Pretzel Donuts

 

The hybrid you didn't know you needed. 

Chewy and fluffy, salty and sweet. 

Yes, you need to try them. Yes, they are delicious. Yes, they are delightfully weird. 

Okay, bit of a spoiler alert though: you will either love these or hate these. There's really no in between here. Your brain will be confused by how you are eating a pretzel BUT it's a donut... or you are eating a donut BUT it's a pretzel. 

Weird. Weird is the word we heard the most from our taste testers. I'd say we had an 80/20 split for love it/didn't love it. To be fair.... the "didn't love it" group had the end of the batch and may have developed a bit of a metallicy aftertaste from the baking soda. 

Cooking note - if your baking soda water is turning brown near the end, your pretzels will taste more baking soda-y. You can always have a small pot of new baking soda water waiting to do the last ones and you can avoid this. 

If you are looking for a crazy new recipe to wow your family/friends.... this is the one. Try it!

Pretzel Donuts

Ingredients

Pretzel Donuts

3 cups warm water

2 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp salt

4 1/2 tsp yeast

7 - 9 cups flour

1/2 cup butter, melted

10 cups water

1/2 cup baking soda

1 egg, beaten

1 Tbsp water

coarse sea salt

Oil for deep frying, about 2 liters

Glaze

2 cups icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla 

1/4 cup milk

Directions

Dough - Combine warm water, sugar, salt, and yeast. Let sit about 5 minutes to activate yeast. 

Add in 7 cups of flour and the melted butter. Add in more flour, if needed, until soft but not sticky dough comes together. Turn on to floured surface and knead about 2 minutes. 

Place in an oiled bowl and cover with tea towel. Let rise somewhere warm until doubled, about an hour. 

Punch dough down and place on lightly floured work surface. Divide into 12 equal pieces. (These will make quite large pretzels. If you want smaller then I would make about 16.)

Roll each piece into a 24 inch rope. 

Then form the rope into a pretzel shape.

Place each pretzel onto a piece of parchment paper and then onto a cookie sheet. Don't forget the parchment paper or the dough will stick to the cookie sheet and not turn out. You can use a single, large piece of parchment BUT it is far easier to lift them off the cookie sheet if the parchment is cut into individual squares. 

When all pretzels are shaped, bring the 10 cups of water to boil in a large pot with the baking soda. The baking soda will foam up so be sure to use a large pot! 

Also start heating the oil for deep frying to 350 degrees (over medium heat). I start the oil when the water reaches a boil so it will be almost ready when I am done boiling the pretzels. 

Carefully place a pretzel in the boiling water for 30 - 40 seconds. Flip the pretzel over and boil on the other side for 30 - 40 more seconds. 

Remove and place back on the parchment paper. 

Repeat until all pretzels have been boiled. Whisk the egg and water together. Using a pastry or pasting brush, brush the egg mixture over each pretzel to coat and then sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt. 

When the oil has reached 350, carefully place a pretzel in the pot. Fry for one minutes, flip over, and then fry for one more minute - until golden brown. 

Remove from oil with a slotted spoon or tongs and place on paper towel to drain an excess oil. 

Repeat with remaining pretzels. Use a thermometer to make sure the oil stays at approximately 350. (Lower and the pretzel will be oily, higher and the insides will be doughy.) 

Prepare Glaze - in a shallow bowl, whisk together the icing sugar, vanilla, and milk.

Dip each pretzel into the glaze and then let any excess drip off. 

That is a thing of beauty!

Chewy outside crust and fluffy inside!

Yes, it is a fairly labor intensive recipe. Not going to lie, it takes about 4 hours from start to finish. 

I absolutely loved these though so I thought it was worth the effort. 

You could easily make these maple bacon flavored by adding maple extract to the glaze instead of vanilla, and sprinkle with bacon bits after glazing. 

That salty and sweet combination gets me every time. 

