Happy, Healthy Bellies: Glazed Doughnuts

**Warning** These treats are not exactly healthy, but they do make bellies happy. I blame my pregnancy for all the junk food that ends up on here. I normally cook healthy foods for my family.

Glazed Doughnuts

1 1/8 cup milk
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoon active yeast
Two whole eggs
1 1/2 cup butter
Four cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cooking oil

Measure out 1 1/8 cup milk in measuring cup. Warm shortly in microwave to make milk warm, but not hot. Add brown sugar and stir briefly. Next, add yeast and stir briefly again. Yeast does not need to be dissolved. Let sit for a few minutes.

In a separate microwavable bowl, melt butter for 30 seconds. Butter will not be completely melted-which is good-since we'll be mixing in egg yolks and we don't want those yolks to cook...stir heated butter in its bowl until mostly consistent.

Crack two whole eggs into another bowl, and whisk the heck out of them. Combine eggs with butter (make sure again that its not hot!) Add the milk, sugar and yeast to the mixture.

Measure out 4 cups of flour into large bowl. Mix in salt. Using 1/2 cup at a time, incorporate flour into liquid mixture mixing or kneading as you go. Once all mixed, knead on floured surface for additional minute. Ta-da! The creating of the dough is complete! Lightly grease another bowl, and put dough in. Cover with plastic wrap and put into refrigerator for at least two hours.

After 2 hours should look like this:

Plop out dough on floured surface. Flour rolling pin and roll dough to 1/2" thickness. With no more than a 3" round cookie cutter (or a doughnut cutter), cut out numerous circles in the dough. Using a smaller cutter, cut out smaller circles from the big circles. Cut out as many circles as you can an place on floured cookie sheet. Cover with towel and let rise in warm area for an hour.

Pour cooking oil into large pot, allowing oil to heat to around 300 degrees. Oil should NOT be smoking, nor should it be bubbling. You can test this temp by dropping one of the doughnut holes in and watching it cook for about 10 seconds on each side. Color should be light brown and dough should expand to a round shape. Once this is achieved (and the hour is up) layer a bunch of paper towels on counter to reduce oil from cooked doughnuts. Place your first doughnut in the oil. (CAREFULLY. On the very first doughnut, the oil splashed up and burned the heck out of my thumb. Very unfun.) Let doughnut cook for 10 seconds, flip with a slotted spoon, and let cook another 10 seconds. Remove and set on layer of paper towels to absorb oil. Flip doughnut over a few times to get as much oil removed as possible. Repeat with all doughnuts and holes.

Glaze

Four cups powdered sugar
1/2 water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

Stir all ingredients together to form a glaze. Dip each doughnut and hole in glaze, flipping to coat each side. Set on wire rack to dry/cool. Once all are glazed, repeat to create a thicker coat. *Special thanks to my son, Sebastian for helping glaze the doughnuts (and sneaking one!)