Homemade Donut Holes - Yum!

We just got off several weeks of being sick and I thought it was about time that we do something fun. So, I bravely decided that the kids and I would made donuts from scratch. We used this recipe because it didn't require yeast. It also used ingredients that I had on hand. Perhaps next time we'll try a recipe that you actually cut the donuts out. The kids were happy with this one - and there is something fun about little bite sized pieces of anything.

So, I'm not going to do a tutorial because it's all pretty easy. But I will tell you what we did, what the kids roles were and the things that I found that made it a little bit easier.

I printed the recipe up and handed it to my son. I thought it would be a good exercise on reading. He read the ingredients as I pulled them and put them on the counter. Once we had all the ingredients, we went back and he read the measurements. My daughter handed it to us, My son measured it out or I did and then my daughter got to pour it in the bowl. This worked out great and I found that I had plenty of time to snap pictures since my son is becoming a pro at measuring things out. I do put the flour into a bowl to make it easier for him to get to.

My daughter had a great time mixing while my son and I were figuring out what came next and measuring it off. She was very proud of herself.

I, of course, fried them up. The whole reason that the idea of donuts came up is because I had a lot of oil left over from making won tons the other night and it seemed a shame to waste it. It was perfect the second time around and it cooked the donuts perfectly. On my stove, I set it at 7.5 (9 boils). I didn't have a thermometer to check the temperature but this is what I cook the won tons at.

When I cut the first one open - it looked just like a donut! I know, what did I expect... but the way they were cooking up on the outside, it looked like it might become more like a funnel cake or something. My son dipped each one in the cinnamon sugar (I would have done it all over, but he chose to just do one side).

So, I learned a few things when cooking them. When dropping the batter into the oil, it's easiest to do it with two spoons. Scoop with one and push it off with the other. This makes them the perfect size and you don't get long tails. Also, when bringing them out of the oil, have the plate on the opposite side of the kids. My daughter got burned when one of the newly removed ones rolled off and hit her hand :( But don't worry - she said eating a donut made it feel much better.