If you live or even visited New York City you’ve most likely have had three things:
One: New York style pizza
Two: A bagel, preferably an everything bagel, topped with cream cheese
Three: A doughnut
Now, if you are a true foodie you would do your research, weave out all the fakes, and you would find that one of the best places to go to have a doughnut in NYC is a place called Dough Doughnuts. I’ve been going to Dough for years now. I think I actually started going to Dough in 2015 when I was still in College and I’ve been going there ever since. It’s THE doughnut spot, always has always will be.
I’ve literally gone so many times that I’ve narrowed down my three favorite flavors. They are, in no order, hibiscus, cafe au lait, and of course, the inspiration for this doughnut, the very famous (to me) mocha almond crunch! All three are delicious and if you haven’t been, you need to go and try them out! They are so fluffy and light that I could eat three… not that I’ve ever done that… okay maybe I have. In my defense I was putting on winter weight to brave the cold NYC weather! Don’t blame my lack of self control, you can totally blame the weather on that one.
Anywayssss, if you don’t live in NYC and still want to try out how delicious they are then you can just make my version of the best doughnuts I’ve ever had and tell me what you think of them! I honestly think they are delicious and as always shout out to the broken bread blog for the lovely brioche doughnut recipe! She made them so perfect that I wouldn’t change a thing. I also made these basil and chai doughnuts with the same doughnut recipe if you wanted to give it a quick look!
Maple Almond Crunch Doughnuts
Servings 16 Doughnuts
INGREDIENTS:
Brioche Doughnuts
3 Tablespoons Sugar divided
1 Packet Active Dry Yeast
1 Cup Whole Milk (warmed to 110Fº-115Fº)
2 Large Eggs
1 Egg Yolk
1 Tsp Kosher Salt
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
3 1/4 Cups Bread flour plus a bit extra
6 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter room temperature
Vegetable Oil- for frying
Almond Crunch Crumble
1/2 cup Flour
1/8 tsp Cinnamon
Sprinkle of Salt
4 Tbsp Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp White Sugar
3 Tbsp Softened Butter
1/4 Cup Crushed Almonds
Maple Glaze
2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1 Cup Confectioner's Sugar
1 Tbsp Water
INSTRUCTIONS
Brioche Doughnut (Day 1)
In the bowl of a standing mixer add 1 tablespoon of the sugar along with the yeast. Pour in the warm milk and let mixture stand for about 5 minutes, or until the yeast starts to foam. Meanwhile, lightly grease a large bowl and set aside.
Once the yeast has foamed, whisk in the eggs, egg yolks, salt, vanilla, lemon zest, and remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar into the milk mixture. Then, with the dough hook attached add in 3 1/4 cups flour and begin to mix on medium speed until the dough comes together, and beat for 5 minutes. The dough should begin to pull away from the sides, and become smooth, elastic, and slightly sticky. If the dough seems too sticky to handle, add a few pinches of flour.
With the mixer on, add the 6 tablespoons of butter, 1 piece at a time. Be sure to let each piece of butter get fully incorporated, before adding the next. The butter takes a little time to get mixed in, so don’t worry if that doesn’t happen right away. Once all the butter has been added, keep mixing the dough for another 2 minutes or so, then remove the dough and place into the lightly greased bowl. Cover bowl with a clean kitchen towel and place in a warm, draft free place for about 1 hour, or until it doubles in volume.
Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down to release the air, and fold it onto itself. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight, or for up to 12 hours.
Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down to release the air, and fold it onto itself. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight, or for up to 12 hours.
Brioche Doughnut (Day 2)
In the morning, remove the dough and allow it to rest for 10-15 minutes before using. On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough until it is about 1/2’’ thick. Use a 3-inch biscuit cutter to cut out your dough rounds and then a 1/2- inch biscuit cutter for the center. Re-roll scraps once, and cut out as many rounds as you can.
Place the doughnut rounds onto a tray lined with parchment paper and loosely cover with a kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm, draft free space until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes or so. This time can very, so just keep a close eye.
Once the rounds have risen, fill a large dutch dutch oven with 3- 4 inches of vegetable oil, and slowly heat until the oil reaches 350F°. Its very important that you keep an eye on this temperature as it can fluctuate quite quickly which can burn your doughnuts. Keep the temperature between350F°-360F°. If the temperature gets too high, pour some more oil into the pot, this will help reduce the heat quickly.
Working in small batches, fry the dough rounds for about 1 minute and 30 seconds on each side for a light golden brown. Remove the doughnuts with a slotted spoon and place on cooling rack, or on a plate that has been lined with a paper towel. Let the doughnuts cool.
Almond Maple Crunch
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
In a large bowl/standing mixer combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, brown sugar, white sugar, and butter until the butter is fully incorporated into the dry ingredients. It will have the same consistency as a shortbread cookie.
Then add in the crushed almond and mix until the almonds are well dispersed throughout the crumble.
Pour the crumble out onto a parchment lined baking tray and break up any large clumps into pebble sized pieces.
Bake for 10 minutes. Once they are done let them cool and place them into a bowl.
Maple Glaze
In a bowl 1-2 inches bigger than the diameter of the doughnuts, place the confectioners sugar, water, and maple syrup together and mix until there are no lumps visible.
Assembly!
Set up another wire rack with a baking tray on the bottom to catch any drippings.
Take a warm/cooled doughnut and dip it half way into the maple glaze. After shaking off the excess place it on a wire rack allowing any extra glaze to fall off.
Before the glaze hardens sprinkle a generous amount of crumble on top.
Repeat dipping the doughnuts into the glaze and sprinkling the crumble on top until all the doughnuts are done.
Share these doughnuts with your friends and family and I promise they will love you even more!