I’ve always wanted to make homemade doughnuts. I’ve made apple cider doughnuts and baked caked donuts before, but they were of the cake variety. Yeast doughnuts, however, have been on my baking to do list for quite some time. So on Mother’s Day my kids and I made the most amazing homemade doughnuts with several glazes, including maple, buttery vanilla, chocolate, white, powdered sugar and cinnamon.
The chocolate is the most visually impressive, followed closely by the maple. The vanilla glazes didn’t cover as well but tasted just as spectacular as the ones that did.
I don’t deep fry things too often, so it can be quite a production when I do. This wasn’t too bad though. I used my cast iron Dutch oven and my candy thermometer. The most important thing was keeping the temperature around 350 F. Anything higher and the outside of the dough will cook too quickly leaving you with a doughy interior and terribly browned exterior.
This is what you really want to achieve. Absolute doughnut amazingness. Really. Just like a doughnut shop!
Sorry for all the pictures, but I couldn’t pick a favorite angle, so you’re getting them all. None of these went to waste. This recipe made 15 doughnuts and 15 large doughnut holes. I don’t have a doughnut cutter, so I used the smallest biscuit cutter I have, which is 1.5″ (hence the huge doughnut holes), and for the actual doughnuts I used a plastic hamburger patty maker from Tupperware. Hey, ya use what ya got!
My 14 year old son snuck down to my craft room, pulled out some construction paper and foam sticker letters to make this. :) Awww!
RECIPE NOTES: I was actually out of milk. :-o My husband’s doctor told him he should drink more milk, so we’ve been going through it like crazy lately. For this recipe I actually used 1 1/4 cups of half and half and 1/4 cup water. So if you are out of milk, just letting you know the substitution worked fine. I also needed more flour than the original recipe called for. I didn’t measure, but I used all the flour in the recipe plus probably another half of a cup or so. I have made the adjustment in the ingredient list already.
Homemade Doughnuts
adapted from AllRecipes
Homemade Doughnuts
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Print It Rate ItIngredients
- 4 ½ teaspoons SAF Instant yeast or 2 envelopes active dry yeast
- ¼ cup warm water 105 to 115 degrees
- 1 ½ cups lukewarm milk see note above
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup shortening
- 5 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 quart vegetable oil for frying
Vanilla Butter Glaze
- ⅓ cup butter
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- 4 tablespoons hot water or as needed
Chocolate Glaze
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar sifted
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2-4 tablespoons milk
Maple Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon Mapeline maple extract
- 2-4 tablespoons milk
Simple White Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
- 2-4 tablespoons milk
Cinnamon Sugar
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons ground cinnamon
Powdered Sugar
- Just powdered sugar! :)
Instructions
- Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and gently stir to get all the yeast wet. Let stand for 5 minutes, or until foamy.
- In a large mixer bowl with paddle attachment on low speed, mix together the yeast mixture, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix for a few minutes at low speed (or you can stir with a wooden spoon). Beat in remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl.
- On a lightly floured surface, knead for about 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Place the dough into a greased bowl and cover with a clean towel or cloth. Set in a warm place to rise until doubled, about 45 minutes or so.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and gently roll out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter and place on large cookie sheets. Cover doughnuts with a cloth or towel and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
- Add enough oil or shortening to a cast iron Dutch oven* to measure a depth of about 3 inches. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and heat over medium heat until the oil reaches 350° F, then WAIT. Wait several minutes and make sure it's going to stay at 350 F. If it goes up, turn the heat down. Get it to where the temp will stay around 350 F, THEN proceed with cooking your doughnuts. Cooking at too high of a temperature will overcook the exterior and undercook the interior.
- Have ready a plate lined with several thicknesses of paper towels.
- Carefully slide doughnuts into the hot oil using a wide spatula, do not crowd. 3 doughnuts should fit comfortably in a standard Dutch oven. Turn doughnuts over as they rise to the surface. Fry doughnuts on each side until golden brown, a minute or so per side. Remove from hot oil, to drain on paper towels or a wire rack.
