Kirsten Tibballs' cinnamon doughnuts

Make these fluffy yeasted doughnuts – and cook the doughnut holes for a sweet snack, too!

Cinnamon doughnuts. Credit: Everyday Gourmet with Justine Schofield

• serves

  10

• prep

  45 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 520 g plain flour
• 10 g fresh yeast
• 75 g caster sugar
• 8 g sea salt
• 210 g milk, slightly warmed
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 20 g butter

To cook and finish

• Vegetable oil
• Ground cinnamon, to dust
• Caster sugar, to dust

Proving and resting time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Instructions

1. Combine the flour and yeast in in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix briefly to combine the yeast and flour.
2. Add all the remaining ingredients except the butter and mix on low speed for 35 minutes. The dough should be sticking to the side of bowl a little bit at this stage. Add in the butter one small piece at a time. Continue mixing for a further 5 minutes.
3. Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured bench. Pat the dough into a square and fold the corners in to create an envelope shape. Place the dough back in the bowl, seam side down. Cover the top of the bowl with a damp tea towel and leave at room temperature for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
4. Knock the dough back with a closed fist and knead the dough on a floured bench for approximately 2 minutes. Let the dough rest for 2 minutes and then roll it out to about 1cm thick. Cut with a 70 mm cutter to form doughnuts. Cut a 40mm centre out of the middle of each doughnut. Leave the cut doughnuts on a lightly floured bench surface and cover with a clean damp cloth and let them rise for 15 minutes. Heat the oil to 180°C with the oil only halfway up the pot.
5. Cooking in batches, add doughnuts to pot and once golden on the base, turn over and cook until both sides are golden brown. Remove the doughnuts, place onto some absorbent paper to drain then, while still warm, roll in a combination of caster sugar and cinnamon. Repeat to cook the doughnut holes. (You can also cut the dough left over after cutting out the doughnuts into snack-sized pieces and cook those, too).

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.