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Melt-in-your-mouth homemade donuts are utterly addicting and absolutely worth the effort. Everyone loves these homemade donuts!!
Whether it’s for breakfast or just a treat, these are sure to knock off anyone’s socks! Best served warm, these goodies are right up there with our Homemade Cinnamon Rolls!
We Love Grandma’s Famous Donuts!
This donut recipe is an ALL-TIME family favorite. Whenever it gets cold or rainy, one of us kids is bound to text or call my mom and kindly ask if she’s up for making some Homemade Donuts.
She’s made them for decades and taught me how to make them, and I am so glad because they cannot be beat!
Why we love them:
- Simple. There are several steps to make these donuts, but we promise you they are still quite simple.
- Flavorful. They’re soft, warm, covered in a delicious glaze and just melt in your mouth. They are beyond delicious.
- FAMOUS! These donuts are famous in our family, and they are so good, we love to make them in the winter, especially around Christmas (along with our Old Fashioned Donuts)!!
Ingredients
- rapid rise yeast – use an equal amount of active dry yeast.
- lukewarm water – the warm water should be around 105-120°F.
- milk – I use 2% but whole milk or 1% milk can be used
- shortening – room temperature
- sugar
- salt
- cinnamon & nutmeg – or an equal amount of Pumpkin Pie Spice
- eggs
- all-purpose flour
- powdered sugar sifted
- vanilla extract
How to Make Donuts
- YEAST. Dissolve yeast in ¾ cup luke-warm water. Set aside. Heat 2 cups milk in microwave for 2-3 minutes.
- WET INGREDIENTS. While milk is heating add shortening (room temp) to a large bowl. Pour hot milk over it and whisk until mixed (there will still be some clumps). Add salt, sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir well with a wooden spoon. Add 4 eggs and mix well.
- DRY INGREDIENTS. Add yeast mixture to batter and mix. Add 2 cups of flour and mix with a wooden spoon. Mix well. Add 2 more cups and mix. Add 2 more cups and mix. At this point, the batter should not be runny and resemble dough. Add 1 more cup of flour, give or take ½ cup.
- Mix just until dough is smooth.
- KNEAD. Gently knead dough on floured surface until it is not sticky to the touch.
Rise + Fry
- RISE. Place the soft dough into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl and let rise for 1 to 1½ hours at room temperature. Dough should be about double in size when done.
- CUT + RISE AGAIN. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out to about a 1 inch thickness. Cut the donuts out using a doughnut cutter as closely as possible. Save the middles for doughnut holes.
- Move donuts and holes to a clean surface. Cover and let rise for 1 to 1½ hours at room temperature.
- FRY. Once the donuts and holes are done rising, fry them in a large frying pan, deep fryer, or Dutch oven with vegetable oil until golden brown. Let drain on a cooling rack.
Cooking Variations
- Bake donuts.
- Place on a lightly greased cookie tray and brush the tops with melted butter. Bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating donuts halfway in between.
- Air fry. The finished texture may be different from an oil-fried donut.
- Working in batches, place some donuts into the basket making sure they are not touching.
- Close the air fryer, set to 350°F and fry for 5-8 minutes. Length of time will depend on the size of your donuts. For donut holes fry for 3-4 minutes.
The Donut Glaze
While donuts are frying make your donut glaze.
- MIX 7 cups powdered sugar with ⅔ cup water and 1 tablespoon vanilla. Add donuts to glaze as soon as they are done frying and make sure both sides are covered.
- GLAZE. Place on a plate or wire rack to let excess vanilla glaze drain.
Glaze Variations
- Chocolate glaze. Add a bit of cocoa powder to this glaze for a chocolate version.
- Sprinkles. Add any kind of sprinkles or toppings.
- Frosting. If you want more of a frosting, we recommend using less milk.
- Fill your donuts. Do not punch out the center. Make and fry as directed, and then insert your filling of choice (pudding, jelly, Nutella) into the side of the donut when it has cooled.
- Cinnamon sugar. Simply sprinkle or dip into a cinnamon sugar mixture.
storing info
- Make ahead of time. Make them up until step 5. Cover and refrigerate until the next day. When ready to fry, let them come to room temperature and rise for an hour.
- STORE. Homemade donuts will dry out if not stored properly. Place donuts in an airtight container. Store at room temperature for 1-2 days, in the refrigerator for 5-6 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
For More Breakfast Treats:
Homemade Donuts Recipe
Melt-in-your-mouth homemade donuts are utterly addicting and absolutely worth the effort. Everyone loves these homemade donuts!!
