While the rest of the blog world is busy sharing healthy and light, my brain is like, “Seems like a good day to make some doughnuts!” What’s wrong with me? Please don’t tell me.
Because if these doughnuts are wrong, I don’t wanna be right. Complete doughnut heaven. I’m going to blame the husband. He bought me this really nifty oil and candy thermometer for Christmas, and I could hardly wait to use it. It’s very easy to use, and I love that it responds really quickly to the changes in temperature, so the guess work is eliminated. This is one of those kitchen tools that doesn’t cost much, but really makes things easier! Especially if you want to turn your lovely little kitchen into your own personal doughnut shop.
I could have gone crazy with glazes and frosting and sprinkles, but that sweet crunch of plain sugar on the outside of that perfectly golden doughnut was so good I just didn’t even mess with it.
Had to include this last shot, just so there’s proof that I did at least share my doughnuts.
Homemade Yeast Doughnuts
How to make the most perfect homemade yeast doughnuts!
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 20–24 doughnuts 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Fry
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1/4 ounce packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) rapid rise yeast
- 2 tablespoons warm water
- 2 cups warm milk (I use whole)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg beaten
- 6 cups flour, divided
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup butter, melted
- peanut oil (for frying)
- sugar (for coating the doughnuts)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast into the warm water. Let the yeast sit and proof for about 3 minutes. Then pour in the milk and stir.
- Add the sugar and egg and mix by hand.
- Add 3 cups of flour and salt, and mix.
- Add 3/4 cup melted (should be warm, not hot) butter and mix, then add 3 more cups of flour mixing well with wooden spoon between each one. Sometimes it works best to use clean hands for the final mixing. The dough should still be a bit sticky.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for one hour at room temperature.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a well floured surface.
- Knead dough for 30 seconds, adding about 1/2 cup more flour so that it is no longer sticky.
- Roll the dough out to about 1/2 inch thick on the well floured surface, checking to make sure it is not sticking as you go.
- Using a 3 inch circle cutter (or the rim of a glass) and a 1 inch circle cutter, cut out the doughnuts and place them on a Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Gather the excess dough and roll out, repeating the cutting process until all the dough is used.
- Cover the cut out doughnuts with a clean kitchen towel and let rise again for 30 minutes.
- In a large pot, heat 2 inches of oil to 300-310 degrees F. Using a thermometer is very helpful!
- Carefully place 2-3 doughnuts into the oil and fry 1-2 minutes per side.
- Remove them from the oil, and let them drain on a paper towel. Dip both sides in sugar.
Disclaimer: the links in this post for the digital candy thermometer are Amazon affiliate links.
You had me at “yeast”. Call me crazy because the word donut alone wasn’t enough.
Looking forward to making these!!! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Hope you love them as much as I do Nova!
And here I was literally just today, thinking I needed to make baked doughnuts. Now I’m second guessing myself. These look perfect! And I love that you went with a simple sugar coating. I don’t do doughnuts often but when I do, simple is what I like the best.
You definitely need to make some, baked or fried. They’re good for the soul, especially in the wintertime :0)
I too am trying to eat a little lighter, but these homemade donuts are worth all the calories! They look so good!!
Thank you, and yes, I agree they are worth it :0)
Those doughnuts looks SO yummy! And the coat of sugar just makes me love them even more! Pinned 🙂
Thank you Christina!
Well, I wasn’t thinking about making doughnuts but now I am!!! These look lovely. 🙂
Thank you Tammy! Hope you get the chance to make them!
Love the recipe!! Thanks for sharing.
You are very welcome Roya! Thanks for stopping by and saying hello!
Lately I’ve made doughnuts too – tried about 5 recipes in search for the perfect one 🙂 These look absolutely perfect and beautiful! All that sugar looks delicious!
Is the peanut oil non-negotiable? Can I just use vegetable oil or does the peanut give it a specific taste? This looks like an amazing recipe and I can’t wait to try it!
I think vegetable oil would be just fine. Thanks for your question Miriam!
Hey! I tried to make these and they turned out like biscuits instead of donuts, haha. They were delicious, but definitely had the texture and taste of biscuits. I halved the the recipe exactly, but do you think that was the culprit, or do you think the yeast just didn’t proof properly?
I think if you mean they were more dense like a biscuit, they may have needed a little more time to rise before going in the oil. Glad you liked them anyway though!
i want new cake recipes
Made these a couple of days ago for a school function, and everyone was raving about them! I can’t tell you how many people said they were the best doughnuts they had ever eaten! Thanks for the great recipe!
Is it possible to make the donuts ahead of time, freeze and thaw to cook at a later date? If so, when do you freeze them, before or after second rise?
I’ve been asked to make 175 (🫣) for a friends wedding and I’m thinking the only way to have them super fresh but also get them all done is to freeze them and then fry them the day of.
Thank you!