It's National Doughnut Day!

 My Mom's tried, tattered and true recipe. I remember coming home from school to the smell of doughnuts frying. It was always a surprise.  And finally....it was a good day after all!  

I'm re-posting my Mom's doughnut recipe for National Doughnut Day.  Yum!

 I've had to laugh at some of the comments from my recipe posts.  Everyone wonders how I stay so thin.  Well, maybe I'm not thin!  How do you know?  To some of you I'm just a virtual artist.  But I say everything in moderation.  Except exercise.  I'm not going to lie.   That you have to do mega-moderately.  Bummer.  But it really helps to get through 1/2 hour on the stairmaster if I can imagine how delicious a cosmopolitan will taste with dinner.  Or if I'm doing a morning walk around one of our chain of lakes.  Hmmm.  What carrot can I dangle at the end of a stick in front of me?  A delicious chocolate covered doughnut perhaps?   Now it's time to make the old fashioned doughnuts.... 

  

Pre- mix the dry ingredients:

4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt 
1 tsp soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Now in another bowl mix:

2 beaten eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp melted butter

Then add the wet ingredients to the dry.  Mix just until the consistency of this photo.  Chill for 1 hour.

 Roll out the dough on a floured surface (about 1/2 inch thick) and dust with more flour on top of dough.  

Besides a rolling pin you'll need a doughnut cutter and a hole puncher.  I roll my dough thin because I like crisper doughnuts.

Don't worry about mis-shapen doughnuts.  They will all taste the same in the end. Re-roll all remaining dough pieces and cut more doughnuts. 

I use my tried and true cast iron skillet. (but a deeper pan might be safer) I fill it 1/2 way full with peanut oil and use a good quality thermometer.  Bring it up to 375 degrees.  And be careful.  I always wait till after lunch to fry my doughnuts. That is when the cats are napping!  Don't over fill the skillet with dough or your oil will reduce in temperature.  

Fry them all and put them on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels. I put the holes in cinnamon sugar.

 Here I frosted them with a chocolate ganache.  Heat 1/3 cup 1/2 and 1/2 just until the edge of the milk starts to simmer.  No longer. Then take it off the heat and stir in 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips. I'm not apologizing for the doughnut's crunchy and mis-shapen appearance.  Those are my favorite ones! These don't taste greasy.  Just earthy, crunchy and fabulous. And they freeze beautifully.  I put them in my freezer on the cookie sheet until firm.  Then I take them out and put them in a zip loc bag.    

 Here's my portion.  It is an indulgence.  But life is too short not to enjoy yourself.  You could deny yourself of the good things in life and then get hit by a bus the next day. Yikes.  My husband takes the bus.  But everything in moderation.  And my age and weight will continue to remain a mystery! Please pass on this fabulous recipe.  Or make it with your Mom today.

Happy Doughnut day!