If You’re Having Stranger Things Withdrawal, try these Upside Down Donuts by Stina Spiegelberg

©Recipe and images: Stina Spiegelberg 

Upside Down Donuts 
by Stina Spiegelberg for Veganuary

Cookbook author Stina Spiegelberg packs the dark underworld of Stranger Things into vegan donuts – a tribute to the series hero and police officer Jim Hopper. And the perfect base for a sweet trip into the Upside Down. 

For 12 soft donuts 

Preparation time: 30 minutes 
Rising time: 2 hours 

Ingredients 

15g fresh yeast 
30 g + 45 g sugar 
50ml + 200ml oat drink 
520g flour Type 550 
¼ tsp salt 
80g soft vegan butter 
100g soy yogurt 

Also: 

2L high-heat vegetable oil 
Sugar glaze 
Chocolate glaze 

Method 

1. Crumble the yeast into a cup, add 30g sugar and 50ml lukewarm oat drink, and set aside for 10 minutes until the mixture bubbles. 

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, 45g sugar and salt. Then add 200ml oat milk, the yeast mixture, room-temperature margarine and yogurt. Knead with a stand mixer for 5 minutes until a smooth dough forms that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. 

3. Cover and let rise in a warm place for one and a half hours. 

4. Roll the dough out on a floured work surface to 2–3 cm thickness and cut out 12 donuts (e.g., using round cutters with 9 cm and 3.5 cm diameters). Place the dough pieces on separate square parchment paper pieces and cover with a kitchen towel to rise for another 30 minutes. 

5. In the meantime, heat the oil to 185°C. Fry the dough pieces for 2–3 minutes on each side in the bubbling oil. Let the donuts cool, then decorate with chocolate glaze and sugar glaze. 

Stina Spiegelberg’s tip for the recipe: “If the oil gets too hot, the donut burns before it’s cooked inside, and if the oil is too cold, the donut absorbs too much oil. Therefore, it’s worth using a kitchen thermometer when heating the oil.”