Delicious doughnuts round two -- Baked or fried?

New: Delicious doughnuts round two

What's up: Must trys at the Taiwanese night markets 

After much success with my mini baked doughnuts recipe, I thought I’d give honey French crullers a try. The recipe is surprisingly easy, much like when you’re making cream puffs and the simple honey glaze is delicious. I’ll definitely be using the honey glaze on other things.

Deep-fried honey-dipped French cruller

I got this recipe from UseRealButter. These doughnuts are deep-fried, but they can be baked as well which I think I will try next time because I’m not crazy about the whole house (and my hair) stinking of oil for hours.

However, I think when you buy them, hands down, the deep-fried ones are tastier. Take a look at Krispy Kremes versus Tim Hortons. When you bite into a Krispy Kreme, those things just melt in your mouth. Tim Hortons doughnuts, while delicious, have more texture and take a few more chews. So when deciding which cooking method to use, consider that.

Also consider that doughnuts are about 200 calories each, which is still less than eating a whole bagel!

French Crullers with a Honey Glaze recipe

Makes: Just over a dozen

Rating: 3.5/5 

Ingredients

1 cup water
6 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
3 large eggs
1-2 egg whites, slightly beaten
Vegetable oil for frying

Undipped French cruller

In a saucepan, stir together the butter, sugar and salt until boiling. Bring the heat down to about medium. Then, mix in flour and stir until it is completely mixed into the butter mixture.

Once a thin film begins to coat the bottom of the pan, which happens quite quickly, you can transfer the dough into a mixing bowl. Cool the dough down a bit by mixing it slowly. Then, slowly begin to add the eggs one by one at medium speed.

French cruller dough 

Once the three whole eggs are completely incorporated, add in the first egg white. If the dough isn’t smooth and sort of glossy, add the next egg, otherwise you’re good to go to the next step.

By now the dough should be sufficient cooled, so spoon it into a large pastry bag with a ½-inch star tip.

Piping out French crullers

While you are heating up some oil (I used canola) in your saucepan to about 370F, cut out pieces of parchment paper (do not use wax paper, does not work the same as I discovered). Grease the squares of parchment paper with oil, then, pipe your desired shape onto the paper.

Once the oil reaches about 370F, carefully drop the piped crullers in one at a time. 

I used a pair of tongs to peel the paper off (because mine did not slide off as easily as I would have liked). Flip the doughnuts once it reaches a light golden colour (for me this was about 30 seconds per side if not less).

When all the crullers have been fried, let them cool and dry off on a cooling rack. While the doughnuts are cooling, you can make the honey glaze.

Honey Glaze

Ingredients

1-1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar (sifted)

1 tbsp honey

3 – 4 tbsp milk or water (best to add little by little until it reaches the desired consistency)

Directions

Sift the confectioner’s sugar into a medium sized bowl. Then, slowly add the milk and honey until the mixture reaches a liquidy but thick consistency.

Dip the crullers into the glaze and let dry on cooling rack.

Dipping French crullers into a smooth honey glaze

Baking Instructions

In a 450F oven, pipe the crullers onto baking sheets (lined with parchment paper). Bake the doughnuts for about 5 minutes at 450F then decrease the heat and bake for another 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Delicious Honey-glazed French Crullers

Notes

How did they turn out?

Okay for the most part, tastes good, a little greasy, and go easy on the glaze as it can be a little sweet.

Don’t skimp on the piping. Do nice thick rings like real French crullers.

If you’re afraid of the deep-frying oil (as I was) it doesn’t seem to do any damage if you throw the whole doughnut dough plus the parchment paper into the oil. The paper doesn’t burn and floats right off the doughnut batter. Just make sure to collect it after each deep fry.

Just for kicks, check out this awesome guide on different types of doughnuts. Most comprehensive doughnut guide I’ve ever seen. Has everything from doughnut holes to grilled doughnuts, doughnut sandwiches, etc.