Austrian Doughnuts (Krapfen)

Prepare a small saucepan, put butter in it and heat it for 1–2 minutes over low heat until melted. Then pour milk into the saucepan and heat the mixture over low heat to a temperature slightly warmer than room temperature. Pour the heated mixture from the saucepan into a larger bowl, add cane sugar and yeast, place the bowl in a warm room and let it rest for 5–10 minutes for the starter to rise.

Once the starter has risen, add 500 g of spelt flour and eggs to the bowl and knead the entire mixture for 5–10 minutes until a smooth dough forms that peels away from the sides of the bowl. Then cover the bowl with a cloth and let the dough rise for 30–60 minutes at room temperature.

Once the dough has risen, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and flour your work surface with a little spelt flour. Turn the dough out onto the floured surface and flour its top as well. Then roll out the dough with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 4 cm and cut out a total of 12 circles with a glass (or a round cutter), placing them on the lined baking sheet. Let the circles rise for another 10 minutes here.