Donuts or doughnuts are very common and loved by many, no wonder they are found in shops, stores, restaurants, and eateries. When they are glazed with different types of icing, donuts can be addictive especially when you have tasted that of some common brands like the donuts at Dunkin or by Krispy Kreme. As sweet as they may taste, eat with moderation as the calories can add up quickly. 100g donut with chocolate glaze has about 452 calories. So I will show you the best and easy homemade donuts recipe you can make and enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea. It can also be eaten with ice cream.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- 3 and a quarter cups of Flour
- 2 eggs
- 2 and a half tsp of active dry yeast
- 4 tbsp of white granulated Sugar
- 5 tbsp of melted Butter
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- 200ml of whole milk
How to Make Donuts
Making the donut mix and dough
- Add 3 tbsp of warm water to a bowl and then add the active dry yeast to it; stir it until it is well mixed.
- Allow the yeast to sit for 5 minutes until it becomes frothy then add 4 tbsp of granulated sugar; whisk together to combine.
- Prepare a donut mix by adding 2 eggs, a tsp of vanilla, whole milk (200ml), and 5 tbsp of melted butter. Stir to combine completely.
- Now add your flour to the donut mix and mix until you form a dough. For gluten free donut recipe, always use gluten free flour like almond flour, potato starch, or cornstarch.
- Now transfer the donut dough to a flat surface dusted with flour to prevent it from sticking to the surface.
- Also, dust your hands with flour and knead the dough until it becomes soft, less sticky, and stretchy without tearing apart when stretched.
Allow the donut dough to rise
- Place the donut dough into a large bowl (about 3 or 4 times the size of your dough) and allow it to sit in a WARM place for about 1 hour. You need to cover the bowl with a clinched film as well. The bowl needs to be large because the dough is going to rise and swell, becoming fluffy to about 3 times the size of the current dough.
- After about an hour, the dough should be swollen, fluffy, very soft, and puffy; now deflate it with your fingers by poking it with your fingers.
- Mold the deflated donut dough into a smooth large ball, divide into smaller balls of equal weight. It is good to weigh them to have the same sizes of donuts when fried.
- Each ball can be about 3 inches in diameter (7.6 cm), depending on how large you want your donuts to be.
- Roll and smoothen each ball made from the dough and place on small squares of baking paper measuring about 10 cm on each side. Cutting the baking paper into small squares and placing the balls on it makes it easier when frying the donuts. You can arrange the balls on the squares in a tray and then cover them with a towel; allow them to sit for another 30 minutes to increase in size again before you start frying the.
Frying the donuts
- After 30 minutes, the balls should have increased in size; now place a pan on the heat and pour in your cooking oil into the pan. Allow the oil to heat up.
- Transfer the balls into the hot oil by using the baking paper to hold them so as not to distort the round shapes of the donuts balls. You do this by holding the parchment paper (baking paper) at both sides and gradually drop it with the balls on it into the hot oil.
- Once the donuts start frying, you can use a tong to remove the baking paper. Depending on how large your frying pan is; you can fry one or two donuts at a time.
- DO not overcrowd the pan.
- Use a skewer to turn the donuts over continuously as you fry so that they fry evenly. Once the bottom fries for some time, turn over so that the top also fries too.
- When completely fried, your donuts should look brownish or golden in color. Remove from the heat and drain on a paper towel. Continue frying each until you are done with all of them.
Sprinkles, Glazing, and Coating of Donuts
You can glaze the donuts with chocolate ganache or coat them with white granulated sugar. Also, you can inject the inner puffy space with honey, maple syrup, or fruit jam to make them sweet and tasty any time you take a bite.
Colored sprinkles can also be sprinkled on the donuts to make them colorful.
Donuts are good for parties, Halloween, or Christmas. You can enjoy your homemade donuts with coffee, ice cream, or tea. But ensure that you eat moderately because of the calories.
I hope you love this easy donut recipe and you will try it at home.