My roots are German.{Conrod}

My mother made these when I was a child, but they didn't have a name, at the time. After the bread dough was in the pans to raise, there was always left over dough. [not enough for another loaf]

She would put one of those black, cast iron fry pans with about an inch of fat in it,on top of the oil stove to get hot. While the fat was heating she would cut that dough in equal size pieces.

This dough was then placed in the hot fat and you could literally watch them puff and rise as they fried. Once they were turned and browned on the other side, these cooked breads were drained on a cooling rack.

We children each had a saucer with Molasses or Maple syrup to dip our warm "Doughnuts" in.
What a great memory!

[ I suppose you could roll out the dough and stuff the centers with a filling. Once they were sealed they could be fried and then dusted or shaken in a bag with sugar.]