French Cruller Donuts

Cut a large sheet of parchment paper into twelve 3-inch squares; set aside. Add the unsalted butter, granulated sugar, salt, and water to a saucepan over medium heat. Once the mixture has come to a boil, add in the all-purpose flour and stir over low heat. Continue stirring until none of the dough sticks to the pan and the moisture in the dough has been removed - about 4 to 5 minutes.

Transfer the dough from the saucepan to the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir the dough on low speed for 2 minutes. Add in the eggs, one a time, mixing on low speed after each addition so that each egg is thoroughly incorporated. Then, add in the egg whites and mix again to combine.

Scoop the pastry dough into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe the dough in a ring shape, overlapping the ring once (so you should have two layers of pastry dough stacked on each other), onto the individual squares of parchment paper.

Heat a medium pot over medium heat with oil until the oil reaches 350°F. Slide in 2 to 3 of the pastry dough rings, with the parchment paper, into the pot of oil. After a few seconds, you will be able to use a tong to grab hold of the edges of the parchment paper and separate them from the rings. Fry each donut for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side, or until they're golden brown.

Move the fried donuts to a paper towel lined wire rack to rest and lose some of the excess oil. Once they're slightly warm and no longer hot, brush them with the glaze using a pastry brush. To create the glaze, simply whisk the powdered sugar with the milk and vanilla extract until you have an icing that’s a little bit thinner than the consistency of maple syrup. Let the glaze set for a few minutes before dusting with powdered sugar.