Dear Joy the Baker,
You have ruined my life for the betterment of my soul and the worsening of my waistline.
Love,
Me.
Not much I can add to this… I could attempt to change a teeny thing here or add a 1/4 tsp of something extra here, but in all fairness, this recipe is already perfection. Nothing beats the crispy, chewy, powdery, melt-in-your-mouth combination of hot oil, dough, and powdered sugar.
She is entirely correct about this being a VERY moist dough, and pretty much needs to be done in an electric mixer with a dough hook. It does come together after it rises, so it ends up being pretty manageable if you are generous with the flour.
There are two leavening agents in this dough (baking soda and yeast), so you definitely see some poofing action early on. Also, as you can see, it’s a bit soft to cut so just be patient. I wasn’t.
I also was so excited and anxious to get donuts in my mouth that I didn’t really care what shape each piece ended up, so I wasn’t as precise as I could have been. (Obviously.)
Using a candy thermometer was definitely worth the effort; it made managing the heat and therefore the cooking speed way easier. I kept it between 350* and 375* and took them out when they were brown.
Mmmmmm.
Use a cooling rack to let the excess oil drip off, then slide them to the other side to sprinkle on the powdered sugar. This way, the oil that drips doesn’t solidify into the excess sugar that falls below, and you can reuse the overflow to re-dust MORE DONUTS.
Like I said, I’m not sure I could improve on this, so please give her site a visit for the recipe (link below) and enjoy!
fibre and spice 
I just tried making donuts this afternoon. What a nightmare. I used a Dutch oven and I could not regulate the heat. I had a thermometer. Did you just use a regular pan?
Hi there! Ahh so sorry it was frustrating for you! I did use a normal saucepan; Dutch ovens (or anything cast iron) hold heat much longer than steel or other metals, so when you adjust the heat (to either raise or lower it) it takes much longer for it to reach the final temp that the oil will plateau out at at that heat setting. I would recommend waiting until the temp has completely stopping climbing/falling (depending on if you raised or lowered your stove setting) before cooking anything in the oil, which may be up to five or six minutes between adjustments.
All that being said, if you can find that perfect sweet spot that will keep the oil at the exact temp you want it in your Dutch oven, that is ideal because it DOES keep heat; however, it is a little bit tricky to get it exactly where you want it. Hope that helps a little! Good luck with your next batch! =)