Cinnamon Donuts
This is an easy recipe for cinnamon donuts, fried in a pan.
There is nothing tastier than some delicious light sweet fluffy sugary cinnamon donuts (or doughnuts, as we call them in the UK).
There are plenty of calories in sugar doughnuts, so if you are trying to lose weight and avoid sugar they are probably not the best food for you. But boy, do they taste good.
The origin of Donuts
In some countries, you have a real donut culture supported of course by companies like Dunkin’ Donuts, and others. American movies always have cops consuming whole trays of doughnuts with their colleagues for example. This was because the donut shop was the easiest place to get a quick and easy snack when they are working long hours without a chance to eat.
But why do Americans spell Donut as they do? I do not really understand as clearly they are Nuts made from Dough, no? Doughnuts? I suppose it is just Americans being efficient with letters.
The origins of the donut are supposedly the Dutch ‘olykoek’ which the Dutch settlers brought with them to New Amsterdam (now New York) at the beginning of the 19th century.
The oliebol
The ‘olykoek’, is now known as the ‘oliebol’ and is still traditionally deep-fried in most houses in the Netherlands (or in the shed as the process makes a smell!) on or before New Year’s Eve.
At New Year celebrations the Dutch will celebrate the fireworks and midnight with a deliciously unhealthy oliebol, or two (they are actually REALLY good, but not if you are counting calories!).
However the rest of the year you will not really see the oliebol in Holland. Birthdays are mostly celebrated in the Netherlands with cake or vlaai (a delicious sort of fruit tart).
Differences between the oliebol and a doughnut
The donut of today tastes very different to an oliebol. Oliebollen can contain raisins for example, and the dough is different, being a bit more stodgy. They are also deep-fried in oil (hence the name) and I suspect they retain more oil than a normal doughnut. Olibollen are sperical in shape.
Doughnuts tend to have a lighter internal texture. Both are tasty, and both contain significant calories.
Donuts are normally dunked in caster sugar, whereas oliebollen are sprinkled with powdered sugar.
This cinnamon sugar donuts recipe is a deep-fried doughnut recipe that will give you delicious fried doughnuts.
The shape you cut before you fry them will determine whether you get ring doughnuts or filled doughnuts, so you will need to experiment.
The holes from the ring doughnuts can be fried as well to give you some mini cinnamon sugar donut holes, which look like mini filled donuts.
I do not have a doughnut cutter, so I cut the dough with biscuit cutters, which does the trick.
However, it does mean my donuts may not be completely symmetrical. Who cares? My daughter does not seem to notice and they all taste the same 😃!
You may wish to fill your doughnuts with custard, jam or Nutella filling. Maybe you would like to glaze them with some other topping? It’s up to you.
I hope you enjoy making these cinnamon sugar donuts as much as we did. Mine did not last long!
How to make cinnamon sugar doughnuts
Cinnamon Donuts
Try this recipe at home for fluffy delicious cinnamon donuts that the whole family will love. Use you bread machine for the dough and fry in the pan.
Ingredients
- 90 ml water
- 150ml buttermilk
- 60g melted butter
- 460 g Bread flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 egg, beaten
- 7g quick rise yeast sachet
- Sunflower oil for frying
- 60g caster sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- I use my bread machine for this recipe, just because it is easier, less hassle and saves some mess in the kitchen.
- Put the water, buttermilk, salt, melted butter and beaten egg in the bread machine container. Cover with the flour and make a hole in the middle where you place the yeast. Put the machine on the dough making setting.
- In the meantime mix the caster sugar and cinnamon in a dish. This is for covering the doughnuts when they come out of the pan.
- When the dough program is finished (mine takes 1,5 hours), roll out the dough to about finger thickness.
- Then cut the dough into a ring doughnut shapes using a doughnut cutter, and put on a silicon sheet. (I use two biscuit cutters to do this, which is why my donuts are not very symmetrical!).
- Then place the silicon sheet on a tray in the oven for about 10 minutes (just warmed up briefly to about 60C so that the donuts rise a bit more).
- Then fry them in about 10 mm of oil on each side until brown. About 30-50 seconds each side. The oil should be at about 180C. Keep an eye on them.
- When ready, dip the doughnuts hot into the sugar/cinnamon mix so they are nicely covered, and leave to cool (or just eat them hot!)
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 261Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 309mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 1gSugar: 7gProtein: 7g
This nutrition information was automatically calculated by Nutritionix, but may not be 100% accurate.
Sarah
Wednesday 28th of August 2019
These look great. Fairly easy recipe as well. I have wanted to make donuts but have yett o try them. I will have to make them for my family at some point.
Gav
Wednesday 4th of September 2019
Go for it! They are great. This lot went in a few hours! We are on a diet now :)