African Cinnamon Doughnut Twists

This yummy African Cinnamon Doughnut Twists are tastefully prepared and severed as breakfast, snack and dessert across West Africa. This West African twist-shaped, deep fried doughnut is a common food that bears several names from country to country.

The African Cinnamon Doughnut Twists are a yeasted dough twisted and deep fried in vegetable oil, then sprinkled with cinnamon sugar (Liberian Way), confectioner’s sugar or dipped in fruit flavor jams. While the authentic doughnut originated from the European settlers, African countries inherited it and change the technique to add new ingredients and flavors for a yummy treat. Therefore, Africans incorporated the snack with their traditional meals for everyday cooking.

African Cinnamon Doughnut Twists (Liberian Way) are made of dough containing flour, yeast, sugar, vegetable oil, water and vanilla extract. Baking powder can be used in place of yeast, but yeast is more common. Also, you can make the doughnut dough the night before to ease on your preparation time. So make the doughnut dough about 2 1/2 hours before going to bed. Roll out the dough, shape into doughnuts, lay them out on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to rise while you sleep.

These doughnuts are made with a yeasted dough, by foaming the fresh (or dry) yeast in warm, sweetish liquid (milk or water), then kneading a firm dough and letting it to rise. When it has doubled in size, the dough is cut for portions, twisted and gets a short rest, then shape to its final form, and deep fried after a longer rise in vegetable oil to a golden-brown color. After frying, African Cinnamon Doughnuts Twist can be eaten plain, rolled in cinnamon sugar or in any spices/flavoring which certainly make it a fragrant pastry.

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African Cinnamon Doughnut Twists

This yummy African Cinnamon Doughnut Twists are tastefully prepared and severed asbreakfast, snack and dessert across West Africa.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine African

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 157kcal

Author Angie | Okra Pantry

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup water (warm)
• 2/3 cup milk (warm)
• 2 tbsp butter (melted)
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp active dry yeast (1 oz sachet)
• vegetable oil for frying 

Instructions

• Mix warm water, milk, sugar and yeast in a bowl. Stir, cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm storage for 20 minutes.
• Remove cover, add flour, vanilla extract, and butter.
• On a flour dust surface, mold flour mixture, place in a bowl, cover and place in a warm storage for 30 minutes.
• Punch down dough to deflate then place on a floured board and cut into 8 equal pieces.
• Using your hand or a lightly dust surface, roll pieces of dough into a rope, twist, cover and place in a warm storage for 10 minutes for the twisted doughnuts to rise. Flip them to the other side so the flat side can rise too. 
• In a frying pan heat oil on medium heat, place in the twisted doughnuts to fry. Once the doughnuts turn golden brown on one side, flip to the other side and let them cook. Once the other side is golden brown, remove and place on paper towel to absorb excess oil. Each doughnuts take about 4 minutes total to cook.
• Mix 2 tablespoons of sugar and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon powder in a bowl, dash and flip doughnuts in mixture to coat. Yummy and Delicious African Cinnamon Doughnut Twists ready to served.

Notes

1. These African doughnuts freeze well. Place them in a Ziploc bag and place in the freezer. To eat, simply remove them and let them thaw before eating. If you want them warm, place in the microwave and warm for a minute before eating – note that arming them will melt the sugar coating on the outside. Also, you should warm them for more than a minute as they will become hard.

2. Nutritional information is per doughnut.

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