Homemade Apple Cider Donuts
“These go AWESOME with a cup of hot apple cider.” – Someone surely has said this, who had both at the same time
Get together all your Ingredients:
Several ripe apples of your choice such as Cortland or McIntosh
2- 2 1/2 cups apple cider
3- 3 1/2 cups of flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 & 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
Vegetable oil for the deep frying
Directions:
Core the apple and chop coarsely, with the peel intact still. Add it to 1 1/2 cups cider in a saucepan over medium-high heat; cook it until soft, for about 10 minutes.
Continue cooking until the apples are tender and the cider is almost completely evaporated off (a reduction), for about 6 minutes. Pureé in a blender. Measure out the sauce, you should have 1 cup. Let it cool just a little.
Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, some cinnamon, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl.
Beat about a cup granulated sugar and the shortening in another bowl with a mixer on medium speed until granulated. Beat in adding the egg and yolk, then add in the applesauce, whilst scraping the bowl. Beat in half of the flour mixture, then the buttermilk and vanilla, and then the remaining flour mixture. Mix to make a dough; and be careful not to overly beat it.
Put the dough onto parchment paper and pat it out flat to cover and refrigerate for a few hours.
Recipe for the glaze: Low heat cook the remaining cup of cider in a small saucepan over lower-medium heat until cooked down to 1/4 cup. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar until smooth and glossy, then put to the side. Add in the remaining cup of granulated sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon in a bowl; and put that aside to be put atop later on as the yummy glaze.
Frying: Heat up vegetable oil to between 345º-355º degrees. Put some kind of absorbent like newspaper or the like down on a baking sheet. Cut the chilled dough into rounds, using a flour-basted cutter, then cut out the middles with a 1-inch cookie or donut cutter. For best results, cook only one or two donuts at a time in the hot oil and fry them until they are golden brown, (completely dunked in the oil if possible like in a deep fryer if not a pan). Place the finished donuts on the baking sheet to dry off excess oil.
Dip one side of each doughnut in the cider glaze, and then roll in the cinnamon-sugar. Cinnamon and sugar can be omitted if you are boring. You heard me. : )