This is a vintage post from 2014, but the doughnuts are fresh!:)
By Kevin Williams
My hometown of Middletown doesn't have any bookstores left (we once had three), no ice cream parlors (we once had 5 or 6),  no Target, and a dying mall to new a few of our disappearing amenities. But,by golly, we like our doughnuts here.  My town has several places that churn out hand-made, homemade confections.  The owners of Milton's Donuts used to live near my parents.  So at Trick or Treat time their house was always a favorite stop for the neighborhood kids.  No Snickers bar or Reese's Cups from them, ghosts and goblins would get a homemade doughnut. Yum, yum, no wonder the line was always long on their porch!  It was in the local news yesterday that this iconic local bakery has been bought, saving it yet for another generation. Not a mile away Central Pastry churns out their own doughnuts, cakes, and confections as they have for generations (Dayton native Martin Sheen used to hang out there as a kid and when first got my drivers license, Central Pastry was my first stop for an after-school snack).  My loyalities are divided. I like both places.  Yet I also get my share of homemade doughnuts when I visit Amish bakeries.  And you don't get much better than these beauties I spotted at an Amish benefit. Yum!  And, of course, the recipe is below so you can make your own.  Doughnuts are popular on Amish365.com and there are so many different recipes favored by Amish cooks that I don't mind repeating them from time to time. Enjoy!
- 3 eggs
- 6 cups flour
- 2 cups warm water
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 4 tablespoons yeast or 2 compressed yeast cakes
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup lard (or shortening)
- Glaze
- 2 teaspoons white Karo
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 -3 tablespoons hot water
- In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in 2 cups of warm water.
- Add eggs, flour, salt, sugar and lard to yeast mixture.
- Mix well.
- Cover with a tea towel and let rise until doubled.
- Roll out to ½" thick, cutting with a doughnut cutter.
- Let rise again, 30-45 minutes.
- Fry until golden on one side then flip and do the other side.
- This takes just a few minutes per side.Drain on paper towels and dip in glaze.
- Glaze mixture:.
- Mix Karo syrup, vanilla, powdered sugar and 2 T. hot water together.
- If consistency is not thin enough, add the other tablespoon water.
- Roll doughnuts in glaze while still warm.
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Barbarainnc
Do I use all purpose or bread flour to make the doughnut dough??
Kevin
All-purpose!
dynnamae
Congratulations Kevin on your weight loss. I know all about that subject. Keeo up the good work and enjoy those walks with Aster.
Bonnie Pavel
Great photo! I think I will make this recipe soon.
Nancy
I recently bought 'donut mix' in Charm,Holmes County, OH. I'm not sure how to use the mix to make donuts. The shop keepers that sold it to me did not know. I have 2-3 cups of mix. Do you have a recipe that might work with this? Thanks so much! Nancy
kat
My local Iowa Amish bulk store has the booklet with the recipe in it for the mixes. Here is the recipe from the booklet that uses the doughnut mix.
Yeast Raised Donuts
10 cups doughnut mix
2 TBSP yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups water
Mix yeast with 1/4 cup warm water and let sit for 15 minutes. Measure 10 cups of mix into large bowl and add all ingredients. Let rise 1 hour. Roll out and cut. Let rise 15-30 minutes after they are cut. Deep fat fry.
Kevin
Thank you for that, Kat, hopefully that will help our reader out!
Margie
Nancy, there should have been a small booklet with recipes for the donuts, I have also purchased the mixture and the booklet.