Mother’s Doughnuts
No Woods Family cookbook would be complete without this recipe! Mother originally got her recipe from Grandma White. For a time, she sold them at Frasier's General Store for 30 cents per half dozen. Remember "Sure Enough?" He sold food items out of the back of his van and traveled around the area. He too sold some for her. Uncle Dave printed up labels for her which said "Alice Woods Home-Made Doughnuts," and they were packaged six to a little plastic bag with the label stapled on the top closing the bag. Once she paid off the store bill by making doughnuts when dad was out of work.
Servings: 24 yield(s)
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 40 mins
Total Time: 60 mins
Ingredients
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ginger
  • 2 medium eggs (for a double batch use 3 large eggs)
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 tbsp melted fat ((lard, Crisco, butter))
  • 4 cup flour, sifted (3.5-4 cups)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
Instructions
  1. Mix sugar, salt, and spices. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk. Stir in melted fat.
  2. Mix 3.5 c. of flour with the baking powder and baking soda. Stir into wet mixture to make a soft dough. Use enough flour to make the dough stiff enough to stay when pinched, but not too firm. You'll probably use all 8 c. of flour. Taste your dough. Adjust spices as needed.
  3. Roll dough to 1/2' thickness, cut with a doughnut cutter. Or a biscuit cutter for the outer ring and a smaller cutter for the center, if you don't have a doughnut cutter.
  4. Before frying, test for temperature of the fat with a dough scrap; the fat should neither be too hot nor too cold. Around 375° tested with a thermometer. This is too hot for frying the holes. They need a temperature of less than 350°. Holes should probably be fried first, to avoid a long wait for the oil to cool to temperature. To keep an even temperature while frying, do not crowd the pan: stagger the additions to four at a time. If possible, watch the master at least once! Maybe she'll give you a special demonstration!
  5. Fry doughnuts in hot oil. Turn with long-handled fork when brown on the bottom. Remove to drain on brown paper or paper towels.