TREJO’S DONUTS

Ingredients

½ cup buttermilk

2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast

4 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling

Scant ½ cup sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Scant ¾ cup full-fat sour cream

3 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 quarts (8 cups) vegetable oil

Directions

MAKE THE DOUGH In a small saucepan set over low heat, warm the buttermilk to 110°F. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk the yeast into the warm buttermilk. Set aside until thickened, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the flour, sugar, salt, butter, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer.

Add the thickened buttermilk mixture to the mixer bowl, and using the paddle attachment, mix the ingredients together on low speed, stopping every 20 seconds or so to scrape the sides of the bowl, until the mixture is shaggy and no dry ingredients are visible, 1 to 2 minutes. Raise the speed to medium and mix until the dough is well combined and smooth, about 2 minutes. Remove the paddle attachment and switch to the mixer’s hook attachment. Knead/mix on medium-low speed for about 5 minutes, until the dough has a smooth and stretchy consistency.

LET THE DOUGH RISE Spray a large bowl with nonstick pan spray (or grease it with a little oil). Transfer the dough to the bowl and lay a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the dough (this prevents the surface of the dough from drying out). Set the bowl aside in a draft-free spot and let the dough rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper, and coat it lightly with pan spray. Transfer the dough to the prepared sheet pan. Wrap the dough and sheet pan (together) tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and discard the plastic wrap. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, flour a rolling pin, and roll the dough until it’s ½ inch thick. Let it rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, line two sheet pans with parchment paper and flour them generously.

Using a 3-inch donut cutter, stamp out donuts close together (so you don’t waste dough). If you don’t have a donut cutter, use a 1-inch cookie cutter to stamp out a small round of dough from the center of each donut. Transfer the big donuts and the small donut holes to the prepared sheet pans, placing them a couple of inches apart from each other. Let the donuts proof in a warm, draft-free area until they have increased in size by one-third, about 1 hour.

FRY THE DONUTS If using a deep fryer, follow the manufacturer’s directions to heat the oil to 350°F. (Alternatively, attach a candy thermometer to a large deep heavy-bottomed pot, making sure the tip of the thermometer does not touch the bottom of the pot. Fill the pot with the oil and heat it slowly to 350°F over medium-low heat.) Once the oil reaches this temperature, try to maintain it. If it gets too hot, simply turn the heat down or off until it reduces to 350°F.

Carefully lower no more than 3 donuts at a time into the oil (if you overcrowd the oil with donuts, they’ll cool the oil and absorb it—making for greasy, sad donuts). Fry the donuts for about 1 minute on each side, gently turning them over with a spider strainer, until they are golden brown. Remove the cooked donuts with the spider strainer and set them on a wire cooling rack to drain. Let the oil rewarm to 350°F if necessary, then add a few more donuts to the pot. Repeat until all of the donuts are fried.

Follow these same frying instructions for the donut holes, cooking up to 8 at a time and frying both sides until golden brown. Keep in mind that they will need a bit less time to fry than the donuts due to their smaller size. Remove the cooked donut holes with the spider strainer and drain them on a cooling rack. Serve immediately or within 4 hours.

Notes

Donuts are a no-joke undertaking that take 2 days of work and love. What you get in return is a food that is about as amazing as food can be. Perfection, though, is fleeting, because 4 hours out of the fryer, they lose that magic. Which is why every donut shop in town sells their donuts for half price at the end of the day. Honest to god, they’re best enjoyed right out of the fryer. This recipe is for a plain yeasted donut, delicious on its own and the starting point for the Margarita, the Abuelita, and the Lowrider Donuts (beginning on this page).