2½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
pinch ground cinnamon
1 c buttermilk, shaken well (milk, sour cream or yoghurt)
1 egg
½ c sugar
¼ tsp vanilla essence
¼ c butter, melted and slightly cooled
canola oil, for frying
Cinnamon Sugar
2/3 c sugar mixed with 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Place the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Use a whisk to mix them together and make a well in the centre.
In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, sugar and vanilla essence. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients. Add the melted butter and mix together until you have a soft but not sticky dough (add a little more flour if necessary). Knead the dough gently until it comes together into a ball.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured bench to about 5mm in thickness. Use a 5.5cm floured cutter to cut rounds from the dough and the floured end of a wooden spoon to make the hole in the centre. Reroll any leftover dough to make more.
Pour enough oil into a frying pan to reach 2cm up the sides and set on a medium-high heat. Use a scrap of dough to test if the oil is hot enough. (The dough should brown in 40-50 seconds on one side. Lower the heat if it is browning too fast.)
Fry the doughnuts in small batches, turning so that they are golden brown on each side. Drain on paper towels and then toss them in the cinnamon sugar while still warm.
Makes 30.
These doughnuts freeze really well.