:

I used this recipe for the chocolate glaze *This one didn’t dry very well. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I was making it in August, and it was balls hot: https://www.persnicketyplates.com/chocolate-glazed-baked-cake-donuts/

1 c chocolate chips

1 tsp coconut oil
1. In a microwave-safe bowl, add chocolate chips and coconut oil. Microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring between each round, until mostly melted. *I say mostly melted because you don’t want it to burn, so when it’s close but still has lumps, put in a little elbow grease and stir, stir, stir until it’s smooth.

Rating (Scale 1 – 5):

Difficulty: 3

Amount of Time: 4

Awesomeness: 5