Fastnacht Kuchen

This is a traditional German pastry eaten the day before Ash Wednesday

Ingredients
  1/2 C sugar
  1 t salt
  3/4 C butter
  1 C milk
  4 1/2 C flour
  2 eggs
  2 pkgs dry yeast
  warm water
  oil for frying (I use crisco)
  cinnamon and sugar

Instructions
  1. Put sugar, salt, butter and milk into saucepan and scald.
  2. Cool to lukewarm.
  3. Separately beat the eggs and add to the cooled mixture.
  4. Dissolve the yeast in the water (pkg instructions) and then add to the mixture.
  5. Place in container capable of holding three times as much. Mix in the flour.
  6. Cover and put in a warm place to rise 1.5 - 2 hours or until it has tripled in size.
  7. Punch down the dough and roll out on a floured board (about ½ inch thick)
  8. Cut into squares (~ 3” x 3”) Use your thumbs to make an indentation in the center
  9. In a deep pan heat enough oil to be a little deeper than the pastry
  2. Gently fry the squares (batches of ~4) about 1 min per side or until golden brown
  2. Drain on paper towels
  2. Roll in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar
  *Note! These harden quickly, you should eat them within a day of making them.