Baked Doughnuts

Makes about a dozen and a half. Combine yeast, water, milk, sugar and salt and let sit for about 5 minutes. Beat in nutmeg, cinnamon, eggs and shortening. Beat in flour until mixed. Put into a lightly greased bowl and let rise until doubled in bulk. Punch down and turn out onto a floured surface. Or, you can do it the new way. If you have a bread machine, put all the dough ingredients in the machine in the dough cycle. When the cycle is over and the dough has risen, turn out onto a floured surface and punch down. Dough should be soft. With a floured rolling pin, gently roll dough about 1/2 inch thick and cut with a floured 2 1/2 or 3 inch doughnut cutter. Either bake the holes, too or push them back together, roll and cut until the dough is all used up. Lift doughnuts with a floured spatula and put about 2 inches apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Brush doughnuts gently with melted butter. Let rise, covered and away from breezes until doubled, maybe 20 minutes. Heat oven to 425. Bake 8 or 10 minutes or until nicely golden. Quickly, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Or, alternately, either sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or spread with glaze; recipes follow. Cinnamon sugar mixture: 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, pinch allspice. Creamy glaze: Combine 1/3 cup melted butter, 2 cups confectioner's sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in 4 to 6 tablespoons water or apple juice, one tablespoon at a time, until the warm glaze is just barely pourable. Variations include adding things to the dough. You can add up to a cup of dry chopped ingredients to the dough. Chopped nuts. Finely chopped dried fruit like peaches, pears, apples or a combination. Raisins. Dates. Fresh blueberries. Rinse and dry them very well. Gently toss them with flour and add to the dough. Crushed pineapple. Drain and pat dry. Or use a technique variation like this: roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch and use a 3 inch cutter. Put a ring of dough on the cookie sheet, top with some berries or something else that strikes your fancy and put another ring of dough on top, pinching to seal the edges. Proceed as in the original recipe. Or use a biscuit cutter and don't have a hole in the center. Or use a square cutter. Or some other shape but be careful of too-complicated shapes that might burn out at the ends. In the glaze, substitute some other flavored extracts for the vanilla. Lemon. Orange. Coconut. Whatever you like. Peanut butter. Or glaze with chocolate icing.