I know it seems like this has recipe has a lot of steps but I wanted to make sure that I explained everything thoroughly so these are as easy as possible! They do take a little time but they're so worth it!This recipe makes about 50 donut holes or 4 dozen regular donuts.
Ingredients
5tbspsoftened butter
1cupsugar
3eggs
1cupmashed ripe bananas(about 2 small bananas)
1/2cupbuttermilk(or regular milk with 1 tsp lemon juice added)
2tspvanilla extract
5cupsall purpose flour
4tspbaking powder
1tspbaking soda
1tspnutmeg
1tspcinnamon
1tspsalt
Canola or vegetable oil for frying(I used 6 cups)
"Coco and Ash" caramel dipping sauce
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
1cupwhite sugar
1tbspcinnamon
Instructions
For the donuts
Either in the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl, add your butter and sugar and beat together until light and fluffy.
Then add in your mashed bananas, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk. (If you don't have buttermilk, just add 1 tsp of lemon juice to regular milk). Stir until combined.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt.
Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet mixture. I like to add about 1/3 at a time and mix in between. If you're doing this by hand and not in a stand mixer, you're welcome for the arm workout :)
leave the dough in the bowl and pop it in the fridge for 1 hour.
After your dough has been chilled, sprinkle a board or your counter top with a little flour and plop the dough on top. You may want to sprinkle some flour on the top of the dough too if it seems sticky.
Knead the dough for just a second to bring it all together. (No need to any fancy kneading techniques, just squeeze the dough together a few times so it comes together). If you have any sticky spots, just sprinkle with more flour.
Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to about 1/2 inch thick.
Cut out your donut holes. I don't have a fancy donut cutter so I just used the lid of a spice container.
Frying the donuts
Make your cinnamon sugar mixture and set it aside right next to where you are frying.
Add your oil to a pot so that it's at least 2 inches deep.
Heat the oil to 375. I use a candy thermometer but you'll know when your oil is ready when you drop a little bit of flour in the pan and it sizzles. I like to add in just one donut as a test and see how it does, if it browns quickly and the inside is raw, lower the heat. if it doesn't sizzle, raise your heat. I keep mine burner on medium pretty much the whole time.
So once you have your oil at the right temp, you can cook the donut holes in batches. I do about 5 or 6 at a time and cook them for about 45 seconds per side.
As soon as you pull them out of the oil, drop them into the cinnamon sugar mixture and roll them around until they are coated. If you go through a few batches and notice that the sugar has stopped sticking to the donuts, it's just because a lot of oil that's gotten into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Just add in some more sugar and cinnamon and keep going. :)