Breadmaker Doughnuts

This is the first time I have ever attempted doughnuts and they were super easy thanks to my trusty breadmaker. I bought a 25 pound bag of bread flour at Sam's, so I was eager to use some of it as it is currently living on my countertop. Everyone loved them! We will have more unhealthy doughnuts for breakfast tomorrow morning. I just made plain and powdered sugar tonight. Next time, I will try to dip in chocolate or roll in cinnamon/sugar.

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm milk
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 4 cups bread flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon active dry yeast
• oil for frying (I use Canola)

Directions

1. Place the milk and egg into the pan of your automatic bread machine, and add the butter, flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in that order, with the yeast on top. Select the dough setting, and start the machine.
2. When the dough cycle is finished, remove the dough to a floured work surface, and knead a few times to collapse all the bubbles. Cut the dough into 18 pieces, cover them with a damp cloth, and allow to rest for 20 minutes.
3. Stretch each ball out into a disk about 1/4 inch thick, and use a small cutter to cut a hole in the center (I used a bottle top). Let the doughnuts rise on the floured surface until doubled, 30 to 40 minutes. Or, (what I did) place them on a cookie sheet and put in a warm oven (130 degrees F) for 10 minutes.
4. Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F.
5. Gently place a few doughnuts at a time into the hot oil, and fry until they turn golden brown, about 1-2 minutes. Flip the doughnuts over, and fry on the other side. Remove from the oil, and drain on paper towels.
6. While still warm, roll them in powdered sugar, or leave some plain.

This was loosely adapted from an AllRecipes.com recipe with the same name.