We're moving!

Hi guys! I'm moving our posts over to the Better Batter site in order to clean things up a bit. Over there you'll find all kinds of new blog posts, revised versions of the ones here, and the new pricing and shipping and pricing analysis for the better batter flour.

I'll be pulling this blog after June 1st, and I'll only be posting on the Gluten Free Not Gluten Freaky blog over at the website, so keep your eyes peeled. You can find the blog under the links and resources section at the new site. It's updated jsut about weekly.

Thanks!

Naomi

Krispy Dreams: The search for a perfect gluten free donut

The world certainly has become friendlier to the celiac in the last forty years. Gluten free breads and crackers jostle side by side with regular products in larger supermarkets or beckon from dedicated aisles in whole foods’ stores. Some large food chains have even gotten in on the action – the Outback Steak House proudly offers a specifically gluten free menu to inquiring customers – but one thing remains absent.

Hot, Fresh, Now. A good gluten free donut is hard to find. Of course there are many recipes out there, if one likes a cake-type donut. And there are places to order gluten free donuts – but at $15.00 a dozen (with mixed reviews, and the inevitable cake-type texture), this seems a bit silly. Where are all the recipes for a traditional, soft, ooey-gooey, glazed donut like you can get at your local Krispy Kreme?

When this request crossed my desk, I thought, "No problem!" and happily skipped off to my kitchen to quickly whip up a batch of picture-perfect donuts. Or so I thought. Turns out, making a gluten free donut is particularly hard. Well, actually it’s obscenely easy once you know how – but I’m getting ahead of myself. (Listen– after all that hard work, I feel like venting, and you get to be the lucky recipients of my spleen. Consider it payment and keep reading.). Let me rephrase that – figuring out how to make a great gluten free donut is particularly hard.

First I immediately chucked any recipe that seemed to create a cake-type donut. After all, I reasoned, there are a few thousand (okay, really about ten) good GF cake-donut recipes out there. Why add another variation? What we all really want, after all, is a chain-store style donut, right? This led to a long and extended period of experimentation (Naomi to English translation: increasing frustration) involving flours and formulas, recipes and results that left my nose thoroughly out of joint and my waistline permanently altered for the worse. It appeared that the fates were against us. At least temporarily.

I decided to research the Krispy Kreme recipe, to try and understand exactly how they got their donuts so light. I learned, interestingly enough, that there are two secrets to a Krispy Kreme donut. The first is an extended double rise time. The second is gluten. Lots of Gluten. High gluten flour, barley flour, barley malt, and (to add to the gluten frenzy) extra gluten (yippee.). Bad news. But I did find out that some interesting ingredients also were included – potato flour and potato starch, for example, which are common and easily foud in most GF homes. (Score one for the celiacs. )

I realized that I would need to create a recipe that allowed us to have two rises (an unheard of thing in the GF world) with a dough that could be kneaded, and that I would need to fill in the gaps where gluten stood in terms of both flavor and function. This was going to be hard.

I had already begun working on a GF flour mix that could be kneaded for breads, so I thought part of the work was done for me already. I had a whole list of GF flour mix recipes. And I had the regular Better Batter Gluten Free Flour. I figured between the lot I should be able to make a good GF donut, right? Wrong. Batch after batch failed to meet the standards required for our purposes. They either failed to rise at all, or stayed heavy and stolid. I was going to have to start from scratch and develop a flour mix that worked.

So I tried. And tried. And tried. No dice. No donuts either. After a great deal of frustration, I announced my resolve to give up the fight and went to bed. Now, the Almighty has a sense of humor, and he waited (just like He did with the Better Batter Flour) until I was fully asleep to give me the answer. Never doubt the power of prayer. *laughing* I woke up and went back to work. A few minor details later, and voila! A real yeast raised donut!

Needless to say, I was quite relieved.

So, here, for your pleasure, after much ado (and fifteen dress sizes), I present...

(drum roll, please...)

The Perfect Gluten Free Donut (Tada!)

[make sure and follow the instructions to the letter. For your viewing pleasure I have also included a Dunkin’ Sticks Clone and some cool things to do with the Donut Flour mix]

1. Step One: Make the Donut Flour Mix

4 cups Tapioca Starch

2 cups Potato Starch

1 cup potato flour

1/4 cup xanthan gum

Mix very well.

