Today was a good day. And by good I mean I did a thing, not I did a thing well. I tried, but apparently I can’t read and when I thought the recipe said “Ferment 1.5 hours” it actually said “Ferment 1.5 hours, fold, ferment another  1.5 hours, then form and proof for an hour”. Let’s just say that I started at 11:30 am and had to bring the doughnuts to an event at 2:30 pm and time in bread world is like quicksand. I should also probably point out that I didn’t bake something from the book today. Instead, I made a recipe for Baked Yeast Doughnuts from Wild Yeast, a blog I just discovered yesterday and immediately fell in love with. But I messed it up, so I guess mine is an inspired version.I needed to make something I knew people would like (aka something sweet and buttery and not something new and weird that would taint my reputation forever) so I decided on doughnuts. Despite my lack of skill, time, and familiarity with the recipe, it turned out pretty acceptable. The dough was forgiving to say the least.

Recipe (~3 hours front to back):

1. Put 1.5 cups warm water in a bowl and sprinkle 1 teaspoon yeast over the top. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
2. Add to the bowl 2.75 cups flour, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons soft butter, and 2/3 tablespoon salt. Mix until just combined.
3. Add 1/3 heaping cup sugar, a little at a time, stirring for a few seconds between pours. Once the sugar is incorporated, stir/mix the dough for 5 minutes.
4. Scoop out the dough, gently oil the bowl, and return the dough to the bowl.
5. Cover dough and let rest 1.5 hours. Then separate into 12 pieces, shape into balls, and press holes into the center of each (make the holes larger than you’d expect).
6. Let the doughnuts rest on a baking sheet for 30 minutes while the oven preheats to 375 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes of until the tops are just beginning to brown.
7. While still hot, brush with butter (I used spray oil and it worked perfectly) and roll the tops in a bowl of sugar and cinnamon (as much as you’d like).
8. Enjoy!