Yeasted Buttermilk Donuts with Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Glaze

Why should buttermilk cake donuts have all the fun? Here, we call for buttermilk in a yeasted donut and it’s likely you may never turn back. The buttermilk contributes an extra special tenderness to these donuts, as it is wont to do, and its tang is wonderful with the sweet vanilla bean glaze. The dough comes together quickly and easily and can be prepared the night before or the morning of – in other words, you do you. 

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Yeasted Buttermilk Donuts with Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Glaze

Recipe Author Jessie Sheehan

Servings 10 dounts

Ingredients

For the donuts:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup bread flour, or more all-purpose
• 2 1/2 tsps instant yeast
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 cup buttermilk room temperature
• 1 large egg room temperature

For the glaze:

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/8 tsp kosher salt
• 2 1/2 tbsps buttermilk
• 1 vanilla bean scraped

For frying:

• Vegetable oil

Instructions

• Grease a medium-sized bowl with cooking spray or softened butter.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment and on medium-low speed, mix the flours, yeast, sugar and salt until incorporated. Add the butter, buttermilk and egg, and mix until a shaggy dough forms.
• Remove the paddle, replace with the dough hook, and on medium-high speed, beat the dough until a smooth mass forms around the hook that sticks only a bit to the bottom of the bowl, about 4 to 6 minutes. 
• Transfer the dough to the prepared bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until it practically doubles in size.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Turn the dough out onto an unfloured work surface and roll it into a 1/2-inch tall, 12 by 10-inch rectangle.
• Using both a 3 1/2-inch and a 1-inch cookie cutter, begin cutting out the donuts (starting with the large cutter and following up with the smaller one).
• Transfer the donuts to the prepared sheets as you work. Reroll the scraps and cut out additional donuts, though they will be tough; or, don’t reroll and make donut holes by cutting the scraps into pieces with the 1-inch cutter and rolling them into balls.
• Cover the sheets in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight; or, let them rest on the counter until they have doubled in size, about an hour. (If you refrigerate your donuts, let them come to room temp before frying, about an hour depending on the warmth of your kitchen). 
• Fill a large, heavy pot with 2-inches of oil, attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pot and heat the oil on medium to medium-high heat until the temperature reaches 350°F. Line a cooling rack with a thick layer of paper towels and place it near the stove top.
• While the oil heats, in a small shallow bowl, whisk the glaze ingredients.
• Once the oil is at temperature, carefully transfer a couple of donut holes to the oil. Fry the holes for about 1 1/2 minutes total, flipping them over with a heat-proof slotted spoon at the halfway point, so both sides evenly brown. Once browned, carefully transfer the holes to the prepared cooling rack. Frying the holes before the donuts, allows you to gauge the temperature of the oil and the length of time it takes to achieve the perfect brown color.
• Repeat with the remaining holes and then fry the donuts for about 45 seconds to a minute per side.
• Dunk each warm hole in the glaze and one side of each warm donut and let set before eating. 
• Donuts are best eaten the day they are fried.