I think everyone has a specific friend to do specific types of activities with. You know, there is the friend that you like to have a few drinks with, the friend to trudge to the gym with, and the friend to appreciate junk food and watch the Kardashians with. And sometimes, you get lucky enough to have had a friend who has done all of these things with you plus some for the past 20 years. That's right, one of my bestest friends, Choch, and I recently celebrated our 20-year friendaversary. It's nice to see how we've come from me crying over carpooling to Junior Kindergarten with a stranger in blurple glasses, to living a few subway stops away from one another in Toronto. Does it seem like this post has been riddled with made up words? Noted. Anyhow, an outing with Choch can include a trampoline fitness class, shopping on Bloor, or as we did this past Saturday, dancing in the kitchen as we made amazing mini donuts, and then getting extremely lost in a Dollarama. That's right people -- whoever out there thinks they are cooler than us?... well they are probably right. But we have fun! And because it seemed wrong of us to keep these amazing balls of dough a secret from you all, much like our secret night out to see a Twilight film (see photo above), here it is: The Best Mini Donuts (Ever) Ingredients - 2 1/2 cups flour - 1 1/2 tsp baking powder - 1/2 tsp baking soda - 1/4 tsp salt - 1 tsp cinnamon - 1/2 tsp nutmeg - 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled (our warm butter kept curdling the milk) - 1/2 cup buttermilk - 1/2 cup milk - 1/2 cup sugar - 2 tsp vanilla - Vegetable oil for frying - Cinnamon and sugar for rolling the donuts Begin by sifting together your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Separately, combine your sugar, milks, vanilla, and cooled (I cannot stress this enough) butter. If you are feeling particularly proactive, get your cinnamon-sugar ready on a plate as well. Add your flour mixture into the milk mixture and combine with a fork. Do not over-stir; stop once it is all combined but it still looks sticky. I now recommend to roll out all of your donuts as opposed to rolling them as you fry. Also, it is important that you do not roll the balls too tightly, as they will become too dense once fried. Our donuts were about 1 heaping tsp of dough, each. Afterwards we decided that it may be best to make them a bit smaller so that the cooking time is not quite as long. While all of the above steps have been taking place, your oil should have been heating up in a good-quality sauce pan. Put enough oil into the pan to go about 2 inches up the sides of the pot. Your oil will be ready to go once it hits 350 F (any less and your donuts will be greasy, and any higher will make your oil begin to smoke). If you do not have a nifty thermometer of your own, you will know your oil is ready when you put a small piece of dough in, and it bubbles and rises to the top immediately. We fried 5 donuts at a time, but the amount you do is completely up to you. After about a minute and a half, the donuts were flipped and cooked for another minute and a half. They should be a nice golden-brown. Take the donuts out and pat them dry on paper towel. Then roll them around in cinnamon-sugar (the sugar covers all sorts of deformities that happen in the oil). After all of this, there is not much to do but eat every one of the glorious little donuts that you slaved over (for approximately 30 minutes- these are a quick project!). One piece of advice from our kitchen to yours, though. See, there is a saying in the Tennenhouse house, that if you make a perfect cup of tea, you should never make a second, as it will never live up to the first. Apparently, the same goes for donut batters. Quit while you're ahead, and enjoy the fried fruits of your labour. |