When  I was a very little girl, we used to have little doughnuts for breakfast on Saturday morning.  They were tiny frozen bites of yumminess made by Morton’s and  were probably one of the seminal tastes of my childhood.  I can remember the taste of crunchy cinnamon every time I think of them.  Morton’s no longer makes them…although I found one site on the web somewhere that said you could order them from Canada or China or Taiwan or something, but I was a bit skeptical.  So, I can’t get them at the store anymore and nothing I’ve ever found comes close to tasting as good those little doughnuts.  Well, nothing before these….Apple Cider Doughnuts. 

I’ve made these a couple of times now and they are simply delicious.  The first time, I made regular doughnut shapes and went ahead and fried up the holes, too.  Abigail scarfed them up as fast as I could cook them.  “Mommy”, she said, “these smooshy balls are yummy!”  so, they are now known forever more as Abigail’s Smooshy Balls.  She did not like the full-size doughnuts, only the holes and the bite-sized stars that I made.  So, the next time I made them, I only made the balls and the stars.  And, I’m pretty sure I agree with her.  There’s something about the bite-sized versions that make them even yummier and in that tiny version, they taste almost exactly like the Morton mini doughnuts of my childhood, so from now on, there will be no full-sized Apple Cider doughnuts made at our house…only Abigail’s Smooshy Balls.

This recipe came from Our Best Bites.  This is one of my all-time favorite recipe sites…I love it…they are so creative and everything I’ve ever tried to cook from their recipes has turned out delicious.  So, be sure and check them out.

Abigail’s Smooshy Ball Recipe

1 cup apple cide

1 cup sugar

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp.  pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup butter-flavored shortening

2 eggs

1/2 cup  buttermilk

Canola or Peanut Oil

Spiced Sugar (to roll the Smooshy Ball)

3/4 cup white sugar

1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

(mix them up together)

In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring the apple cider to a boil. Continue to cook over high heat for about 7-10 minutes or until it's reduced to 1/4 cup. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

While the cider is cooking, combine shortening and sugar in a large bowl and mix  n high for 2-3 minutes or until it's light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating completely after each addition. Add reduced cider and buttermilk and beat until combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Add flour mixture to the liquid mixture and beat until just blended.

Roll out the dough until it's about 1/2" thick.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for an hour (or 20 minutes in the freezer)

When the dough has chilled, remove from the freezer/refrigerator. Using a small, round biscuit cutter (or a small star cookie cutter), cut circles out of the dough. Place the cut pieces on a lightly floured baking sheet. When all the dough has been cut out, place the pan back in the refrigerator while you prepare the oil for frying.

In a large, deep saucepan or Dutch oven, heat 1 quart of oil over medium heat.  When the oil is hot, carefully place a few pieces of dough into the hot oil .  When the bottom side turns golden brown, flip the dough over.  The smooshy balls will cook really, really quickly...like in a less than a minute...it's a fine art, really, making these smooshy balls.

Remove doughnuts from hot oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to paper towels.

Place spiced sugar mix in a large Ziploc bag and then shake a few doughnuts at a time in the mixture.

Do you want proof that these are lip-smacking good?  Well, here it is: