Easy Potato Doughnuts

I could eat donuts everyday if it were up to my head, and not my body! I love them! This is a crazy easy recipe for homemade donuts. Don't be intimidated, anyone can do it, I promise! The crazy thing about these donuts are that they have mashed potatoes in them!! That's right, potatoes. I don't know about y'all, but I was so surprised to hear that when I was first introduced to them. BTW, I was given this recipe a few years ago by someone I worked w/, I just can't remember her name, sorry!

They're good as leftovers, but uh-mazing fresh. 

Have you ever had potato donuts?! What did y'all think of them? Let me know if you tried these!

YUMMY! My glaze is a bit green b/c we made these for St Patrick's Day.

Donuts before the glaze, you can eat them like this, or dip them in the glaze (recipe below).

Easy Potato Doughnuts

Dough Preparation:

1 c Milk

5 t Yeast (2 packets)

Sugar- just a pinch

Microwave you milk so that it is warm, not hot.  Add the yeast and a pinch of sugar and stir.  Let stand for 5 minutes.

In a bowl combine:

2 c flour

1/2 c of warm Mashed Potatoes*

1/2 t. salt

1/4 c sugar

*Take one medium potato and poke holes in it.  Place in the microwave for a few minutes until it is soft to the touch.  Scoop out a half a cup of potatoes and use.  Or use 1/2 a cup of boiled, peeled potatoes.

Mix in:

The milk mixture

2 T Oil

Mix the dough well by hand or in a mixer with a dough hook for at least 3 minutes.

Directions:

Spread flour on your work surface.  Place dough in the middle of the flour and sprinkle some flour on your hands.  Knead the dough a few times.  Roll the dough out to a half an inch thick.

Now it's time to cut out the donuts, you can use a donut cutter or improvise like I did... I used a glass cup for the outer circle and a water bottle cap for the center hole. (I kept all the donut holes and fried them up at the end.)  Place on a floured surface and let rise while the oil heats up, for a total of 10 minutes.

Pour about 1/2 an inch of vegetable oil into a cast iron pan or an electric skillet (or use a deep fryer).  Heat the oil to 360 degrees (which is about medium to medium high on a stove top). If the oil starts to smoke, it is too hot.  You may test the oil with some of the scraps of dough to make sure it's ready.  Fry the donuts on each side until golden brown. Allow the donuts to cool on a rack or on wax paper so the oil soaks off. Dip one or both sizes of your donut in the glaze and let cool on your rack or wax paper (Or eat them hot and ooey gooey!).  Enjoy!

Vanilla Glaze

in a mug, microwave until hot:

1/2 c Milk

1 t Butter

In a bowl mix:

1 c Powdered sugar

2 T of the Milk mixture*

1/4 t Lemon extract or juice

1/4 t Vanilla extract

*Add more if you want the glaze to be thinner.