Doughnuts!

One of the VERY BEST advantages of living in Edgerton, Minnesota is the Edgerton Bakery! Deliciousness awaits your arrival, and don’t be late because the “early bird” gets the choice doughnuts.

Now, you may be asking yourself “Did I just see her misspell donuts as doughnuts?” Well… you would be WRONG! Because doughnuts is the original spelling.

Doughnuts shortened version “donut” arrived on the scene in the late 1800s and was made popular by “Dunkin Donuts” in the 20th century. The majority of folks spell doughnuts as donuts, but I just had to see if you were paying attention. Gold star if you were, more coffee if you weren’t!

Back in the day

I remember Sunday nights, after church, my mom would pop in the oven some frozen glazed donuts. Relatives would filter in, grab a cup of coffee and wait for those delicious golden, glazed covered donuts. If I am not mistaken, they were made by a company called Morton Frozen Foods.

Morton’s was started by Harold Morton in 1940. They began selling a chicken noodle dish in glass jars and once WWII wrapped up, they started selling frozen foods. Popular among their frozen foods were their cream pies, potpies, doughnuts and honey buns.

As with all good things, Morton Frozen Foods closed their last plant down in 2000. But through my research, there are lots of folks pining for just one more box of frozen Morton doughnuts. Now that’s a loyal consumer.

Fried circle of dough

Though my mom only attempted doughnuts a few times, I thought it looked like fun with a bit of danger- boiling oil! My dad supervised, if only for the part of being the “taste tester”. Maybe being a local volunteer fireman necessitated his presence with the idea of an open flame on a gas stove top with very hot oil.

Whatever their agreement, my mom raised the dough, rolled them out, cut them with a special donut cutter, raised them again, and then fried them in oil. My dad and the rest of the Syens tribe ate them as fast as we could. DELICIOUS!

Doughnut recipes

It’s a bit of a “bummer” that some of the recipes I found can’t be shared because of copyrights. Make no mistake, I understand that they have developed a recipe and wish to cash in on the delicious success. Me reprinting their recipe when I get paid to write doesn’t compute.

I have “asked” permission in the past to place a recipe in my column, but most replies I receive are generally like a German Shepherd being released from home to attack an intruder. Lots of teeth and barking!

But I did have one kind author who “showed me the ropes” and allowed me to “re-write”, in my own words, her recipe but giving her full credit (of course) along with link backs to her site. Phew! It’s just easier to mention it and have you click the link.

For your doughnut-making adventure, enjoy the following recipes from an October 1949 Successful Farmer magazine.

Grandma’s Raised Doughnuts- Miss E. Abel, North Dakota

Dissolve . . 2 teaspoons sugar in 1/2 cup warm water

Add . . . . 2 packages compressed yeast- here is a quick conversion table

Mix in a large bowl and cool:

• 1/2 cup milk, scalded- here is a video on how to scald milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sugar

Add yeast solution to milk mixture.

Blend in:

• 2 1/4 cups flour, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon mace
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 3 tablespoons shortening, melted and cooled

Add… 2 1/4 cups flour, sifted

Mix well and knead.

Place in a well-greased bowl.

Brush top with melted shortening.

Cover; let rise in warm place for 45 minutes.

Roll 1/2 inch thick on floured board.

Roll into balls, cut or roll, for twists.

Let rise again; fry in deep fat at 375°.

Drain on paper. Sugar, ice or fill.

There! That should put some wind in your doughnut sails. I will follow up next week with four more homemade doughnut recipes. Look forward to theses following recipes:

• Sugar Doughnuts
• Filled Doughnuts
• Cream Doughnuts
• Banana Doughnuts

“Dough-not” miss next week’s recipes! I couldn’t resist writing that. Here is to good food, good friends and a good life.