The Doughie Story
It's All About Taste
Growing up, I loved a good doughnut. I called them a Doughie, like many Australians, so I thought, what better name for them now?
I grew up doing three types of skiing—snow, surf and water—and had a bit of a tradition that when coming down off the mountain or getting out of the water, there weren't many better ways to end the day than with a good cinnamon Doughie. We would always stop at the Berry Donut Van on the way home with the ski boat and grab a bag of fresh doughnuts. That van is still there today, and the line is as long as ever. Then there was—and still is, I believe—the little shack at the bottom of the ski slope in Thredbo that had the best mini doughnuts found on any mountain. They were great times and lots of good memories.
Many years on, and at my age, I still like a good Doughie, but I limit the number these days, which brings me to how I came to make and develop The Doughie recipe.
I moved to the US about three years ago, and one day my son came home with some doughnuts. So, as all dads do, I grabbed one and took a bite. Well, let's just say it wasn't a Berry Donut Van Doughie—all I could taste was sugar. So this got me thinking that I might need to make my own if I wanted that "How good are these?" reaction I remembered from growing up.
So I looked at a few Aussie recipes and started baking. It took a few goes, but I was getting close to that good Aussie Doughie I remembered.
After many recipe changes and tweaks, and about two and a half years later, I finally settled on the recipe I have now for The Doughie you see here.
You know you've got it right when you head to the dog park and think, "Hey, I'll take a few Doughies with me for the guys," and one of the kids there grabs one and says, "These are like those ones I had at someone's place at Halloween!"—which was about six months ago—"They're so good!" Kids will always be honest if they don't like something, so when they remember your Doughies six months later, you know you're onto something.
The Recipe Experiment
I am 56 and probably shouldn't eat doughnuts, but let's face it, I'm going to anyway. So why not see if I can make one a little better for someone my age?
That began nearly three years of playing with different mixtures, watching them rise—and sometimes not rise—using all types of flour, changing the milk, egg and butter amounts, working on just the right amount of yeast, and ultimately removing the sugar from the dough altogether.
I wanted a doughnut I could enjoy, but also one that my kids and their friends would keep coming back for. That was the real test.
By eliminating the sugar from the dough, I still needed to keep the taste, so adding just the right amount of monk fruit sweetener hit the spot. I also coat just the top side of the Doughie and tell people to "Flip It" when they eat it. Somehow, turning it over tricks the taste buds into thinking it's a fully coated doughnut, again reducing the sugar without sacrificing the taste.
Now, don't get me wrong, this isn't marketed as a health snack, but reducing the sugar does help. And if people can eat one and still feel good half an hour later, then that has to be a good thing. We all know sweets are hard to resist, and nine times out of ten, we regret it afterwards.
So when a few people said to me, "Hey, I don't usually eat doughnuts, but I was curious to try this Doughie and, wow, I actually felt good afterwards. There was none of that 'I really shouldn't have eaten that' feeling," that's when I knew I was onto something.
The Doughie
A batch of Doughies takes about 4 hours from start to finish (50 in a batch). The dough is mixed and left to proof for 1 to 1.5 hours, depending on the time of year. It is then flattened, rolled and cut into square Doughies.
These square Doughies are left to proof for another 1 to 1.5 hours before being fried and dipped on one side in a sugar and cinnamon mix. We manage to get a little more than 200 Doughies from just one cup of the sugar and cinnamon mix.
And remember to Flip It—your taste buds will thank you.
INGREDIENTS:
Flour (Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Milk, Eggs, Butter, Sugar, Monk Fruit (Erythritol, Monk Fruit Extract), Cinnamon, Yeast.
CONTAINS: Wheat, Milk, Eggs
Registration # CFO FA0044181
Issued in Ventura