I knew I wanted to pair some kind of twisted food with “Twister,” so I went with one of my favorites: cinnamon sugar twisted donuts.

This vegan, gluten-free recipe makes approximately 12 donuts.

Dough Ingredients
1.5 cups warm vegan milk
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
1 “egg” worth of vegan egg replacer
4 cups 1-to-1 gluten-free flour
2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons vegan butter, softened
a large quantity of vegetable or canola oil

Topping Ingredients
1.5 teaspoons cinnamon
0.5 cups sugar

Instructions
Make sure your milk is warm. I heated mine in the microwave for 15 seconds.

Pour the yeast and sugar into the milk and let it sit until it is foamy, about 5 minutes.

In the meantime, prep your egg replacer. I used a powdered one, so I had to mix some with water and let it sit for a minute.

Whisk the flour and salt together by hand or by using a mixer.

Mix in the milk-yeast-sugar mixture and the “egg.”

Finish forming the dough by mixing in the softened butter, one “pat” or tablespoon at a time.

Cover the dough and let it rise at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

Deflate the dough ball and divide it into 12 pieces.

Split one piece into two and roll them out into strands that are the same length, roughly 10-12 inches. Twist the two strands together and pinch them together at the ends. Repeat with the remaining 11 dough pieces.

Be sure to cover the dough pieces and formed donuts while you aren’t working on them to ensure they don’t dry out. We used our silicone rolling sheet to avoid sticking and to help us measure the strand lengths.

Heat your oil in a pot over medium heat. You want it to be at least 3 inches deep in the pot.

While waiting for the oil to heat: In a dish wide enough to dip your donuts in, mix the cinnamon and sugar together.

Submerge your donuts in the hot oil for at least 45 seconds, making sure all sides have turned golden brown. Depending on how big your pot is, you might be able to make 2-3 donuts at a time.

Gently blot them on a paper-towel lined sheet or plate, then toss them in the cinnamon sugar.

Set aside, and once you’ve made all 12, dig in and watch “Twister!” These donuts also pair well with a glass of milk or a cup of tea — perfect for dunking.

The Easy Route
You could probably attempt to make these with a premade dough or mix instead of starting from scratch.

If you know of a store, restaurant or bakery that makes vegan, gluten-free cinnamon sugar twisted donuts, please share those details in the comments.

The Pairing
My brother and I were so enamored with the movie “Twister” as kids that we dreamed of being a brother and sister storm chasing duo. We even went so far as to become certified storm chasers through a special program offered to Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts.

Nearly 30 years later, I am just as enamored.

For those who haven’t seen “Twister,” it centers on Jo (Helen Hunt) and her crew of fellow storm chasers on a day that promises a lot of tornados, the perfect opportunity to test out the storm tracking technology they’ve developed.

A twist comes in the form of Bill (Bill Paxton), Jo’s estranged husband and former storm chasing partner. He shows up in his fancy new truck with his new fiancée, Melissa (Jami Gertz), a therapist, in an effort to get Jo to sign divorce papers.

Bill and Melissa are quickly drawn into a storm chase, with some comic relief in the form of Melissa answering phone calls from her therapy patients in the middle of the storms.

Paxton and Hunt are fantastic in their leading roles, but the supporting cast, namely Jo’s storm chasing crew, are absolutely outstanding. For starters, there’s Philip Seymour Hoffman as the enigmatic Dusty, giving a wonderful star-making performance. I know he gets heaps of praise for his later roles, but this is my favorite performance from him.

Alongside Hoffman’s Dusty, you have a cavalcade of ’90s character actors, including Alan Ruck as Rabbit, Jeremy Davies as Laurence, Todd Field as Beltzer, Joey Slotnik as Joey, Wendle Josepher as Haynes, Sean Whalen as Allan and Scott Thomson as Preacher.

The one and only Cary Elwes also gives a memorable turn as the leader of their rival storm chasing crew, and Lois Smith is perfect as Jo’s Aunt Meg.

I will admit the special effects and some other elements haven’t aged so well since 1996, but the thrill of the chase and the encounters they have with the tornados are still captivating to watch.

If you decide to make cinnamon sugar twisted donuts and/or watch “Twister,” let us know! Tag us in your Instagram posts & stories, threads, tweets or TikTok videos: @veg_out_recipes