The Abruzzese donuts of San Biagio are traditional sweet donuts from my Abruzzo, but they are not typical of the area where I live, so I don’t know much about them, as I came across them by chance through an acquaintance, but I believe they are from the Marsican area, although I’m not entirely sure.
I can tell you that like almost all typical Abruzzese sweets of San Biagio, they are very fragrant and moreover, these are soft and I assure you it is very difficult to resist them.
They will be excellent for breakfast and snack, truly delicious and inviting… sure, they are to celebrate St. Blaise’s day, on February 3rd, but really a good solution to repeat at any time of the year.
So follow my recipe with the photos that will help you and if you want there is also the video on YouTube, also because for recording the video, I didn’t have time to take some photos that I wanted to put here on the recipe.
About 314 Kcal per donut
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 3 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 11 donuts
- Cooking methods: Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Winter
Ingredients for Abruzzese Donuts of San Biagio
- 3/4 cup Warm whole milk
- 1/4 cup Softened butter
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 15 g Fresh yeast
- 1 teaspoon Liquid vanilla or one packet of vanillin
- 2 Medium eggs
- 1 1/2 cups Manitoba flour
- 2 1/3 cups All-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons Anise seeds (I blended them)
- 3 1/2 tablespoons Water
- 1/4 cup Sugar
- 1/2 cup Sugar
Preparation of Abruzzese Donuts of San Biagio
You can knead with the stand mixer as I did, or with a hand mixer and then continue on a work surface or directly by hand; I used the stand mixer for convenience.
Put the warm milk, fresh yeast, sugar, liquid vanilla, or a packet of powdered vanilla, and the anise seeds that I blended because they perform better and you don’t feel the seeds when eating the sweets, in the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix just long enough to blend the ingredients a bit.
At this point, add 1 cup of all-purpose flour and mix again, then add the eggs and the remaining flour, mixing well until all ingredients are incorporated.
At this point, pour the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead just enough to create a ball, then put it in a large bowl to rise for 2 hours or until it doubles in size.
Once risen, take the dough and pour it onto the work surface, create a ball again and form small balls of dough weighing about 90 grams each.
With each dough ball obtained, flatten it a bit and create a hole in the center with your hands creating a donut, then transfer it to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Once on the baking sheet, flatten the donuts a bit, as they will regain their puffiness during rising, and try to define the hole in the center.
Let rise again for at least 1 hour, the oven light on will be fine!
Once risen, bake at 340 °F for 20-25 minutes checking the cooking.
While the donuts are baking, put the water and sugar needed for the syrup in a small pot and boil while stirring until the sugar is well dissolved.
Prepare a small bowl with granulated sugar for the final preparation.
Once baked, remove the donuts from the oven and immediately brush them with the syrup, then roll them in sugar and let them cool a bit before serving.
I know it’s hard to resist, but hot they don’t give the best idea… enjoy your meal.
