There are numerous recipes for dough nuts/donuts/doughnuts and the name always makes me wonder if they were originally called dough knots. I haven’t found any evidence of such naming, it just makes sense to me.
I have noticed that Maggie frequently directs to “rub in” the butter. I can only surmise this was how it was done in the days before the electric mixer. You could probably use a pastry cutter or even your fingers. I myself will use the mixer on low.
Dough Nuts
1/2 lb flour 1/2 teaspoonful baking powder, pinch salt, mix these thoroughly well together, then add a tablespoonful sugar, mix again, then rub in 1 oz butter, lard or fat. Fat is best, rub it in until quite small. Mix to a stiff batter with butter-milk. Drop some tiny pieces from a spoon into boiling fat & cook them until a golden brown colour, yet thoroughly cooked through. Sprinkle over some fine sugar. They may be eaten either hot or cold.
P.S. I promise to be more diligent at updating this site. It has fallen by the wayside and yet I have so much source material to work with! Just today I scanned well over 50 recipes, so look forward to more frequent updates, and hopefully back to daily soon!
Gram's Recipe Box 
What do you suppose she meant “fat is best”? What is fat if not lard or butter?
Sure wish I had one right now….
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Fat, such as chicken fat or even bacon fat, was often used in place of butter or lard, which have different consistencies when cold and heated. My mom shared that during the war and while under rationing, my Gram used chicken fat for cookies because it had a good consistency when baking.
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Why did she stop? Does your mom remember whether it tasted better or worse? I’m kind of curious about that… I love what bacon grease does to cornbread when you use it to grease the pan.
My mom remembers my Grandmother making some God-awful cakes during the war – but then my Grandmother made some God-awful cakes after the war too!
Baking wasn’t her thing….
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I recall my mom said that chicken fat made great cookies but bacon fat was too strong for sweet things. It was better with stronger flavored or savory foods. They stopped because they were able to get foods again such as butter and oleo. There is a comment on here having to do with the use of fat but I don’t remember when it was! My mom comments at Gramma A, btw.
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