Doughnut Twists Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, butter, sugars, nutmeg, salt, eggs and orange zest and 2 cups flour. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes or until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a firm dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes., Punch dough down. Divide in half. On a floured surface, roll out one portion into a 13-1/2x6-in. rectangle. With a sharp knife, cut dough into thirty-six 1-1/2-in. squares. , Using a sharp knife and beginning at the bottom of the lower left square, make two 1-in. vertical cuts 1/2 in. apart. Braid the three attached strips; pinch ends to seal. Place on a greased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining squares and the remaining dough. Cover and let rise until almost doubled, about 40 minutes. , In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 375°. Fry doughnuts, a few at a time, for 1 minute on each side or until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels. , In a large saucepan, combine glaze ingredients. Bring to a rolling boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat. Dip warm doughnuts in glaze. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath.

Steps:

• Heat the milk until it is warm but not hot, about 90 degrees. In a large bowl, combine it with the yeast. Stir lightly, and let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Using an electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, beat the eggs, butter, sugar and salt into the yeast mixture. Add half of the flour (2 cups plus 2 tablespoons), and mix until combined, then mix in the rest of the flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Add more flour, about 2 tablespoons at a time, if the dough is too wet. If you're using an electric mixer, the dough will probably become too thick to beat; when it does, transfer it to a floured surface, and gently knead it until smooth. Grease a large bowl with a little oil. Transfer the dough to the bowl, and cover. Let rise at room temperature until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.
• Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface, and roll it to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut out the doughnuts with a doughnut cutter, concentric cookie cutters or a drinking glass and a shot glass (the larger one should be about 3 inches in diameter), flouring the cutters as you go. Reserve the doughnut holes. If you're making filled doughnuts, don't cut out the middle. Knead any scraps together, being careful not to overwork, and let rest for a few minutes before repeating the process.
• Put the doughnuts on two floured baking sheets so that there is plenty of room between each one. Cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm place until they are slightly puffed up and delicate, about 45 minutes. If your kitchen isn't warm, heat the oven to 200 at the beginning of this step, then turn off the heat, put the baking sheets in the oven and leave the door ajar.
• About 15 minutes before the doughnuts are done rising, put the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, and heat it to 375. Meanwhile, line cooling racks, baking sheets or plates with paper towels.
• Carefully add the doughnuts to the oil, a few at a time. If they're too delicate to pick up with your fingers (they may be this way only if you rose them in the oven), use a metal spatula to pick them up and slide them into the oil. It's O.K. if they deflate a bit; they'll puff back up as they fry. When the bottoms are deep golden, after 45 seconds to a minute, use a slotted spoon to flip; cook until they're deep golden all over. Doughnut holes cook faster. Transfer the doughnuts to the prepared plates or racks, and repeat with the rest of the dough, adjusting the heat as needed to keep the oil at 375. Glaze or fill as follows, and serve as soon as possible.
• Whisk together 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla until smooth. When the doughnuts are cool enough to handle, dip into the glaze; if you like, flip them so the tops they're completely covered. Put on racks to let the glaze harden.

Steps:

• Place yeast in the bowl of a mixer. Pour milk over yeast; stir to combine. Let stand until foamy, about 2 minutes. Add 2 3/4 c flour to bowl without stirring. Cover tightly with plastic and let stand in a warm place until surface is cracking, about 45 minutes.
• Whisk together 1/4 c flour, the yolks, brown sugar, granulated sugars, vanilla, salt and cinnamon.
• Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling occasionally, until dark brown with a nutty aroma. Remove from heat. Pour browned butter over yolk mixture; whisk to combine.
• Add yolk-butter mixture to yeast mixture. Beat with mixer on medium-low speed until just combined. Add remaining 1/2 c flour. Beat on medium-high speed until combined , about 2 minutes (dough will be sticky). Transfer to an oiled bowl; cover. Let stand in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 2 hours. Turn out dough onto a floured surface, and knead for 2 minutes. Return dough to bowl. Let stand until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes more.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently roll out dough into a 10x25 rectangle. Cut crosswise into 20 1/2 in thick strips. Bring ends of 1 strip together, twist, and pinch ends to seal. Place on a baking sheet. Let stand for 15 minutes.
• Heat 2-3 inches oil in a heavy 5-quart saucepan until a deep fry thermometer registers 375 degrees. Working in batches, fry doughnuts, turning occasionally, until browned, about 2 minutes. (Adjust heat as necessary to maintain oil temperature.) Transfer doughnuts to paper-towel-lined plates to drain; let cool slightly. Toss doughnuts in superfine sugar.