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 tablespoons rapid rise yeast
- ¾ cup lukewarm water (110-115 degrees F)
- 2 cups milk
- ½ cup vegetable shortening, room temperature
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 4 large eggs
- 7 – 7½ cups all-purpose flour
- vegetable oil, for frying
Donut Glaze
- 7 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- ⅔ cup water
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Make the dough. Dissolve yeast in luke-warm water. Set aside.
- Heat milk in the microwave for 2-3 minutes.
- While milk is heating, place shortening in a large bowl. Pour hot milk over it and whisk until mixed (there will still be a few shortening clumps).
- Add sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix well with a wooden spoon or the mixer whisk attachement. Add eggs and continue to mix, then stir in yeast mixture.
- Add 2 cups of flour and mix with a wooden spoon. Continue to add flour 1-2 cups at a time until the batter is no longer runny and is smooth.
- Place dough on a clean, lightly floured surface and gently knead dough until the surface is not too sticky to the touch. The dough should be very soft, but not so sticky that you cannot handle it fairly easily. Place the soft dough into a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl and let rise for 1-1½ hours at room temperature. The dough should be about double in size when it's ready.
- Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out to a 1-inch thickness. Use a 3½-inch donut cutter to cut donuts out, cutting as closely as possible together and saving the middles for doughnut holes. Move donuts and holes to a clean surface, cover and let rise at room temperature for 1-1½ hours.
- Make the glaze: Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Once the donuts and holes are done rising, fill a large frying pan with 1½ inches vegetable oil and heat to 365-380 degrees F. Working in batches, fry the donuts and holes until golden brown, 2-3 minutes per side for donuts and about 2 minutes per side for donut holes.
- Remove each donut from the oil and immediately transfer to the bowl with the glaze. Turn to make sure both sides are coated, then place on a wire rack over parchment paper to let excess glaze drain. Repeat to make the remaining donuts.
Video
Notes
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- Make ahead of time. You can make donut dough ahead up until step 5, then cover and refrigerate until the next day. When ready to make the donuts, let dough come to room temperature and then rise for an hour.
- Filled Donuts. If you want to fill your donuts, cut whole circles instead of punching out the holes. Make and fry donuts as directed, then use a piping bag to insert your filling of choice (such as pudding, jelly or Nutella) into the side of each donut when it has cooled.
- Baked Donuts. Once donuts are done rising, you can also bake them instead of frying. Place donuts on a lightly greased baking sheet, brush the tops with melted butter and bake at 375 degrees F for 9-12 minutes. Glaze as directed above while donuts are still warm.
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- STORE. Homemade donuts will dry out if not stored properly. Place donuts in an airtight container. Store at room temperature for 1-2 days, in the refrigerator for 5-6 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Serving: 1donut, Calories: 396kcal, Carbohydrates: 79g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.5g, Cholesterol: 24mg, Sodium: 172mg, Potassium: 101mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 33g, Vitamin A: 58IU, Vitamin C: 0.004mg, Calcium: 34mg, Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can you substitute butter for shortening? Or anything else?
Hi, I don’t mean to offend but i sincerely need help troubleshooting this recipe. I made these and they came out inedible. I was very excited, the dough looked phenomenal but after I fried a couple I taste tested them and had an issue I’ve never had before. They had a very bitter, acrid taste which left the roof of my mouth feeling dry for the rest of the day I was extremely disappointed. As a side note I also felt the dough wasn’t sweet enough although I think the texture was good. I thought it was the oil at first so I tried heating up a different brand of vegetable oil very carefully to not exceed the smoke point but that was not the issue. I also tried to bake some but encountered the same issue. One thing I did wrong was let the milk boil slightly while heating it. I checked the dates on all my ingredients and everything was well within range. Have you ever experienced this? Was it too much yeast? It seems like the majority of people had a positive experience so it must be something I did or did not do, please let me know if you’ve ever had a similar issue, thanks!
So I haven’t ever had this happen with the donut recipe. Sorry to hear they didn’t taste how you were hoping! I’m guessing that either a) too much yeast was added or b) it could have been when the milk boiled. I have heard of that bitter taste/dry mouth happening with excess baking soda or powder, but there aren’t any in this recipe, so I’m no 100% sure what caused that reaction. But that would be my best guess. If you give them another try sometime, you’ll have to let us know if the same thing happens or not!
I don’t know what happened but when I picked them up to fry they totally collapsed
Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear that! Might have been something to do with the yeast or the proofing. In the post, there are a few tips/ideas of why they might have been flat. Maybe that can help for next time. Thanks for giving the recipe a try!!
Wow! These were great, and according to my kids, I should open up a bakery to sell these donuts😂.