Kolobki (Russian Cottage Cheese Donuts)

Ingredients

• 1 lb russian cottage cheese (Farmer's Cheese)
• 1 cup flour
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla or other extract
• oil (for frying)
• powdered sugar
• sour cream, to serve

Directions

1. 1

   Combine first 7 ingredients to form a very thick batter.

2. 2

   (Original recipe calls for 1/2c flour and crumbs, but even with double the flour mine was too sticky to roll.).

3. 3

   Heat oil in a wide frying pan.

4. 4

   (According to Good Eats, more oil is better since the oil is absorbed when oil temp drops, which happens when too much cold stuff is added to not enough oil. I used enough to fill the pan with 1/3 of an inch).

5. 5

   Use a tea-spoon to quickly scoop and drop dough balls. Since the batter is pretty thick, use your finger to make the drop.

6. 6

   Alternatively, form balls roughly 1" in diameter, then drop into oil.

7. 7

   Do not crowd the pan or drop so many that you won't be able to flip them comfortably.

8. 8

   Fry past golden-brown, about 90 sec. Adjust oil temp if needed.

9. 9

   Flip using 2 forks.

10. 10

    Fry the other side.

11. 11

    Carefully lift each Kolobok out onto racks lined with paper towels, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

12. 12

    Repeat until batter runs out, and serve whatever hasn't been stolen from the plate. Top with sour cream or possibly syrup/jams? Should keep well overnight.