I guarantee your brain will be in a happy state of confusion eating these. 

Is it a donut? Is it a pretzel? It's both! 

Gingerdead Men Donuts

 

Sue got me a large gingerbread men cookie cutter which I was originally going to use at Christmas time until I saw some ridiculously cute Halloween cookies that someone made using a regular size gingerbread man cookie cutter. 

My cutter is 8 1/2 inches so I knew that it would make fabulous giant donuts. 

I used our Old Fashioned Jelly Donut recipe (HERE) to make these but feel free to use your favorite donut recipe. 

I went with zombies, ghosts, voodoo dolls, and vampires. Well, actually I only did a couple of vampires because, as you can see....

Instead of spooky looking vampires I thought they kind of looked like walrus men. Not that walrus men wouldn't be terrifying but... it wasn't the look I was going for!

The voodoo men were next.

These guys I filled with jelly so they looked bloodier. They are a little harder to fill than regular jelly donuts because you want to make it look like he's bleeding so you want the jelly closer to the surface of the donut. 

The gingerbread men wearing ghost costumes were pretty adorable. I piped on the icing instead of doing a glaze because I wanted the lines to be sharper so it looked more ghost-ish. 

The zombies ended up being my favorite!

I mean... it didn't matter if the donut had a flaw, you could turn it into part of his zombiness. This guy looked like he was missing a leg so I added a little red icing and *voila* zombie guy is missing a leg now. 

For the zombies I did a simple green glaze with icing sugar, a little vanilla, a little milk, and a little moss green food dye. Then I used a red gel icing and black gel icing (store bought) for blood and to pipe in the eyes and mouths. 

You can find complete recipe and instructions for the donuts HERE.

Except instead of cutting out circles, you cut out gingerbread men. 

Let them rise normally and then fry, as per original recipe. 

Make sure you use a pot big enough to give you room to flip these guys over. They are quite large! 

Yes, I will be making these again at Christmas and decorating like regular gingerbread men instead of gingerdead men. 

Which is your favorite?

Creme Brulee Donuts

I think the thing I love the most about being a food blogger is being able to share my crazy creations. 

I love taking 2 or more classic dishes and smashing them together to come up with something new (or at least new-ish)! 

For this bad boy I took a no bake crème brulee and combined it with my old fashioned jelly donut recipe. The result? UH-mazing. My new favorite donuts in the universe. 

Anytime you can enjoy 2 desserts in one is a win in my books! 

Crème Brulee Donuts

Donuts

our OLD FASHIONED JELLY DONUTS recipe HERE

Crème Brulee Filling

3 cups heavy cream

3 tsp vanilla extract 

8 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

Topping

granulated sugar

Directions

Prepare donuts as per instructions in our Old Fashioned Jelly Donut post HERE. 

Prepare the crème brulee - Place the heavy cream in a pot. Heat the cream until it starts to steam. Remove from heat and set aside.  

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and thick. Beat in vanilla. Slowly whisk in the hot cream, a little at a time, until well combined. 

Place back over medium-low heat. Cook, without boiling, until mixture thickens to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat. Pour into a bowl and set aside. 

Assemble crème brulee donuts - cut a small amount out of the center of each donut (as per photo).

Spoon the crème brulee filling into each donut and smooth the top as well as you can.  Place in fridge or somewhere cool to chill completely. 

When filling is completely cool, sprinkle generously with sugar. Only do 2 or 3 at a time so the sugar doesn't start to dissolve. 

Use a kitchen torch to brulee the sugar until bubbly and browned. Watch you do not burn it!

Serve immediately. 

These are best eaten the day they are made. They will last a day or so but once you cook the sugar it will only stay crisp for so long. They will stay taste delicious you will just lose the signature crunch of the crème brulee topping!

I think I used about 1/2 to 1 tsp of sugar per donut but I didn't really measure. Be generous! 

