Belated Birthday Donuts

Friday was my daughter Whitney's 24th birthday.  A couple of days before, I called her and said she should stop by the house early.  I would make her donuts for her birthday breakfast.  Well, she did stop by.  And she stopped by early.  But I had gotten busy and never made the pizza dough, which is what I use to make donuts.  I apologized... profusely, and told her that if she stopped by early on Saturday there would be donuts.  Lucky for me, there were.

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I use this pizza dough recipe and after the 2 hour rise, let the dough rest, covered in the refrigerator overnight.  Roll it on a lightly floured surface.  I think it helps to let it rest a bit during rolling.  Cut with cookie cutters and place on a lightly floured sheet of waxed paper.  I had about 3 to 4-inches of canola oil in a large enameled cast iron Dutch oven which I heated to medium high and then reduced slightly.  Use the little donut holes to test the temperature.  They will drop to the bottom, but should then immediately rise to the top.  It is just a matter of seconds, really, before they are ready.  They will start to brown quickly so watch closely.  You just want them to start turning a golden color. If left too long the dough will be tough.  Remove from the oil and place onto a cooling rack for just a minute.  Drop, while still hot, into a bowl of cinnamon sugar.  Enjoy immediately!

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