Malasadas II (Leonard's bakery version)

We've attempted to recreate the delicious Malasadas that hubby made last year but they somehow don't turn out the same as when hubby originally made them. Working with yeast is very tricky. So whenever we tried to make them again, they didn't rise well and they tasted very yeast-y.

My brother told me he found a recipe on the Food network that supposedly is a recipe from Leonard's bakery - a bakery in Hawaii that is famous for its malasadas. So I decided to try to make it for breakfast today and they came out delicious. And it didn't have a yeast-y flavor at all. I think hubby thinks this was a better recipe than his. Sorry boo :(

The tricky part of this recipe is how its cooked. You have to constantly monitor the temperature of the oil, otherwise you may end up with a charcoal looking ball with its center still uncooked.

2 tsp. dry active yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 Tbsp. plus 1 1/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. nutmeg

vegetable oil for frying

cinnamon-sugar

1) In a medium bowl, combine yeast, warm water and 1 tablespoon sugar. Mix until yeast dissolves and set aside for 5 minutes. Stir in milk, vanilla, eggs and butter. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, mix flour, 1 1/3 cup sugar, salt and nutmeg. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour yeast mixture into the center of the well and mix to form a soft, smooth dough. Cover dough with a clean towel and set aside in a warm place until dough doubles in size. (Note: this may take anywhere from 1-3 hours, depending on how warm the air is. You need to wait to make sure the dough rises to double its size.)

3) Once the dough has risen, punch the dough down and set aside. Heat 2 inches of oil in a high-sided pot to 325 deg. F. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop a golf-sized ball into the hot oil. Make sure to work with small batches and fry the dough until the are uniformly golden brown, about 3-5 minutes on each side. (Note: its very important to monitor and maintain the temperature of the oil. Too hot of an oil will cause the malasadas to burn on the outside while being undercooked on the inside).

Drain malasadas on a paper towel then roll them in the cinnamon sugar. Serve warm.