The donut recipe makes about 1 1/2 to 2 dozen donuts and the filling should be enough for all of them. If you have extra filling, pour it in a ramekin, top it with sugar and brulee it just like you would normal crème brulee. You can make the holes in the donuts as big or small as you like for more or less filling. 

Note - I'd go with more.... it's delicious. 

Loaded Savory Donut Sushi Fries (AKA: Quarantine Fries)

When I get my food truck these are the first thing going on the menu. 

They are ridiculous. 

I made some for my nephew and he said, and I quote, "These would be awesome to eat when you are drunk." 

He's not wrong. 

They are a little over the top but that means they are perfect for celebrating? while in self isolation. I developed the recipe for a little Chopped-type food contest we are running on Facebook while everyone is dealing with Covid-19. Our ingredients were Bacon and Brown Sugar. They didn't win but I fell in love with how unusual and delicious these are. 

If you are looking for something to pass the time then look no further. Make these. Then pick a great movie, grab a beer (or a tea), put your feet up and enjoy. 

Loaded Savory Donut Sushi Fries (AKA: Quarantine Fries)

Ingredients

Savory Donut Fries

1/4 cup hot water

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1/4 tsp brown sugar

1/2 cup warm milk

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 egg

3 Tbsp sesame oil

1/2 cup bacon bits

2 tsp dried chives

1 jalapeno, finely diced

2 - 4 cups flour

oil for frying (about 1 liter)

Spicy Mayo

2 Tbsp mayo

2 tsp sriracha

1/4 tsp sesame oil

1/4 tsp brown sugar

Tonkatsu Sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup Worcestershire

1 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp soy sauce 

Toppings

green onions, diced

toasted sesame seeds

toasted seaweed, cut into strips

bacon bits

Directions

Prepare spicy mayo - whisk together mayo, sriracha, sesame oil, and brown sugar. Cover and chill until ready to use.

Prepare tonkatsu sauce - whisk together ketchup, Worcestershire, brown sugar, and soy sauce. Cover and chill until ready to use. 

Prepare donut fries - In a small bowl, whisk together the hot water, yeast, and 1/4 tsp of brown sugar. Let sit for 5 - 8 minutes to bloom.

While yeast is blooming, in a large bowl, mix together the milk, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, salt, egg, sesame oil, bacon bits, chives, and jalapeno. 

Stir in the activated yeast. Add in flour, starting with 2 cups, until you have a stiff dough that is just a little bit tacky. Knead for 2 - 3 minutes. Add in a little more flour if dough is too sticky. (I have had to add up to 2 more cups depending on conditions)

Place dough in an oiled bowl.

Cover and let rise somewhere warm for an hour, until doubled in size. 

Roll dough out to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into "fingers" about 1/2 inch wide and about 5 inches long. (I'm guesstimating as I forgot to measure.)

Place "fingers" on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and cover while you heat oil for frying. They should rest for about 30ish minutes. 

Heat oil in a large pot to 350 degrees. It's best to use a thermometer to ensure even cooking. 

Carefully place fries in hot oil 5 - 6 at a time (don't crowd the pot the oil will drop in temperature). Cook for 1 minute and then flip over and cook 1 more minute. 

Using a slotted spoon, remove cooked donut fries and place on paper towel to drain any excess grease. Repeat until all fries have been cooked. 

Prepare your toppings.

Place donut fries on serving trays.

Top with the spicy mayo and the tonkatsu sauce.

And then sprinkle generously with the green onions, sesame seeds, seaweed strips, and bacon. 

Serve immediately. 

You can add as much sauce and toppings as you like. You can even serve extra sauce for dipping!

Depending on how spicy you like things, you can also top with some sliced jalapeno too!

The donut fries freeze quite well. You can make them up, freeze them, and then just pop in the oven to thaw when ready to enjoy. 

What I loved best about these is how different they are. I'm going to be experimenting more with savory donut dishes. Deep fried bread? Sign me up.