These beauties are gluten-free, yeast-raised and deep fried. They have a lovely texture, great taste and are finished with a simple honey glaze that sets wonderfully letting you indulge without having your fingers coated in sticky sugary icing.
The source recipe can be found in my newly purchased, and deeply loved cookbook,
Doughnuts - Simple and Delicious Recipes to Make at Home by Lara Ferroni.
I took Lara's recommendation to use Chia Flour (ground chia seeds) as she states it adds a slight chewy texture to these donuts which mimics that of a regular raised donut. She was right! These have the taste and texture we all love in our gluten-based deep fried donuts.
You can find ground chia flour in nearly every health food store now. If you strike out, feel free to substitute 1:1 with brown rice flour.
I did adjust Lara's recipe as I went along by adding a few more spices and reducing the yeast somewhat because I didn't want an over-powering yeast flavor which sometimes can happen with raised donuts. When you reduce the yeast you also need to increase the proofing time so I did that as well.
The glaze is nothing more than 1 cup of sifted powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon of honey and 3-4 tablespoons of milk.
I highly advise you use a stand mixer with dough and paddle hook attachments for this recipe. Mixing by hand would be a challenge but could be done if you really wanted to go that route.
To begin, you will first need to combine the following ingredients which will serve as your basic gluten-free donut baking mix. I combine all the ingredients in a large Ziploc bag, give it a good shake, use what I need and store the rest in the fridge.
- 1 cup potato starch
- 1/4 cup potato flour or sweet sorghum
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour
- 1/2 cup sweet rice flour
Now let's get started !RECIPE:altered source recipe: Doughnuts - Simple and Delicious Recipes to Make at Home by Lara FerroniWHAT YOU NEED1/3 cup chia or brown rice flour
2 cups GF baking mix (see above)
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon guar gum
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup milk warmed to 110F
1/4 cup lukewarm water
3 tablespoons fine granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 large egg white
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or vegetable shortening at room temperature
Canola Oil - enough to fill a dutch oven with 2 inches of oil
In addition to the basics, you will also need a dutch oven, doughnut cutter or biscuit cutters in large and small sizes, oil/candy thermometer, steel spatula used for frying donuts and a non-terrycloth dishtowel
GLAZE
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons of honey
3-4 tablespoons of milk
MAKE ITIN MEDIUM BOWL, whisk together first 7 ingredient which I will refer to as "flour mixture"
IN LOW LYING BOWL ( I used my soup bowl), sprinkle 1 1/4 teaspoons of yeast over warm milk. Allow to sit 5 minutes then gently stir with fork until yeast is mostly dissolved
ADD 1/8 cup (20 grams) of flour mixture and stir well until a paste forms
COVER with cling wrap and let sit 15 minutes
IN BOWL OF STAND MIXER, fitted with paddle attachment, stir together remaining yeast and water
ADD flour/yeast paste, sugar and salt
STIR MED speed until smooth
BEAT in eggs, egg white, vanilla and vinegar
MIX IN 1/2 cup of flour blend on MED speed for 30 seconds
CHANGE to dough hook attachment
CONTINUE adding flour mixture , 1/4 cup at a time (until remaining flour mixture is used up) kneading shortly after each addition until dough finally starts pulling away from sides.
COVER bowl with cling wrap and let sit 30 minutes
FLOUR work surface with some gluten-free (GF) baking blend
ROLL out dough to 1/2 inch thickness
CUT OUT with donut cutter
PLACE donuts and holes and a baking tray lined with a linen dish towel sprinkled with GF flour
COVER with cling wrap and let rest 35-40 minutes until risen with rounded tops
WHILE DONUTS ARE PROOFING, heat oil in dutch oven to 350F
WITH SPATULA, ADD 2-3 donuts at a time or 5 donut holes at a time to hot oil
TURN after 1 minute, fry additional minute
REMOVE to a baking rack covered in a few sheets of paper towel
CONTINUE frying remaining donuts
LINE a cookie sheet with waxed paper and place a baking rack on top of waxed paper. This will make clean-up after glazing a breeze!
IN LOW LYING BOWL, whisk together glaze ingredients until smooth
DIP tops of donuts into glaze and submerge donut holes entirely in glaze
PLACE donuts and holes on a baking rack and let sit 10 minutes for glaze to set
FEEL FREE to double dip too. After initial 10 minutes just re-dunk the donuts in the glaze a second time
DIG IN !
These are truly incredible. Gluten-free, low carb and delicious! Little did I know that today was also National Peanut Butter Day in the USA so this recipe also has perfect timing.
I am not purposefully following an apple theme but given the season, tis the flavor to enjoy ! These donuts are baked , not deep fried. They are flavored with cinnamon, apple butter and apple cider. I didn't bother glazing these but instead sprinkled them with some sugar before baking. If you want to glaze them then I recommend blending together some powdered sugar and a bit of apple cider until you get a nice smooth consistency. Dip the donuts in the glaze and let them sit on a cooling rack as the glaze sets (5 minutes is usually all it takes).
Our family started off Saturday by enjoying freshly made cinnamon twists. These are yeast based donuts , shaped into twists, deep fried to a golden brown then dipped in a cinnamon vanilla glaze. One word: FANTASTIC!
This week I am baking from Anna Olson's cookbook Sugar. I love this cookbook and it has been part of my collection for several years now.
These beauties are gluten-free, yeast-raised and deep fried. They have a lovely texture, great taste and are finished with a simple honey glaze that sets wonderfully letting you indulge without having your fingers coated in sticky sugary icing.