- Dip doughnuts into the glaze while still hot, and set onto wire racks to drain off excess. Keep a cookie sheet or tray under racks for easier clean up. Dip the finished doughnuts as the next batch is frying. Place the dipped doughnuts on a waiting cookie sheet.
- * Cast iron retains its heat better and more evenly than other vessels, which is why it's my pan of choice for frying. You can certainly use a deep fryer, I just hate all the major clean up with those, so I stick with the Dutch oven.
Toppings
- For the Vanilla Butter Glaze, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth. Remove from heat, and stir in hot water one tablespoon at a time until the icing is somewhat thin, but not watery.
- For the chocolate glaze, maple glaze and simple white glazes, stir their ingredients together, adding extract and 2 tablespoons of milk first, then adding more milk as needed to get a thick glaze.
- For cinnamon sugar stir together the ingredients.
Nutrition
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Amanda Davis
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Leslie says
Yep…they have been on my to do list as well! Hmmmm..maybe I should make them tomorrow!
Ann from On Sutton Place says
My mom used to fry donuts when I was a kid. I got to shake them in the sugar bag…your post brought back great memories. Thanks for sharing! Happy Weekend…~Ann
Amanda says
Kelli – I did use Crisco, not sure how butter would substitute. Butter contains some water while shortening doesn't. Shortening will give you a fluffier texture than butter will. I read a comment somewhere that someone uses butter instead of shortening in Alton Brown's yeasted doughnut recipe and it's fine. If you try it, I'd love to hear your results!
Trish - Sweetology101 says
ok, I clicked on these b/c I LOVE donuts..I think it was from My Romantic Home. Anway, this is a great site and I LOVE LOVE LOVE your tasty looking treats! Thanks ~ Trish
Kelli @ RTSM says
Oh my! These look so yummy! I would love to make homemade doughnuts one day:) Thanks for the recipe!
A SPICY PERSPECTIVE says
They look so professional–awesome job!
Julie M. says
Great job Amanda! Your doughnuts look like they turned out just perfect!
Anonymous says
Hi Amanda,
Like you, I have always wanted to make yeast doughnuts! After seeing your success, I think I'll give this recipe a try. I have a question, for the shortening, did you use Crisco? Could you use butter?
Thanks so much for the inspiration!
Jill
girlichef says
These look awesome, Amanda. Yeasted doughnuts have been on my "to-make" list FOREVER! One of these days I'll get up the courage/take the time to do it…you've definitely inspired me. Wish I could reach in and grab a few. Beautiful :D
Jen @ The Crumb Factory blog says
Hi Amanda,
The doughnuts look amazing, my kids were staring at the screen with their tongues hanging out, asking (begging) for us to make these too. We'll have to try them someday :)
You're such a cool mom that you spent the time to make these. Great job!
Jen @ The Crumb Factory Blog
Tracey says
Those look amazing!! If I didn't hate frying so much I'd be tempted to make doughnuts once a week :)
Barbara | VinoLuciStyle says
I would like to order a dozen of the maple glazed please?
I love doughnuts but rarely get them UNLESS the red light is on when I'm passing by Krispy Kreme signifying they are coming fresh off the line. OH MY…nothing quite like a just made doughnut.
Sue says
I've made donuts(sugar-yeast)once and they were so good, especially warm:) Yours look so fresh and delicious, especially the maple and the chocolate:)
Lana @ Never Enough Thyme says
Homemade doughnuts are something I've never made either, Amanda, but do they ever look like fun! Love all the different options for glazes.
Maria says
They look perfect! Better than a doughnut shop!
Katrina says
Awesome! My boys would certainly love these! But I KNOW they would have had me get out all the sprinkles, too! ;) Boy, you rocked it making so many different glazes and such.
Jennifurla says
What a fun treat, they all look delish to eat.
Barbara Bakes says
Those would go quick at my house too. They look scrumptious!
Nichol says
I have always wanted to make doughnuts, yeast scares me haha. These look amazing.
simplysandi says
You are very adventurous. I love to cook, but not sure about homemade donuts. They look so yummy, though! I wish I had one right now!