Glazed Yeast Doughnuts

After all these years, it's finally here. It's my early Christmas present to everyone; My doughnut recipe. It's not that it's necessarily been a secret or that I haven't shared it with others. Just not formally here. And of course I'm excited to be sharing this recipe through my partnership with Red Star Yeast.

I have made literally thousands of these doughnuts. During the long cold winter months here in Minnesota we started doing Doughnut nights where we'd invite friends over and and enjoy some time together. They started out small enough but eventually got up to almost a hundred people and I've made up to 400 doughnuts in one night. It's kind of crazy.

These are pretty much the best doughnuts around. They are light and airy but still have the right amount of chewiness to them. The secret ingredient in these doughnuts is potato! You need to cook and mash the potato (without salt or pepper etc) and then add it to the dough mixture. The potato starch helps with the browning of the doughnut and gives it some great flavor too. Traditionally, you may have heard these referred to as Spudnuts. Make sure you use a good high quality yeast for these such as Red Star Platinum Yeast. A good yeast will ensure that you get two good full rises and that it remains light and airy.

 To be perfectly honest, they are really ideal within an hour at the most from when you fry them. I have frozen the dough though after they've been cut into doughnuts for a few days and then letting them rise again and that seems to work well if you wanted to make the dough ahead of an event.

Make sure you let them rise fully both times, especially after they've been shaped. You want them nice and light right before they go into the fryer.

I've loved sharing this recipe with family and friends and then hearing back on how they've tried them for their own doughnut parties. So give it a try and let me know how it goes!

Make sure you check out Red Star Yeast on Facebook too for lots more recipes and baking tips!

Glazed Yeast Doughnuts

Ingredients
1 pkg Red Star Platinum Yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 cup warm mashed potatoes
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6-7 cups all purpose flour
1 quart vegetable oil, for frying

Directions
Combine the yeast, water, potato, sugar, shortening, eggs and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the paddle attachment until combined. Add 3 cups of the flour and mix until combined. Replace the paddle with the dough hook and continue to add flour and mix until the dough forms into a ball and doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl. Continue to knead the dough for 5-7 minutes and the dough is satiny and smooth. Remove the dough from the bowl, spray the bowl with non stick spray and place the dough in the bowl. Cover and let rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.

Gently remove the dough from the bowl. Roll the dough into a large circle approximately 1/2 inch thick. Using a doughnut cutter, or a cup (and a smaller lid for the inside circle) cut the doughnuts out of the dough. Place on a greased pan or counter top, cover and let rise for 30-45 minutes or until the dough is light and airy.

Cook the doughnuts in the oil that has been heated to 350-375 degrees. You'll need to watch the temperature and adjust as needed. The doughnuts should cook and become golden brown on each side within 30-45 seconds each. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.

Glaze 
1 1/2 cups powdered suger, sifted
3-4 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons valnilla

Combine the ingredients for the glaze and stir until smooth.

Dip the warm doughnuts in the bowl of glaze and then set them on cooling rack until the glaze sets.

Disclaimer: This recipe is sponsored by Red Star Yeast. All opinions are my own.