Forbidden Doughnuts Recipe

Makes 15 doughnuts
Prep time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes 

INGREDIENTS

for the doughnuts:
1 ½ cups|226 grams all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup|113 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup|150 grams granulated sugar
½ cup|125 ml vegetable oil
4 large eggs, yolks and whites separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the glaze:
1 ½ cups|152 grams confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon whole milk, plus more for thinning
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
red or pink food coloring
rainbow sprinkles

DIRECTIONS 

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a large doughnut pan with nonstick cooking spray or butter.
2. To make doughnuts: Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Set aside.
3. In a separate large bowl, beat butter and sugar together 3 minutes until fluffy. Add oil and beat. Add egg yolks and vanilla and beat 2 minutes or until pale yellow and creamy.
4. Add egg whites to a medium mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer. Beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
5. Gently mix flour mixture into butter mixture just until incorporated. Fold in whipped egg whites, being careful to lose as little air as possible from the mixture.
6. Spoon mixture into a large zip-top bag and close. Snip a corner with a pair of scissors, creating a ¾-inch opening. Fill doughnut molds a little over halfway.
7. Bake 10 minutes or until tops are very lightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let doughnuts cool 3 minutes in pan before turning out onto a cooling rack.
8. Once the doughnuts are completely cooled (about 1 hour), make glaze. Add confectioners’ sugar, melted butter, milk, and vanilla to a small mixing bowl and mix well. Add food coloring a drop at a time until desired color is reached. Add more milk if needed, a little at a time, until glaze is thin enough for dipping but opaque and thick enough to stay on doughnuts without running too much.
9. Dip 1 doughnut in glaze halfway and spin slowly as you pull it out. Turn it right side up and place it back on the cooling rack. Repeat dipping with remaining Doughnuts, decorating with sprinkles as you go. Serve.

Cooking tips: Don’t over-fill the doughnut pan or you’ll lose the signature hole. If you prefer fried yeast doughnuts, use the dough recipe for Purple-Filled Doughnuts (see recipe in this chapter) and cut the dough into a classic doughnut shape using a doughnut cutter. Fry, let cool, and glaze.

Excerpted from The Unofficial Simpsons Cookbook by Laurel Randolph. Copyright © 2021 by Laurel Randolph. Photographs by Harper Point Photography. Used with permission of the publisher, Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved. 

Get recipes like this and more in the Munchies Recipes newsletter. Sign up here.