Homemade French Cruller Doughnuts

When I was a little girl, the cruller was my FAVORITE DOUGHNUT OF ALL TIME. 

Skip the jelly-filled, skip the sprinkles, skip the traditional glazed, skip the dang maple bars for crying out loud (even though they're heavenly). I always went face first into those amazing crullers. 

Every. Single. Time. 

They're so unique - they're not filled with the usual doughnut-fluffiness (No, Krispy Kreme, you guys are still getting it so wrong! I promise your said "crullers" are not crullers). These little beauties are filled with an eggy-light-hollow haven. The outside is where the sweet is, and the inside is where the money lives. 

I found this recipe online and was going to wait until next week to try it out - then I looked over the ingredients again... I had everything. Within the hour, I had a pile of freshy made crullers cooling on my counter. My husband walked in the door from work, and couldn't stop staring at them. He immediately took a mouthful of cruller, and almost cried himself silly with happiness. 

If he's reading this, he's probably too excited for another batch of crullers to even care about that last sentence. 

Next time, I think I'll use a tighter star piping tip to give them more ridges, but my take on the glaze was definitely a fun improvement. Not changing that piece one bit :) You guys will LOVE these. 

xo, 

blondie

Homemade French Cruller Doughnuts

Makes 20 small/medium doughnuts

ingredients:

crullers:

1 C water

6 T unsalted butter

2 T granulated sugar

1/4 t salt

1 C all-purpose flour, sifted

3 large egg yolks

1-2 egg whites, beaten

vegetable oil for frying

vanilla almond glaze

vanilla almond glaze:

1 1/2 C powdered sugar

1 t vanilla extract

1/4 t almond extract

3-4 T milk or water

method:

1. In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, bring the water, butter, sugar, and salt to a brisk boil. Immediately add in the flour and whisk until it's completely incorporated. Keep stirring over the heat, but keep it at a low/medium. Remove as much moisture as possible for a fluffier pastry later on. When you see a thin film on the bottom of the an, the batter is ready and you can transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer. 

2. Use the paddle attachment to stir the dough for a minute to aid the cooling process. Turn the speed to medium and add one egg at a time - don't add the next one until the first one is fully incorporated. 

3. Add one egg white and blend until the dough becomes smooth and glossy, if it's not getting smooth and glossy, add the other egg white. If not, don't. Transfer dough to a large pastry bag with a large star tip. 

4. Preheat your oil to 370 degrees in a deep saucepan. Cut about 20 3x3 squares out of parchment paper. Spray each square (one side) with butter nonstick spray. Pipe a ring of dough onto each square. 

5. Place cruller and paper into hot oil. The paper will automatically separate from the oil, and the cruller will float on the hot oil, bubbling away. Flip cruller once, and fry until light brown (about 1-2 minutes). Drain/cook on a wire cooling rack. 

6. Make the glaze: combine all glaze ingredients until smooth. 

7. When crullers are cold to the touch, dip each top half of the doughnut into the glaze, flip over, and place back on the rack to cool) with a cookie sheet under the wire rack to catch the drippings. When the glaze has hardened, the doughnuts are ready to devour. 

recipe adapted from: userealbutter