Have you ever had a French Cruller? I have to admit, I didn’t even know what a Cruller was up until a couple months ago when a friend asked me if I knew anywhere in Utah where he could find some. A French Cruller is a ring shaped doughnut made from p?te ? choux that’s fried and dipped in sweet glaze. P?te ? choux is a delicate pastry dough used in many pastries. It contains only butter, water, milk, flour, and eggs. Instead of a raising agent, it employs high moisture content to create steam during cooking to puff the pastry.
Come to find out, there are no French Crullers to be found in the state of Utah. At least, not to my knowledge. So if you find them somewhere locally, let me know! My husband has mentioned a couple times that he’d like me to try and make homemade Crullers to surprise our friend with. I kept putting it off because I figured they were tricky and complicated to make. It turns out, they are actually extremely simple and easy to make. Which is both good and bad because now I want to make them every week, they are THAT good.
The first step in making these donuts is learning how to make a p?te ? choux dough. I have watched baking competition after baking competition where the contestants challenge is to make p?te ? choux dough. I’m not going to lie, the judges or host always made it seem like this was a difficult task, hence why I never attempted it. But after making these doughnuts, it really is super simple.
You start by adding your butter, water, milk, brown sugar and salt to a medium sized sauce pan and bringing that mixture to a boil. Once it comes to a boil you turn the heat to low and add your flour and stir vigorously. At this point you want to stir for 4-6 minutes to help steam the extra moisture out of your dough. The consistency of the dough won’t seem to change much but the key indicator that your dough is ready for the next step is when the dough has left a very thin film on the bottom of the pot.
Once your dough has reached this point, you’ll remove it from the pot and add it to a stand mixer or mixing bowl. Let it cool for 5-10 minutes so that it doesn’t cook the eggs when you add them. I like to use my stand mixer and turn the mixer on medium/low to help cool the dough down faster. Once your mixture has cooled a little bit, you’re going to add your eggs one at a time, letting it fully incorporate and scraping down the sides of the bowl before you add the next egg. Once all your whole eggs are added, you’ll next add your one egg white and mix the dough on medium speed until the mixture becomes smooth and glossy and will hold a slight peek when pinched with your fingers.
Once your dough is ready, you’ll transfer it to a large piping bag fitted with a 1/2 inch star piping tip. Next you’ll want to cut out 15 parchment paper squares, about 3.5″ x 3.5″ in size. On top of each square, you’ll pipe a circle of dough to fill the square. Meanwhile, you should have a large stockpot half full with vegetable or canola oil heating to 350 degrees. (I highly suggest investing in a thermometer to be able to test your oil, otherwise you’ll most likely end up with undercooked or overcooked doughnuts). Once your oil is hot enough, you’ll drop a few doughnuts in at a time, parchment side up. You’ll carefully remove the parchment squares with tongs and then cook the doughnuts for 3 minutes one each side. You’ll then glaze the warm donuts and transfer them to a wire rack where they will last approximately 5 minutes before you and your family will devour every single one of them!
Homemade French Crullers
Ingredients:
For the dough:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter cut into chunks
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 large eggs
- 1 egg white
- Vegetable or Canola oil for frying (48 fl oz)
For the glaze:
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 6-8 tbsp milk
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- In a medium sized sauce pot, add your butter, water, milk, brown sugar and salt and bring the mixture to a boil. Once it comes to a boil turn the heat to low and add your flour and stir vigorously.
- Stir the mixture for 4-6 minutes to steam the extra moisture out of your dough. The consistency of the dough won’t seem to change much but the key indicator that your dough is ready for the next step is when the dough has left a very thin film on the bottom of the pot. Make sure your heat is on low and you stir constantly.
- Once your dough has left a thin film on the bottom of the pot, add it to a stand mixer or mixing bowl. Let it cool for 5-10 minutes so that it doesn’t cook the eggs when you add them. (I like to use my stand mixer and turn the mixer on medium/low to help cool the dough down faster.) Once your mixture has cooled a little bit, add your eggs one at a time, letting each egg fully incorporate and scraping down the sides before you add the next egg. Once all your whole eggs are added, you’ll next add your one egg white and mix on medium speed until the mixture becomes smooth and glossy and will hold a slight peek when pinched with your fingers.
- Transfer your dough to a large piping bag fitted with a 1/2 inch star piping tip. Meanwhile cut out 15 parchment paper squares, about 3.5″ x 3.5″ in size. On top of each square, pipe a circle of dough to fill the square (refer to picture at the bottom of this post). Meanwhile, add your oil to a large stock pot and turn it on medium high. Your goal temperature is 350 degrees. (I highly suggest investing in a thermometer to be able to test your oil, otherwise you’ll most likely end up with undercooked or overcooked doughnuts). Once your oil is hot enough, drop a few doughnuts in at a time, parchment side up. Carefully remove the parchment squares with tongs and discard them. Fry the doughnuts for 3 minutes one each side.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove the doughnuts and transfer them to a wire rack. Dip each warm doughnut into the glaze (instructions below) so that it is completely covered in the glaze. Place doughnuts back on the wire rack to allow the glaze to set up.
- Repeat step 5 until all of your doughnuts have been cooked.
- Eat warm or at room temperature. Doughnuts are best if eaten within 24 hours.
For the glaze:
- In a medium sized bowl stir together powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth and no lumps remain.
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