Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts

These doughnuts are light, airy – and made with pizza dough!

Pizza dough has fewer ingredients than classic yeast-raised doughnuts, or even the cake variety, for that matter: no eggs, no milk, no butter. Yet they are just as delicious, if not more, and can be fried in a relatively shallow amount of oil. For the fluffiest doughnuts imaginable, let the dough rise overnight in the fridge, then sit out on the counter for a few hours the next day. I filled about half of these with a fancy blueberry lavender jam, and served the remaining doughnuts plain. All are rolled in a delightfully crunchy mixture of ground cinnamon and granulated sugar.

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts

Doughnuts

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast or active dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

3 1/2 cups flour

Jam, for filling

Topping

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Note: If you’d prefer a small batch, use half the pizza dough to make doughnuts, and throw the other half in the oven with some toppings for a complete (if not particularly nutritious) meal.

1. In a large bowl, combine water, sugar, and yeast, stirring gently until dissolved. Set aside in a warm spot for about 10-15 minutes, until bubbly and frothy. Add olive oil, then flour and salt. Stir ingredients together until a soft dough just comes together.

2. Directly in the bowl or on a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until smooth and elastic. It should spring back when touched. Return dough to the bowl, if you removed it to knead, and cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for at least two hours. For best results, prepare the dough the day before and refrigerate overnight. Allow time for dough to return to room temperature before frying.

3. In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon; set aside.

4. Roll out pizza dough until around 1/4 inch thick, and cut into circles using a round, 2-inch cookie cutter. In a saucepan, heat about 1-2 inches of oil to approximately 350 degrees F. Fry discs of dough, a few at a time, on each side, until golden brown, about two minutes or less on each side. Remove with a slotted spoon, and place on paper-towel-lined plate to remove excess oil.

5. While still warm, roll in cinnamon sugar. Using a pastry bag with a round tip, or a skewer and a spoon, fill with jam, if desired. These are best eaten right away, but leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container.