Blue Dozen Doughnuts

My word...my jeans are fittin' tight! It's summertime & instead of getting swimsuit ready, I've been stuffing my face. This seems to happen every year. Why am I always at my slimmest during the wintertime? (Probably because I'm too broke to eat at that time of year.) 

So last year, just like every year, I told myself "no more monkey business! You're gonna be looking good this summer! fresh fruits & veggies all day!" 

Well...it's July & I haven't really stuck to it...

Now I've still been watching my meals & trying not to overdo it. I'm just not doing as well as I always hope. 

Screw it...Next year! Next year will be THE year!

I've noticed that I've been getting a number of new visitors so I thought now would be a good idea to elaborate a little more on what I'm doing with this blog. As of the moment, I have no other intentions with this space other than documenting my adventures with food (mostly) and attempting a healthier lifestyle. Although my main focus is making a growing library of healthy recipes, I will occasionally have the obvious not so healthy recipe (like the doughnuts I'm going to talk about soon). 

I'm really enjoying making everyday healthier decisions but I enjoy the fried things, the sweet things, and the salty things every now & then. I just have to remember the every now & then part. Willpower, Melissa...willpower! 

But for the most part, this is my space & place for honesty. I will mostly show all of the healthy meals I eat like today's  lunch, asian tofu & quinoa salad... 

But when I have the urge to make something unhealthy & it's been awhile since I've indulged, I will show that here too. As time goes on it will be nice to look back and see my progress. 

Now lately, I've had good reason to start the fryer and pull out the sugar. I'm making doughnuts! 

And not just any doughnuts...light, fluffy, & blue. Blue? Yes, blue & I'll tell you why...

I know I've mentioned my boyfriend, Billy but I don't know if I've mentioned how talented he is. 

He's an amazing artist & he's been keeping extra busy with new projects & shows. He's part of a talented collective of artists, The Blue Dozen Collective & they have a show in Houston August 17th. I was asked to make doughnuts with blue icing. I'm all kinds of excited! I just love that I can help. This is my thought & my thought only... and I wouldn't say this to any of the artists in the collective...but it's kind of like being in a show with Billy. Or at least the closest I can ever get to being in a show with him. I mean no one will know or care who made them but it's still exciting for me. I'm really enjoying this...(and pretty much geeking out over it). 

So I've been practicing & perfecting my doughnut skills. The first batch came out okay. I was really focusing on the icing the first time around. I want it to look very animated, Homer Simpson style doughnut...

 

The second time around produced the ones below & they were delicious! I'm happy with this recipe. I fried them this go around, but I will be experimenting with baking (look at me! making healthier decisions... hehe) them next time. Now that I have the recipe down, I'm going to focus more on the icing color & how I want to apply it to give me the look I want.

If you're in the mood for a light, fluffy, & delicious doughnut try these out! 

Blue Dozen Doughnuts

Recipe from Allrecipes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm water

4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1 tsp sugar

3/4 cup lukewarm milk

1/3 cup vegetable shortening

1/4 cup white sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 eggs

4 cups sifted all purpose flour

vegetable oil for frying

Pour the warm water in a small bowl and stir in the yeast and 1 tsp sugar. Let sit for about 10 minutes until a creamy foam layer forms on top.

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, pour in milk and mix in shortening. Cook until the shortening has melted and the milk has tiny bubbles forming around the edge. Remove from heat.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the milk mixture and mix on low speed just to dissolve the sugar. Allow to stand until warm.

Beat in the yeast mixture, eggs, and 1 cup of flour on low speed until smooth. Gradually beat in the remaining flour. Continue beating until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl. 

Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and knead for about 2 minutes or until smooth. Form the dough into a ball and place into a large greased bowl. Grease the top of the dough and cover the bowl. Let the dough sit and rise until double, at least 1 hour.

Punch dough down and roll out on a well floured surface to 1/2 thick. Cut out doughnuts. Let them sit and rest again for another 40 minutes.

Heat oil in a deep fryer to 350. 

Gently pick up and drop the doughnuts in the oil 2 at a time. Cook until they are light golden brown, turning only once, about 2 minutes.

Drain the doughnuts on paper towels.

For the icing:

I honestly did not measure out the ingredients. I just did a mixture of confectioners sugar, water, and vanilla. I just went by my taste buds and thickness.

Enjoy!