Best Sunday Doughnuts

These are cake-style doughnuts, not yeast doughnuts, which means no waiting around for dough to rise. Cream the shortening and sugar, mix in your dry ingredients with milk, roll, cut, and fry. Sunday morning, sorted.

The nutmeg is the quiet star here. Just half a teaspoon gives these a warm, old-fashioned bakery flavor that takes you straight back to grandma’s kitchen. Combined with vanilla and a tender crumb from the baking powder leavening, these taste like the real deal.

Rolling the dough ½ inch thick is important. Too thin and they fry up hard and crunchy. Too thick and the center stays raw while the outside over-browns. And here’s a clever trick from the recipe: a drinking glass cuts the rounds, and a pill bottle punches the holes. No special equipment needed.

Pro Tips

• Keep the oil temperature steady. Too cool and the doughnuts absorb grease and go soggy. Too hot and they brown before the inside cooks through. Use a thermometer.
• Don’t overwork the dough. Mix until just combined. Tough doughnuts come from too much handling, same as with biscuits.
• Fry the holes too. The cut-out centers make great doughnut holes. Kids love them and they cook in about half the time.
• Dust while warm. Sugar sticks best to warm doughnuts. Toss them in a paper bag with sugar for even coating.

Variations

• Cinnamon sugar: Mix ½ cup sugar with 1 tablespoon cinnamon for the dusting instead of plain sugar.
• Glazed: Skip the sugar dust and dip warm doughnuts in a simple glaze of powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla.
• Chocolate doughnuts: Replace ¼ cup of flour with cocoa powder for a rich chocolate cake doughnut.