GF Doughnuts

** Recipe from  Gluten Free Cooking School **

* 1 c. warm water
* 2 envelopes active dry yeast (1.5 Tbsp)
* 1 c. Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
* 2/3 c. sugar
* 2/3 c. butter, softened (dairy free butter substitutes like Vegan Buttery Sticks or coconut oil would work)
* 3 large eggs
* 2 tsp. vanilla extract
* 1 tsp. salt
* 3.5 c. Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
* 2 tsp. xanthan gum
* 1/2 gallon of oil (for frying)

Add yeast to the warm water & proof for 5 min. Stir in 1 c. flour, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and let it sit for 30 min. Whisk together sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, and salt & add it to yeast/flour mix. Add in remaining 3.5 c. of flour & xanthan gum. Mix dough together for several minutes. Dough should be somewhat thick but still soft, not thick enough that you think “this is going to be easy to roll out”, but more like “this dough may be a bit too soft to work with”.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm spot for 2 hrs. Then put it in refrigerator for at least 3 hrs, (but up to 16 hours).  Roll out dough to 3/8″ thick. Use a 3″ round cookie/biscuit cutter to cut out doughnut, and then a 1″ hole (or thereabouts) in the middle of each with a floured knife. Re-roll scraps and continue as above until you’ve used all the dough. Let doughnuts rise in a warm place for an hr. Do not cover them – the exterior needs to dry out slightly.  Pour oil into a large deep skillet (or stock pot) and heat it to 375. (If you start oil after doughnuts have risen for 45 min, everything should be ready at the same time.) Carefully drop a few doughnuts into hot oil, being careful not to crowd. When one side has browned nicely (doesn’t take long) flip doughnut over and cook until other side has browned as well. Cut one of the first doughnuts in two to make sure they are completely cooked and adjust your oil temperature as needed.  When doughnuts come out of oil, lay them on a cooling rack or paper towels to drain. Once they’ve cooled just a little bit, roll them in vanilla glaze & set them on a cooling rack.

yield: about 1 1/2 doz.

Vanilla Almond Glaze
* 1 c. confectioner’s sugar
* 2–3 Tbl. water
* 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
* 1/4 tsp. almond extract
Just stir briskly until all of the ingredients are combined. Make more as needed.