Chocolate Caramel Doughnut Holes

I saw this recipe here, and I had to try them!  They were surprisingly easy.  The kids were even able to help me make them (they rolled most of the balls).  So, not only was it a tasty treat, but it was a fun family activity, too.  These worked really well with egg replacer, so J could eat them, too.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour,plus more for work surface
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp coarse salt
• 1 cup sugar, plus more for coating
• 3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter,melted
• 2 large eggs (or fake egg equivalent)
• 28-30 store bought soft caramel squares, unwrapped
• 5 to 6 cups vegetable oil, for frying

 Directions:

1. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together sugar, buttermilk, butter and eggs (or fake eggs) until thoroughly combined. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture just until smooth dough forms. 
2. On a lightly floured work surface, pat dough flat and lightly flour. Roll out dough to a 1/3-inch thickness. Cut into rounds with a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter (or appropriately sized cup, since I don't have round cookie cutters). Reroll and cut scraps. 
3. Place a caramel in the center of each round, pinch dough closed around it and gently roll into a smooth ball.
4. Line baking sheet with paper towels. Fill wide, shallow bowl with 1 inch of sugar. In a large, heavy pot, heat 4 inches of oil until it registers 350 on a candy thermometer. In batches, fry doughnuts for 3-4 minutes, turning once with a slotted spoon and adjusting heat as needed. Transfer doughnuts to prepared sheet; let rest for 4 minutes. Roll in sugar to coat. Serve immediately. (they really were better fresh, but if you have leftovers heat them in the microwave for 10 seconds to re-melt the caramel)

Orange and Chocolate Glazed Doughnuts

This week is a semi-failure.  Well, it started out as a failure, but I was able to fix it.  I've been wanting to try to make doughnuts for months now, but I never seem to do it.  So this week I decided to try - homemade doughnuts are so good!  Except they just weren't as good as I was hoping!

I combined a couple of recipes and came up with this one.  I liked that you made the dough the night before and then cooked them in the morning.  When I tried that, they didn't really rise!  Problem was, I think that the warm setting on my oven was too warm for the yeast, and after rising a little bit, the yeast ended up dying before they got big enough.

I also liked the idea of a baked doughnut - it would be better for you. I ended up making two trays of doughnuts and one tray of holes.  Since only two pans would fit in my oven, the holes sat on the counter to rise (instead of proofing in the oven).  They rose much better than the actual doughnuts. I also decided to fry them instead of baking them.  Wow!  What a difference proper rise and frying makes in a good doughnut.  I learned that if I am going to make a delicious treat, if I try too hard to be healthy also I might just end up not satisfying my craving and then wanting more junk food later. 

I also thought that the chocolate glaze would be my favorite, but the orange glaze was so good that I just couldn't keep away from the orange doughnuts!

Dough:

2 cups milk
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp yeast (1 package)
1/3 cup applesauce
1 tsp salt
6 cups flour

1. Combine milk, shortening, maple syrup and sugars in small sauce pan over medium heat.  Heat until shortening melts and sugars are dissolved then remove from heat.
2. Allow milk mixture to cool until it is between 100 - 110 degrees F and then add the yeast.  Allow this to sit for about 5 minutes.
3. Combine 4 cups flour, salt and applesauce and then add the milk and sugar mixture.  Continue adding flour until the dough is sticky, but doesn't stick to your fingers (about 2 more cups).
4. Cover dough and lit rise until double - or about an hour.
5. Roll out dough to about 1/2 inch thickness and cut into doughnut shape and place on greased cookie sheets.

Here's where the directions diverge.  You can either...

1. Place cookie sheets in refrigerator overnight.  In the morning set your oven to its lowest setting (if your oven has a proofing setting this is what you want) and allow doughnuts to rise in oven for 30 minutes to an hour, until they have doubled.  
2. Turn oven to 350 degrees F and cook doughnuts for 10-15 minutes.  Glaze them while they are still hot.

Or you can....

1. Allow doughnuts to rise again for about an hour or until doubled.  
2. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat.  Fry the doughnuts in batches, flipping them over halfway through, until they are golden brown.  Glaze them while they are still hot.

Personally, I'm going to fry them from now on.  So much better!


Glazes

Orange Glaze
1 Tbsp butter, melted
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp orange juice
1/2 tsp dried orange peel or 1 tsp fresh orange peel
1 cup powdered sugar

Chocolate Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
4 Tbsp milk

Whisk ingredients of glazed in small bowls and dip doughnuts in when they are done.