I have been trying to make yeast donuts and failing pretty miserably. I am not sure the ingredients are critical, so much as the method of kneading and yeast prep. So, you are going to make a typical dough with 2-cups of flour and about a total 1 cup of liquid, counting the egg. Finally payed attention to what was said in this guy's video: The apron - YouTube
Wet:
I use about 1/3 cups warm milk, 1 tsp yeast, 2 tbs sugar. Let sit till it foams, then add a stirred egg.
Dry:
2 cups King Arthur flour, 1-2 tbs more sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, stirred together
Mix wet and dry plus ((add another 1/2 cup milk), till you get a sticky mass. Add that extra moisture gradually. Then add 2 tbs of soft (salted) butter.
Keep stirring the sticky mass until it becomes more silken. Turn out onto a surface. Do not add more flour, just keep working the dough with hands and spatulas. Eventually it becomes smooth and less sticky, and passes the "windowpane" test.
Let rise till doubled. Then punch down, roll out 1/2 inch thick, cut into 6-8 pieces. Roll each into a ball and punch a hole through it, placing each piece on a small piece of parchment paper. After the doughnuts are rolled and placed on paper, let them double again.
Then deep fat fry for 1-2 minutes a side. Take each one off its paper, without handling or deflating. And drop in the oil for 1-2 minutes a side. Not too fast or the insides are raw, not too slow or it gets greasy. They say you want 150-160 degrees but, by now, I have figured out where to set the burner dial.
The ideal is somewhere near golden brown, with a white ring around its equator. I dust them with granulated sugar mixed with cinnamon. But now that I have figured out how to get fluffy donuts, I might try a glaze.
Note: I have always had trouble getting a foam to form on top of my initial yeast+sugar+milk mixture. It is very helpful to warm the milk to body temp or slightly above. Then let sit for 15 minutes.
