Inside Out Jelly Donuts

These are basically what one might call a “deconstructed” jelly donut, which is just a fancy way of saying it is a donut that you dip in the jelly on the outside rather than injecting the jelly on the inside.  Simpler to make, and every bit as yummy to eat!  If you’ve never tried making donuts before this is a great place to start.  The dough will stay fresh in the refrigerator for about 3 days.  If you aren’t making them up all at once, you can have fresh, hot, delicious donuts for 3 straight days.  Abundant living at it’s best!

Homemade Inside Out Donuts

1 cup milk, scalded
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup water
2 eggs
1 pkg yeast
3/4 sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups bread flour (you can also use all purpose flour if you don’t have bread flour)
sunflower oil for frying
sugar for coating
strawberry or raspberry jam for dipping

Scald the milk and add the butter.  Cool the milk to lukewarm.  While it is cooling, in another bowl, add yeast to the water along with 1/4 cup of the sugar. Allow mixture to sit until yeast is bubbly or “proofed”.  Add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and salt to the flour in the bowl of your mixer.  Add in yeast and water, milk and butter and the eggs and mix well until the dough comes together and is smooth and not too sticky.  It will be soft and slightly sticky, but it shouldn’t be completely stuck to the sides of the bowl.  If it is, add another 2-4 tablespoons of flour and mix again.  Continue mixing and kneading dough for about 5 minutes.  Turn off mixer and allow the dough to rest for about 30 minutes.

After the dough has rested (it will have risen very slightly in the bowl) pinch off pieces of dough about the size of golf balls and roll in the palms of your hands into balls.  Place these on a baking sheet that has been oiled, and very slightly flatten balls with the back of your hand.  You can make as many or as few as you wish.  If you do not use all the dough, place whatever dough is remaining in a ziplock bag. This will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Allow the flattened balls to rise on the baking sheet until nearly doubled in size, about 45 minutes.  Heat about 2 inches of  oil in a pan to about 300 degrees.  Carefully drop a few donuts at a time (maybe 4 depending on the size of your pan) being sure not to overcrowd the pan. Fry the donuts about 1-2 minutes on each side until golden brown.  Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain briefly.  While they are still hot, roll the donuts in sugar.  Serve with your favorite jam or berries that have been pureed with sugar.

 
Hot, fresh donuts + icy, cold milk = love, joy, and some very abundant living…and sweet, happy smiles 🙂