Photo via ChrisGoldNYC's Flickr
It's sort of cruel that National Donut Day comes during swimsuit season, but if we must celebrate deep fried dough in June, then so be it. And on that note: Happy National Donut Day! Might we suggest you head over to Dunkin' Donuts or Krispy Kreme for a free glazed treat? Both chains are giving away free donuts—at the former, you have to buy a beverage to get your donut, but at the latter they're just handing them out to anyone!
As far as "food holidays" go, this one has some history—the first was celebrated by the Salvation Army in 1938 to honor the women who served donuts to soldiers during World War I. Since then, it's been observed every first Friday of June. And yet establishments like The Doughnut Plant and Peter Pan Donuts still refuse to celebrate the day by giving us free goods... so maybe we'll just make our own. Get the original Salvation Army Doughnut Recipe below (just be sure to pick up that tub of lard on your way home).
SALVATION ARMY LASSIES’ DOUGHNUT RECIPE (Yields 4 dozen!)
- 5 C flour
- 2 C sugar
- 5 tsp. baking powder
- 1 ‘saltspoon’ salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 3/4 C milk
- 1 Tub lard
DIRECTIONS
- Combine all ingredients (except for lard) to make dough.
- Thoroughly knead dough, roll smooth, and cut into rings that are less than 1/4 inch thick. (When finding items to cut out doughnut circles, be creative! Salvation Army doughnut girls used whatever they could find, from baking powder cans to coffee percolator tubes.)
- Drop the rings into the lard, making sure the fat is hot enough to brown the doughnuts gradually. Turn the doughnuts slowly several times.
- When browned, remove doughnuts and allow excess fat to drip off.
- Dust with powdered sugar. Let cool and enjoy.
