Spontaneous Doughnuts – Quick Yogurt Ricotta Doughnuts

Homemade doughnuts don’t always have to be a long process that requires planning and hanging around yeast dough for hours to rise; doughnuts can also be spontaneous quick and easy. In this delicious recipe I combine Greek yogurt and ricotta cheese for extra fluffy texture. So this Hanukkah you can actually bring the “greek” (yogurt) to your doughnut 🙂 and if you have a bowl and a whisk, you are good to go! This will be short and sweet and you will have yummy homemade doughnuts in no time.

You will need:

[Makes about 20]

2 Eggs

3 tbsp. Sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla Paste

¾ cup Greek Yogurt

¾ cup Ricotta

2 cups Self-Rising Flour

* Avocado Oil/Canola Oil for deep-frying

Serve with Powdered Sugar and/or your favorite filling.

Let’s get to work!

Let’s combine the wet ingredients first. Start by whisking two eggs in a large bowl.

Add the sugar and continue whisking. The mixture becomes light and airy.

Whisk in the vanilla paste and add both Greek yogurt and ricotta cheese.

Mix to combine well.

Sift in the self-rising flour.

At this point I set the whisk aside and use a spatula to mix the flour in. When the dough comes together it is a bit wet and sticky looking.

Heat up oil in a large pot for deep-frying or use a deep fryer if you have one. You may go with the standard choice of Canola oil, but if you like a healthier choice – use avocado oil. I like to use avocado oil when it comes to continuous frying since it can withstand high temperature pretty well and its nutty flavor works nicely with these doughnuts. You can also go with Mr. Super Oil nowadays – Coconut Oil, but bear in mind that it may leave coconut flavor and smell to the food.

A Carrot Trick 🙂

Successful (continuous) deep-frying guarantees crispy food that does not absorb too much oil. Keeping the right temperature is key to that success. My Savta (grandma) used a small piece of carrot (thin stick looking) to check the oil temperature right before she dropped the food in it. She kept the carrot piece in the oil to give her indication to the changes in oil temperature. My Savta also claimed that the carrot prevents the oil from burning and turning dark.

O.K. now we are ready to fry!

Set the bowl of dough right next to the pot of oil. Since the dough is sticky we are using two spoons to create the doughnuts.

Start by dipping them into the oil.

Scoop some dough into one spoon – the size of the doughnut is all up to you.

Use the other spoon to arrange the dough into a round shape as much as possible. Carefully hold the spoon close to the oil and use the other spoon to drop the dough in. You can get it nice and round, but it doesn’t have to be perfect. I’ll tell you a little secret: the ones with the few “spikes” get that extra crispy texture and are the yummiest! 🙂

After one side of the doughnut gets golden brown, they usually flip to the other side on their own – which is kind of fun to watch. If some don’t flip on their own, give them a little push so they can cook on the other side. As mentioned before the oil temperature should be at medium heat to allow the doughnuts cook on the inside without burning the outside.

Remember the oil temperature drops just a little when be add the doughnuts in so try not to overcrowd the pot. I fry four or five doughnuts at a time.

When the doughnuts are ready, remove them onto a paper-toweled surface to get rid of any excess oil.

Powdered sugar, Nutella, your favorite jam, Dulce de Leche, glaze, chocolate or vanilla filling … the sky is the limit… I Love them with my favorite strawberry preserve and a little powdered sugar on top – Just heaven!

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Quick Recipe:

Quick Yogurt-Ricotta Doughnuts-

Whisk Eggs and Sugar together.

Add Vanilla Paste, Greek Yogurt and Ricotta Cheese.

Mix together to combine well.

Sift in Self-Rising Flour and mix to combine.

Use two spoons dipped into oil to form the doughnuts.

Drop them carefully into the oil and fry each side until golden brown.

Transfer onto paper-toweled surface to get rid of any excess oil.

Serve with your favorite filling and Powdered Sugar.