doughnuts

Last week it was really cold in our house and our pilot light wasn't lit, so I couldn't turn the furnace on, and Irish wasn't home to light it.....SO I decided I needed to bake something so we could warm ourselves up...and have a yummy treat!

I was looking through my recipe binder (which i LOVE) and I saw tons of things that looked good...but I didn't have all the ingredients needed for it. So finally i decided we would make something that I've kind of wanted to try for a while now - Apple Cider Doughnuts!

Paisley was sleeping and Marshall was bored, so it was perfect. We got the bowls out, measuring cups & spoons, and got to work. Marshall was so excited he got to scoop and pour all of the ingredients into the bowl and mix!

Finally we got to the point in the recipe where we needed to fry the doughnuts. I told Marshall that he could watch, but this part was kind of tricky and only Mommy could do it. It ended up M just playing in the sink of water with all the measuring cups, spoons and bowls (he had a blast...and didn't even get that wet!!)

Here is our end result. Not as pretty as the picture from the magazine...but I'm sure just as tasty!!

Apple Cider Doughnuts


With the 'left over scraps' we made Apple Cider "Timbits"


Here's the recipe if you want to try it yourself! These actually weren't even that hard!!

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cups sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup apple cider (I just used apple juice)
4 Tbsp butter, melted
Vegetable oil for frying

Glaze:
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
3 Tbsp apple cider (again, I used apple juice)

In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and cider. Stir in the melted butter. Make a well in the flour mixture and stir in the wet ingredients.

Turn the soft dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a 1/2-inch-high round. Heat 3 inches of vegetable oil in a deep pot over medium heat.

Use a doughnut cutter to form rings (or just use a glass and poke holes into the rings). Once the oil begins to bubble, use a spatula to carefully lower a doughnut into the hot oil. (you can do more than one at a time, just don't crowd the pot)

Once the doughnuts rise to the surface and begin to brown, flip them with the spatula.

Remove after 2 to 3 minutes, or when the doughnuts are golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

For a glaze, stir together the confectioners sugar and the cider. Spoon the mixture over the doughnuts.

Enjoy :)