Pastry bag fitted with a piping tip or a squeeze bottle.
Slotted spoon.
2-inch cookie cutter or 2-inch rim of a glass
Ingredients
For the Dough
2 tsp quick-rise instant yeast
465 g/16¼ oz (3¼ cups) all-purpose flour
¼ cup warm water (120ºF)
¼ cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs, room temperature
¼ cup honey
1½ tsp salt
For Frying and Assembly
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon
Enough vegetable oil to fill your pot 3 inches deep*
1 375 ml jar of Nutella
Instructions
Make the Sponge
In a large bowl (I like clay), mix the yeast with ⅓ cup of the measured flour, add the warm water and whisk to mix. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let this mixture rest for about 10-15 minutes. It will puff up and become spongy looking. This is called a sponge.
Make the Dough
Add the oil, eggs, honey and salt to the Sponge. Stir until well combined; the sponge will remain lumpy. I use a wooden spoon for this. Add the remaining flour and mix the dough in the bowl until the ingredients are combined; the dough will be very shaggy.
Knead the Dough
Turn the dough out onto your work surface; knead until the dough is very smooth, about 5-10 minutes. Or you can do this in a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook on speed 3.Transfer the dough to a warm, clean, large bowl, cover the top with a towel and place in a warm cozy area of your kitchen. (See note*) Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size. This will take about 1½-2 hours.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Punch the dough down and roll the dough out until it is ½-inch thick. Using a 2-inch cookie cutter or the rim of a drinking class, cut the dough into circles and place on the parchment paper, spacing 1" apart. Re-roll the scraps once and cut out more rounds. Cover dough circles loosely with a towel and let rise until not quite doubled in size, 30-40 minutes.
Frying and Assembly
Place sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl, mix.
Fit a large heavy saucepan with thermometer; pour in oil to come 3" up the sides and heat over medium-high until thermometer registers 350°F.
Working in batches and adjusting the heat to maintain the oil temperature, fry doughnuts, turning once, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. As the doughnuts come out of the oil, drop them into the sugar-cinnamon mixture and toss, then transfer to a paper towel. Repeat with all the doughnuts. Let cool for a few minutes.
Place the Nutella in a piping bag fitted with a 6 mm tip (I use a squeeze bottle with a 6 mm or so tip). It helps to have the Nutella a little warm. I do this by putting the whole jar in a bath of hot water, then I scoop it into the bag or squeeze bottle.
Working one at a time, poke a small hole into the top of doughnuts and gently pipe in a generous amount of Nutella. Let cool or eat right away!
Notes
*I use a small pot to fry the doughnuts in so that I don’t use up so much oil.You need the oil deep, so the smaller the pot is in diameter, the less oil you will need to have it come 3-inches up the side of the pot.