Happy Mother's Day: Maple Donuts

Happy Mother's Day, sweet people!

You are loved, each and every one of you. 

My super special maple Mother's Day love goes out to Lisa Bonchek Adams, for whom I created these treats.  She loves maple and we all love her.

MOTHER'S DAY MAPLE DONUTS for LISA

Makes a dozen donuts

INGREDIENTS

For the dough

5 cups all-purpose flour (I use King Arthur Flour)

14 g or 2 packets instant yeast (I use Red Star's Platinum Yeast)

1 1/2 cups whole milk, room temperature

1/2 cup maple syrup (B grade is perfect)

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (you can substitute vanilla extract)

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup all purpose flour for kneading

4 cups canola oil for frying

For the glaze

1/2 cup maple cream

PROCEDURE

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the milk, maple syrup, egg  and vanilla bean paste.  Mix together until well combined and the eggs are completely broken apart.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, instant yeast and salt for 30 seconds.

With the mixer running on medium/low speed, add the flour mixture to the milk mixture and mix until just combined.  Add the butter, a small piece at a time, and continue mixing until all the ingredients are just incorporated.  The mixture will look chunky and awful.  That's perfectly fine.

Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup flour onto your work surface.  Transfer the dough to the work surface and knead the dough by hand until smooth, about 10 to 15 minutes.  The dough may feel sticky at first but as you knead, the dough will become more and more elastic and less sticky.  You can slowly incorporate the flour on your work surface until the dough still feels soft but doesn't stick.  Only incorporate enough flour to get to this state and no more.

After a few minutes of kneading, the dough will still be knobby.  Continue kneading.

Almost there.  A few minutes more.

Once the dough is smooth, spray a large bowl with non-stick spray and transfer the dough ball to the bowl.  Spray the dough ball with non-stick spray and turn it over a few times to make sure it's completely coated.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Allow the dough to rest at room temperature until doubled, about an hour.

Smooth and rising.

Lightly dust your work surface with flour and roll the dough into a rough rectangle, a little under 1/2" thick.  Using a floured donut cutter.  Cut the dough and place each round and "hole" onto a parchment lined sheet pan, placing the donuts 1/2" apart.

Cover the donuts with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Just as the dough is reaching its full proof, pour the oil in a large pot and attach a thermometer.  Bring the oil to 350ºF.

Gently transfer the dough with a large spatula to the hot oil and fry on each side until deeply golden brown, approximately 2-3 minutes on the first side and 1-2 minutes on the second side.  The donut holes will only take a few minutes.

Transfer the donuts to a parchment lined sheet pan and while still warm, drizzle 1 tablespoon of maple cream over each donut.