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Pure Potato Latkes
Joan Nathan, Nathaniel Wade
3037 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,037
1 1/4 hours, plus cooling and chilling
Published Dec. 1, 2023
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In a medium bowl, combine the warm milk, yeast and ½ cup/65 grams flour. Stir with a wooden spoon to form a wet dough. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and allow it to sit until doubled in size, 15 to 20 minutes. Pre-fermenting the dough like this gives the doughnuts a more complex, tangy flavor.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the eggs and buttermilk. Add ¼ cup sugar, salt, nutmeg, pre-ferment and remaining 3 cups/388 grams flour. Knead on the lowest speed until it comes together in a smooth and elastic dough, about 5 minutes. Scrape the bowl and dough hook.
Cut the butter into chunks and add all at once. Incorporate by kneading the dough on speed 2 until the butter is folded in and the dough is again smooth and elastic, 5 to 6 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and fold the dough over to form a loose sphere. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for the dough to rise slowly and chill completely, 4 to 12 hours.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and dust lightly with flour. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and use a floured rolling pin to roll it to a ½-inch thickness. Using cookie or biscuit cutters, cut out 3-inch rounds then cut out 1-inch-diameter holes. Cut out as many doughnut holes as you can from the remaining dough on the work surface. Set aside the scraps to fry as a treat for all your hard work.
Arrange the doughnuts on the prepared baking sheet, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let proof at room temperature until the chill is off and the dough feels airy when you tap it gently, about 45 minutes.
Set a wire rack over a baking sheet and place the remaining 2 cups/400 grams sugar in a medium bowl. In a heavy, large pot or deep fryer, heat at least 3 inches of oil until a deep-fry thermometer registers 350 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer, check the temperature by dropping in a scrap of dough. It should bubble immediately and steadily.
Working in batches, use a slotted metal spoon or spatula to carefully place the doughnuts, holes and scraps in the hot oil. Fry, flipping once, until light golden brown, 45 seconds to 1 minute per side for the doughnuts and 30 seconds for the holes and scraps. When done, transfer each to the wire rack and return oil to 350 degrees between batches. While still warm, roll doughnuts and holes in sugar and serve immediately.
How could this recipe be modified for those of us without a stand mixer? Thanks.
"roll doughnuts and holes in sugar and serve immediately." USE: Superfine sugar. My grandfather's bakery always used it--the appearance is less bulky, so is the taste--much more elegant!
When rolling out and placing on baking sheet for final proof. Use LOTS of flour. The dough was quite sticky for my first batch, no real issues just some lost their perfect round shape when transferring to the oil. Great overall recipe.
These were great. More substantial than other yeast raised doughnuts. I don't like dealing with all the oil for deep frying, so I baked them in a couple of doughnut pans - 10 minutes at 375, then glazed them with a mixture of powdered sugar and water with a tsp of vanilla.
In step 1, will the dough really double in size in just 15-20 minutes?
Beautiful recipe! I added cinnamon to the sugar dusting and piped full with raspberry jam. Opted for smaller 1.5” donut holes, and got 36 total. The dough is quite sticky when it goes to proof, but manageable.
I was really disappointed by this recipe. It had very little flavor, despite adding pumpkin pie spice in place of the nutmeg. It was my first time making donuts at home and it was simpler than I expected.
For those asking about GF options, I’d suggest looking for a cake donut option if you want to try subbing GF for AP flour to make a donut. Most GF flours don’t develop the kind of structure that gluten flour does with yeast to create a risen dough. If you’re looking for something like that you’ll need a very different recipe that accounts for that issue.
How does one dispose of that much oil? That has kept me from cooking anything that requires substantial amounts of frying oil -- from chicken to donuts.
Keep the oil and use it again. This works really well. Just put it in a glass jar and cover tightly. Then plan a fry-intensive menu to use it up over the next week or two.
Would it be possible to make these in an air fryer instead of oil?
Please specify the breakdown of which steps could be done ahead of time? At what point(s) in the recipe could you refrigerate or freeze the dough or doughnuts, and for how long?
Hoping for a GF alternative to wheat flour! Anyone?
Going to a Hanukkah party on Friday and would like to make them earlier and serve later that night. Will they be ok? Or will they be soggy from the frying?
When rolling out and placing on baking sheet for final proof. Use LOTS of flour. The dough was quite sticky for my first batch, no real issues just some lost their perfect round shape when transferring to the oil. Great overall recipe.
Could this be made to work with a gluten-free flour?
"roll doughnuts and holes in sugar and serve immediately." USE: Superfine sugar. My grandfather's bakery always used it--the appearance is less bulky, so is the taste--much more elegant!
Would this work without punching out the holes? I would like to make jelly donuts (Chanukah is coming up!) and would like a solid donut that I can fill. I'm prepared to fry for a longer time and/or finish in the oven to make sure the centers are cooked. Would that work?
I used this recipe and the donuts are very tasty. I cut the leftover dough into strips and made small crullers. Someone in another recipe mentioned freezing the shaped donuts in parchment paper and I have several set up that way. My question ia how would one bake these? My only complaint which also adds to the flavor is the use of oil. Fried Dough is a marvelous thing if you are in your teens or twenties!
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