Doughnuts...A Halloween Tradition Continues

Consider this...fresh, homemade doughnuts for a Halloween treat. I really should get the whole story about where this tradition started -- and why!?! I never would have had the inclination to start making these on the same day as outfitting everyone in costumes and rushing through dinner to get out the door for trick-or-treating. But, alas, it is a a fond memory for my husband (and his siblings, and their friends, and their neighbors) and I oblige, making this special treat every year on Halloween.

Once you get the hang of it, you really do get a big bang for your buck, here. The hardest part is figuring out the timing. You need to start the process at least 4 hours before you want to start frying up these little gems. And you need to plan it so that once you start frying, no one needs help with their costumes for a good 20 minutes. Hot grease and Halloween costumes can lead to a very messy (and dangerous) situation.

This particular recipe comes from my mother-in-law's Betty Crocker cookbook. I checked other cook books, out of curiosity, to see how much variation there is to doughnut recipes and was surprised by what I found. Some use shortening (like this one), others use butter in the dough. I found one recipe that uses two packages of yeast, while this only takes one.

I'm sticking with this recipe, though. Especially now that I've earned the generous praise from a neighbor that "these are better than the Amish Market's!"

Note: I always double this recipe. Carole was known to make up to 4 batches at a time.

Raised Doughnuts
1 package active dry yeast or 1 cake compressed yeast
1/4 cup water
*   *   *
3/4 cup milk, scalded
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Soften active dry yeast in warm water (110 deg.) or compressed yeast in lukewarm water (85 deg.). Combine milk, shortening, sugar and salt; cool to lukewarm. Add 1 cup of the flour; beat well. Add softened yeast and egg; mix. Add enough of remaining flour to make soft dough. Turn out on lightly floured surface; knead till smooth and satiny (about 8 minutes). Place in greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover and let rise till double (about 1 1/4 hours). Punch down. Let rise again till double (about 55 minutes).

Roll out dough 1/3 inch thick. Cut with floured doughnut cutter. Let rise till very light (30 to 40 minutes).

Fry in deep hot fat (375 deg.) till browned. Drain on paper towels. While warm dip doughnuts in granulated sugar or glaze with Orange Glaze. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen.

Recipe courtesy of Betty Crocker.

Additional Notes:
1. This year I used peanut oil, with fantastic results. You need about 1 1/2 inches of oil in a high sided pot. Let one side cook to a light brown, then flip (just the one time!) to cook the other side.
2. You can re-roll the dough once, using up some of the scraps. Avoid doing this more than once, though, as the dough can get tough.
3. It really helps to have two people working during the final stages: one to fry and one to coat the finished, and still warm, doughnuts in sugar.
4. These really are best when eaten fresh (and still warm!) ...don't cook them too far in advance!