Vanilla yogurt + Self-raising flour = Instant “doughnuts”! Ok maybe they aren’t proper doughnuts, but hey who cares? Whoever first came up with this idea, the world is in debt to you! Made in less than 15 minutes, these little balls of fluffiness are so easy to make. Perfect to spoil your children or partner (or anyone really) when they are begging for a sweet fix. I was first introduced to this concept when a friend of mine made the most delicious breadsticks using a combination of greek yogurt and self-raising flour. There’s hundreds of different methods and recipes on the internet, but for doughnuts I found that this ratio produces the best results. Vanilla flavoured yogurt just works so well!

Serves: 4-6 people
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 1 cup of self-raising flour
• 180-200 g of vanilla yogurt

For cooking:

• Any form of plain cooking oil (eg: vegetable/sunflower oil) – quantity depends on the size of your pan.

For the topping:

• 4 tablespoons of caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder

Method:

1. Add oil to a small heavy based saucepan (about 5 cm deep).
2. Preheat your oil to 170 degrees Celsius.
3. On a separate plate, mix your cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl combine the yogurt and the self-raising flour to form a wet dough.
5. Transfer to a piping bag equipped with a 1 cm nozzle.
6. Using a pair of scissors, pipe and cut 2 cm nuggets into the oil.
7. Cook in batches, turning occasionally with a metal spoon until beautifully golden all round.
8. Using a slotted spoon transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper towels.
9. Then , while still hot toss in the cinnamon sugar.
10. Serve and enjoy.

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Notes:

You may opt for lactose free vanilla yogurt – works perfectly fine. If you can’t find or don’t have any vanilla yogurt, you may use normal yogurt. Then add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a teaspoon of icing sugar. Yes you can use “light” versions of the yogurt for a healthier version. Haha, sure. Yeah. Healthy.

I recommend using cinnamon sugar for dusting, but you could easily make a glaze instead. Or cover them in melted chocolate. Or fill them with blueberry jam. Or drizzle them with warm nutella. Have fun with it 😉

If you don’t have a piping bag – buy one haha! Otherwise, use a decently thick plastic food bag and cut one of it’s corners – congratulations you’ve just made a makeshift piping bag. If you’ve only got really thin cheap plastic bags I suggest using two oiled spoons to “scoop and drop” little balls of dough into the oil.

If you don’t have a thermometer (or a deep fryer with a thermostat), you can still make these doughnuts! Warm up your oil over a medium heat. Try adding a small spoon of batter. It should have bubbles fizzing all around it and rise to the surface within a second or two. Also, Make sure that it’s not too hot! If your doughnuts turn dark brown in seconds you’ll end up undercooking the centre.

To ensure they cook through, I suggest that you keep the size small – pipe approx 2 cm of batter before cutting them.

When piping and cutting these little nuggets of deliciousness make sure than you are not more than 5-10 cm away from the oil. The higher you are, the more you’re going to make a splash. Bubbling hot oil on skin is not a pleasant experience. Having an extra pair of hands helps. One on piping duty. The other on cutting duty. Teamwork at its best.

Work in batches. They cook quickly. So it wont take that long! Just make sure roaming scavengers don’t eat all of them on you!

I tried to make them ahead of time and them warm them up. Also tried forming balls then cooking them later. Also it didn’t work.

Be sure to save your used oil. After using, allow to cool completely and store in a mason jar for next time!

Troubleshooting (Problems and Solutions):

P: My dough looks craggy and ugly after mixing the ingredients.
S: Good, that intentional. It will transform after cooking.

P: My doughnuts are sinking and not rising , they seem stuck on the bottom!
S: Your oil might not be at a hot enough temperature, try rising the temperature a bit. Oh and just use a metal spoon to gently release the stuck doughnut from the bottom.

P: They look beautiful, but are uncooked in the middle.
S: You either have the oil too high, or are piping giant doughnuts. Rectify accordingly.

P: I seem to make batches of 8, but when I go to serve them suddenly there are only 1 or 2 doughnuts left!
S: Tie up the gremlins!