Our boys love doughnuts, so when we read about Almanzo’s mom’s doughnuts that she made for her kids in Farmer Boy, we just had to try to make them too. We used a recipe similar to what she would have used and they tasted great. This is one recipe that we will make over and over again.
“Almanzo took the biggest doughnut from the pan and bit off its crisp end. Mother was rolling out the golden dough, slashing it into long strips, rolling and doubling and twisting the strips. Her fingers flew; you could hardly see them. The strips seemed to twist themselves under her hands, and to leap into the big copper kettle of swirling hot fat. Plump! they went to the bottom, sending up bubbles. Then quickly they came popping up, to float and slowly swell, till they rolled themselves over, their pale golden backs going into the fat and their plump brown bellies rising out of it. They rolled over, Mother said, because they were twisted. Some women made a new-fangled shape, round, with a hole in the middle. But round doughnuts wouldn’t turn themselves over. Mother didn’t have time to waste turning doughnuts; it was quicker to twist them.”
– Farmer Boy, Laura Ingalls Wilder-
To make these doughnuts, you will need:
- approx 900g olive oil – for frying the doughnuts
-
1 egg
-
1 tsp baking soda
-
1/2 tsp salt
-
1 cup sour cream
-
2 1/4 cups plain flour
- approx 1/4 cup icing sugar for sprinkling on top
Method:
Pour the oil into a large saucepan or dutch oven and heat oven low heat until it reaches 375˚f / 190˚C. Be careful not to let it get too hot!
While this is heating, add the sour cream, egg, baking soda and salt to a large bowl and mix well.
Add 1 cup of plain flour and mix that through before slowly adding the rest of the flour until you have a dough that can be rolled out.
Flour your board and roll out the dough in a long rectangle shape that is 4 inches (10 cm) by 16 inches (40 cm) and about 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) thick.
Cut the dough into 1/2 inch (1.2cm) wide strips by 4 inches (10 cm) long.
Grab the two ends of the long rectangle strip and twist it like a corkscrew then pinch the two ends together to make a twisted circle shape.
Test your oil by carefully dropping in a small piece of dough. It should take 2 minutes on each side to brown. Then take it out of the oil and let it stand on a piece of paper towel. Break it open to make sure the centre is cooked. If it is, you are ready to fry your doughnuts.
Add 2 – 3 doughnuts at a time to your frypan and fry until golden brown on both sides. Once cooked remove the doughnuts and place on paper towel. Sprinkle both sides immediately with icing sugar.
If there are any left over, store in an airtight container in the fridge.
This recipe made about 21 doughnuts which didn’t last very long in our house.
Almanzo's Mom's Doughnuts
Simple Living. Creative LearningIngredients
- 900 g (approx) olive oil - for frying the doughnuts
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 ¼ cups plain flour
- ¼ cup (approx)icing sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Pour the oil into a large saucepan or dutch oven and heat oven low heat until it reaches 375˚f / 190˚C. Be careful not to let it get too hot!
- While this is heating, add the sour cream, egg, baking soda and salt to a large bowl and mix well.
- Add 1 cup of plain flour and mix that through before slowly adding the rest of the flour until you have a dough that can be rolled out.
- Flour your board and roll out the dough in a long rectangle shape that is 4 inches (10 cm) by 16 inches (40 cm) and about 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) thick.
- Cut the dough into 1/2 inch (1.2cm) wide strips by 4 inches (10 cm) long.
- Grab the two ends of the long rectangle strip and twist it like a corkscrew then pinch the two ends together to make a twisted circle shape.
- Test your oil by carefully dropping in a small piece of dough. It should take 2 minutes on each side to brown. Then take it out of the oil and let it stand on a piece of paper towel. Break it open to make sure the centre is cooked. If it is, you are ready to fry your doughnuts.
- Add 2 - 3 doughnuts at a time to your frypan and fry until golden brown on both sides. Once cooked remove the doughnuts and place on paper towel. Sprinkle both sides immediately with icing sugar.
- If there are any left over, store in an airtight container in the fridge.
- This recipe made about 21 doughnuts which didn't last very long in our house.
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided as a courtesy. The values may vary according to the ingredients and tools that are used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed information.
Monday Memory Verse: 1 Corinthians 2:14 Printables
If you actually read the book, it specifically says there are no holes in the donuts
As mentioned in this post, these are similar to the ones that Almanzo’s Mom made.
The book also talks about donuts with holes in them ‘Mother was rolling out the golden dough, slashing it into long strips, rolling and doubling and twisting the strips. Her fingers flew; you could hardly see them. The strips seemed to twist themselves under her hands, and to leap into the big copper kettle of swirling hot fat.
Plump! they went to the bottom, sending up bubbles. Then quickly they came popping up, to float and slowly swell, till they rolled themselves over, their pale golden backs going into the fat and their plump brown bellies rising
out of it.
They rolled over, Mother said, because they were twisted. Some women made a new-fangled shape, round, with a hole in the middle. But round doughnuts wouldn’t turn themselves over. Mother didn’t have time to waste turning doughnuts; it was quicker to twist them.’