2. Step Two: Make the Donuts

1 ½ Tbsp active dry yeast

1/4 cup water (baby bottle warm)

3/4 cup dry milk in a measuring cup PLUS enough added warm water to make 1 ½ c liquid milk

2/3 c sugar (for an exact K.K. taste use raw sugar, but you can used refined)

1 t salt (I used sea salt. For regular salt use 1 1/8 tsp)

1 Tbsp baking powder

2 large eggs

1/3 cup shortening (I used organic palm shortening, but crisco will do), melted then cooled to warm

5 c Donut Flour mix

This recipe makes abotu 20 donuts:

In a large bowl (hand mix this recipe) combine the yeast, water, milk, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes. Add the salt, baking powder, eggs, shortening, and 2 cups of the flour. Beat well for two minutes (YES, by hand!). Add about another two cups of flour to the mix (it will form a sticky dough. Do NOT add too much flour) and mix well. Cover and set aside to rise in a warm place (about 100 degrees) for an hour. Punch down/stir down and turn onto a surface (use the extra cup of flour on the surface...you will be kneading this into the dough), and knead in the extra cup of flour. At this point you should have a stretchy, slightly sticky dough. Making sure your surface is floured (there is plenty enough donut flour mix to reflour the counter if needed), roll the dough about 1/3 inch thick. Cut with a donut cutter (or for filled donuts with a biscuit cutter), cover and let rise in a warm place until fully doubled in size (this should take about an hour). Meanwhile heat about 2 ½ to 3 inches of shortening or oil in an electric skillet or deep fryer (I like the electric skillet because you can do 6 donuts at a time. Use palm shortening or Crisco for best results) until it reaches 350 degrees F. Make the glaze (recipe follows).

Glaze:

1/3 cup butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 ½ tsp vanilla

6 tbsp hot water

Chocolate Glaze (double your above recipe, and divide evenly. To one half, add 4 ounces chocolate chips – milk chocolate is best). This can by glazed on the very top fo the donut after they have been dipped in the regular glaze.

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and melt over low heat, stirring frequently until smooth.

Once your oil is heated and your glaze is made and your donuts are fully risen, slip the donuts into the oil a few at a time (leave room for expansion) and fry on each side until light golden brown (about a minute on each side, can be less. This is by eye).

Carefully remove from oil (do NOT prick! I used a spatula and large spoon to turn and remove the donuts) and immediately dip in glaze. Set on a cake rack to cool slightly.

Variations:

Chocolate glazed donuts: If desired, once the clear glaze has set, you can dip the top in the chocolate glaze.

Powdered donuts: Instead of dipping in glaze, Dip in powdered sugar.

Filled Donuts: Cut donuts with a biscuit cutter. Dip in either glaze or powdered sugar. Poke a hole with a chopstick into the donut. Fill a pastry bag, fitted with a wide tip, with your desired filling (my kids like strawberry jam, which is first beaten vigorously in a food processor. You can also use pie filling that has been run through a processor. Personally, I prefer baker’s custard and a chocolate top, for a Boston Creme Donut. Or powder the donut for a Bavarian Creme. Recipe for custard follows)

Baker’s Custard and Variations: .

1 2/3 c milk

½ c sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 c cornstarch

½ c water

3 eggs

3 T butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine the milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan and heat to a slow simmer. In another bowl whisk the cornstarch and water till blended and add the eggs, whisking thoroughly. Pour into the milk mixture, stirring constantly. Turn the heat to medium and stir until the custard thickens and starts to boil. Let cook, stirring all the time, for 30 seconds. Whisk in the butter and vanilla.

Variations: Use a different extract ( for a GREAT lemon filling use lemon extract and fill powdered donuts)

Other Great Discoveries...lol...

Dunkin Sticks (Little Debbie) Clone:

If you take the donut recipe above and substitute the Better Batter Gluten Free Flour, and cut the donuts into sticks instead of rounds, you will make an almost perfect Dunkin Sticks Clone (I lived off of these my freshman year of college. It was bizarre to say the least to find that one of my "flubs" was a replica of the things).

Potato Bread:

Mix up your dough, but instead of rolling it out and frying it, shape it into loaves, put in a greased pan, and let rise. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 40 minutes or until golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped, Let cool. Slice. A very tasty and moist substitute for Martin’s Potato Rolls (for those of you who know what that is.) A great sandwich bread.

Flat Bread:

Take the Donut Flour Mix and add water. Roll out to 1/8 inch thick and either fry in deep fat or cook on a hot dry griddle, for a flour tortilla/gordita wrap stil;e bread wrap. YUM

The name Gluten Free, Not Gluten-freaky, all articles and recipes contained in these pages are the sole property of and creation of Naomi Poe. No portion of this web site or the information contained herein may be distributed or copied without the express written permission of the author. thank you!©2006