I don’t know about you guys, but when life gets me down I tend to turn to carbs and all things deep fried.
So with this ongoing NBA lockout totally ruining my job security, I needed some comfort.
That might be why I bought a whole loaf of bread yesterday and immediately toasted four slices and slathered them with butter.
Don’t judge me.
The bread was delicious, but I wanted something more. So I decided to make something I’ve been craving for a while.
Apple cider donuts!
Growing up in New Jersey, every Fall I would try to make it a point to go to this place called Delicious Orchards, simply because of their cider donuts.
Now that I’m no longer a Jersey resident, I needed to bring the donuts to me.
A girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do…
I decided to go with a recipe I found on Smitten Kitchen, making a few minor adjustments, including halving the recipe.
First I gathered up all of my dry ingredients.
Flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Then in a separate bowl, I creamed together butter and sugar and then added an egg.
To the egg, butter and sugar I added some apple cider [that I reduced] and milk + lemon juice [my buttermilk substitute].
Note: It really grinds my gears that they never sell buttermilk in a small pint container, which is why I made the substitution that I did. 
Next I gradually added the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until it formed a dough.
Like so…
This dough is delicious by the way.
I floured [heavily] a parchment lined baking sheet and dumped the dough onto it.
I also generously sprinkled flour on top of the dough.
Then with my hands I flattened the dough out.
I just eyeballed the thickness but the recipe says about 1/2 inch thick.
At this point I stuck the flattened dough into the freezer for a half hour so it could chill [making it easier to cut].
Once chilled, I took a cutter [I used a 1 cup measuring cup] and cut rounds out of the dough.
Then I took a corer and cut out tiny rounds in the center to make a hole.
The scraps of the dough I ended up just rolling into donut balls.
After the donuts were cut, I poured some oil in a pan and let it heat up to around 350 degrees F.
While the oil was heating, I mixed together some granulated sugar and cinnamon.
Yes, you guessed it, that’s the topping.
Then it was time for the fun part.
Let’s call this the “fry, dip and roll”
Step 1. Fry.
Step Two. Dip
Step Three: Roll.
Hello lovelies…
These donuts are just as good as I remembered!
I think they were even better just because they were homemade.
I am so glad I halved the recipe because my bottom would have probably doubled overnight.
Although I did eat these for dinner last night while watching The Notebook.
Again, don’t judge me.
So maybe instead of being bitter at the NBA for their stupid lockout which is going to lay off thousands of people, I should just thank them for giving me an excuse to make these fabulous, deep fried donuts.
Longest run on sentence?
Mmh, maybe.
Make sure you guys check out this recipe!! You won’t regret it!
Have a good weekend!
Vanessa
