Fried dough

I rarely meet a fried item I don't like, which is why I decided to make doughnuts early yesterday morning on my day off from school.  They tasted like the best version I've ever had of a churro, a traditional Mexican street food of fried dough that's twirled in a coating of cinnamon sugar. 

YUM. 

For the doughnuts: dry ingredients on the left, wet ingredients on the right.

The two become one as if distant lovers in the night!  No but seriously, I combine them to form a loose dough.  While it's refrigerating, I arrange the toppings. 

Cinnamon sugar on the left, confectioner's sugar on the right. 

I found a cute little doughnut cutter at a nearby kitchen store, but it's just as simple to use the top of a drinking class to cut about a 3-inch diameter circle and a knife to cut a hole out of the center.  Which is where, as the name suggests, doughnut holes take shape.    

I consulted a plethora of sources about the best oils to use for frying.  Brian, one of my esteemed food colleagues, believes that peanut or old-fashioned vegetable oil are the two best options, but the number of websites I found unanimously pointed to peanut oil.  It has an incredibly high smoking point, which means the chances of burnt oil and charred doughnuts are very slim, and it has a neutral flavor that won't interfere with the flavor of the doughnuts themselves.  You're ready to roll once your cooking thermometer reaches between 365 and 375 degrees.  If the oil gets too cold, crank up the heat; if it shoots up past 400, add some cold oil, or drop in some doughnuts (they're much cooler than the oil and will bring the temperature down quickly). 

These miniature doughnuts took about ten seconds to brown beautifully and puff up.  Once they're done, it's best to place them on a stack of paper towels so that any excess oil can be absorbed.  Then a quick toss in cinnamon sugar or confectioner's sugar makes them glisten. Or, if you're feeling especially ambitious, you can pull together a gooey caramel sauce in a couple of minutes and glaze those suckers good.