Idaho Spudnuts

Funny that I grew up in Wyoming, 5 minutes from the Idaho border, but never heard of spudnuts until I got married and moved to Nevada!  The kids were begging to make these last night, and since they worked so hard, I promised them we would.  I totally cheat though, and instead of making mashed potatoes, I use 

instant potatoes - they are so much quicker and still taste delicious.  (recipe at the bottom)

Idaho Spudnuts:

2 cups mashed potatoes
2 Tbl. yeast
1 1/2 cup warm milk
1/2 cup veg. oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
7  1/2 cups flour (I just put it in until it starts sticking to the dough hook)

Oil for deep-fat frying

4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla
Warm milk to lukewarm, add yeast with a touch of sugar.  Let work, and then add to the mashed potatoes,oil, sugar, eggs, and salt.  Blend well, slowly add flour to form a soft dough.  Place in greased bowl, turning once.  Cover and let rise (it says an hour, but we only did about 30 min. and it was fiine).   Roll and cut spudnuts, letting them rise a little if you have time.  :)  haha  Heat oil to 375 degrees (does anyone actually measure that?  we don't) and fry a couple of minutes on each side.
For glaze, combine powdered sugar, water, and vanilla.  Dip spudnuts in and let them drain.
For a little creativity, try adding some raspberry jam, caramel topping, or whatever to the top.  Yum!  :)