Thai Doughnuts

I love sweetened condensed milk so much that I could eat it with a spoon - and have, on several occasions...  But this week I decided that, in light of Tartelette and Peabody's doughnut event, I should eat it with a doughnut instead.  

I have actually been wanting to make Thai Doughnuts for a while now, since surprisingly, none of my friends in this city have ever tried them; even the ones who love Thai food!  And I haven't seen them on a Thai menu since I've been in Miami.  This all makes me very sad, because good Thai Doughnuts are seriously one of my favorite desserts.  The doughnuts are warm, soft, barely sweet, and when dipped in the sweetened condensed milk, they taste like heaven.  And the peanuts add just the right amount of texture and flavor to make the doughnuts even more fun to eat!  

For the actual doughnuts, I used a recipe that didn't include yeast, because unfortunately I was out of yeast and couldn't get my hands on any in a moments notice.  But if I decide to make Thai Doughnuts again (which is very probable) I would definitely use a yeasty recipe, because these yeast-free doughnuts just didn't have the lightness I was looking for.  Oh well; they still all got eaten very quickly!  Because how can anything be bad if you deep fry it and then dip it in sweetened condensed milk and peanuts?  A perfect breakfast, if you ask me!

Thai Doughnuts (adapted from this recipe)

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup water

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp vegetable oil

sweetened condensed milk, for dipping

chopped peanuts, for dipping

Combine the baking soda, powder, and sugar.  Add the water and mix well.  Add this mixture to the flour, and stir a little bit.  Add the oil to the mixture, and stir until a dough is formed.  Cover the dough with a moist cloth and let sit for 4 hours at room temperature.  

Heat oil for deep frying.  On a floured surface, break the dough into small (about 1 inch) pieces, and flatten them into oval shapes.  When the oil is hot enough that a small piece of dough will bubble and float in it, start deep frying the dough.  Fry each piece until it is a golden color.  

Serve while the doughnuts are still warm: dip them in the sweetened condensed milk and then in the peanuts, and enjoy!