Blueberry Bourbon Brioche Doughnuts |Cooking With Amanda

Blueberry Bourbon Brioche Doughnuts Photo

I'm going to tell you a little story today — a story about having no willpower and the love of doughnuts. Once upon a time, in the not so distant past four friends piled into a car for a little road trip. The destination: Portland, Oregon. The goal, to eat, drink, and shop our way through the city. The end result? Doughnutgeddon.

It wasn't planned, in fact I was quite shocked it all happened the way it did — I swear it must have been something in the air that day or maybe the 100-degree West Coast weather we were experiencing. I won't lie, I eat a lot when I travel, I like to try as much of the local food as I can and I generally offset it by walking everywhere.

That day though, the doughnuts of Portland called and I answered. My husband and I are always good about sharing but there was something about starting with pillowy soft, fresh brioche doughnuts with a glaze that hasn't even set yet that throws all willpower out the window.

Blueberry Bourbon Brioche Doughnuts Picture

You'd think one each would be enough for the day but of course after having the classy doughnuts we needed the fun ones. Here's the thing about fun doughnuts, you can't pick just one and so we picked six and woke up every morning for the next few days to start our day a sweet way.

You'd think after doughnutgeddon I would never want to think about them again or at least take a break. The thing is though, when you have a food that's so good but so far, you want to try it at home for yourself. Now normally I have a no-frying at home rule and sure I can get great doughnuts, even brioche ones in NYC, but I couldn't get the idea out of my head of making my own.

Am I crazy to ask you to fry in the summer? Maybe a little, especially a yeast-raised recipe. Trust me, it's totally worth it and this recipe just isn't the same with out of season blueberries. If you've never had a brioche doughnut, now is the time to try it.

Blueberry Bourbon Brioche Doughnuts Image

Unlike baked, cake, or traditional yeast-raised doughnuts there's a richness behind brioche doughnuts. Just like the bread, it's totally worth going off your summer diet for. I mean, if it can get me to eat three doughnuts in one day and then go home and fry then you know it's worth it!

Did I mention the glaze? On top of these pillowy soft doughnuts is a fresh blueberry glaze spiked with bourbon. Let's face it, if there are doughnuts in the house and kids around you should do anything in your power to keep it all to yourself! So promise me to crank up the AC, take a few hours and fry up these beauties. I do guarantee the payoff is totally worth it.

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Blueberry Bourbon Brioche Doughnuts Recipe

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Ingredients

1/2 cup milk, warmed to 108-110°f
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast, or 1 packet
1/3 cup organic cane sugar, plus 2 teaspoons, divided
3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, room temperature
8 tablespoons butter, room temperature
canola or vegetable oil, for frying

For the Glaze:

1/2 cup fresh blueberries
2-3 cups confectioners sugar
1 ounce bourbon

Directions

In a small bowl combine the warm milk with the 2 teaspoons of sugar and pour over the yeast. Let sit for about 5 minutes until the yeast starts to bubble and activate.
In the bowl of your stand mixer, with the dough hook attached add the flour, salt and cane sugar. Pour in the milk and begin to mix on medium speed. Once the milk is combined, add the eggs one at a time.
When the dough starts to pull away from the sides, increase the speed slightly and start beating in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Make sure not to add the next tablespoon until the previous one has been mostly incorporated.
Increase the speed to high and knead the dough for 3-5 minutes. The dough should slap against the sides of the bowl.
Remove the dough from the machine and knead very gently on a lightly floured surface for about a minute.
Transfer to an oiled mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap. At this point you can let the dough rise in the refrigerator overnight or stand in a warm but not drafty spot for an hour or two or until the dough has doubled in size. If rising overnight, let the dough come to room temperature before continuing on.
Once the dough has doubled in size, turn out onto a floured work surface and roll out until it is about 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick and using a doughnut cutter cut out rounds, transferring to a parchment lined baking sheet. Re-roll the scraps once to cut out again and then roll the extra dough in your hands to make doughnut holes.
Cover the doughnuts with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes.
During that time heat your deep fryer, or if using a cast iron skillet, fill at least 2 inches deep with oil and begin to heat until it reaches 370°F.
Fry the doughnuts 3-4 at a time depending on the size of your pan/deep fryer, 1 minute per side.
Transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain.
Let the oil come back to temperature before you fry up each additional batch. Let the doughnuts cool completely before glazing.
To make the glaze, place the blueberries, confectioners sugar, and bourbon in your blender and blend until smooth. Depending on the thickness, you may want to add a little more confectioners sugar to thicken up the glaze.
To glaze the doughnuts, place the glaze in a shallow bowl and dip the top half of the doughnuts in the glaze.
Let set for 1-2 minutes before eating.