Canadian Donuts
A doughnut dough. Not too sweet, not too rich, stretched and briefly fried (forget a deep fryer - I use my wok and tongs). Add a bit of sugar and a touch of cinnamon. Fresh from the fryer or even room temperature, these are the next best thing to being at a country fair. A bread machine does a great job with this recipe.

Dough:
1/2 cup warm water
5 teaspoons dry yeast
pinch of sugar
1 cup warm milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
4 1/4 - 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
oil for frying
granulated sugar for dusting
cinnamon

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the yeast, warm water and pinch of sugar. Allow to stand a couple of minutes to allow yeast to swell or dissolve.

Stir in remaining sugar, milk, vanilla, eggs, oil, salt and most of flour to make soft dough. Knead 5-8 minutes (by hand or with a dough hook), adding flour as needed to form a firm, smooth, elastic dough. Place in a greased bowl. Place bowl in a plastic bag and seal. (If not using right away, you can refrigerate the dough at this point). Let rise in a covered, lightly greased bowl, about 30-40 minutes. Gently deflate dough, (if dough is coming out of the fridge, allow to warm up about 40 minutes before proceeding).

Pinch off a golf ball sized piece of dough. Roll out into an oval and let
rest, covered with a tea towel, while you are preparing the remaining
dough.

Heat about 4 inches of oil in fryer (a wok works best but you can use a Dutch oven or whatever you usually use for frying). Temperature of the oil should be about 385 F. I toss in a tiny bit of dough and see if it sizzles and swells immediately. If it does, the oil temperature is where it should be.

Add the donuts to the hot oil, about 1-2 at a time. BUT.....before you do, stretch the ovals them as you do.

Turn once to fry until the undersides are deep brown. Lift donuts out with tongs and drain on paper towels.

Fill a large bowl with a few cups of white sugar. Toss donuts in
sugar (with a little cinnamon if you wish) and shake off excess.

They are also delicious with a smear of jam or apple pie filling.

AUTHOR: TUDDLES