Homemade Glazed Doughnuts (2024)

These Homemade Glazed Doughnuts are fluffy, soft, and a doughnut-lovers dream. They are just as good as your favorite Krispy Kreme donuts. All you need are 11 ingredients to make them completely from scratch. Just 45 minutes rising time! By the way, have you tried my air fryer donuts yet?

Step-by-step instructions

Let's start by combining lukewarm milk, sugar, and active dry yeast. Make sure that the milk is warm to the touch but not hot. If the milk is hot, it kills the yeast, and the donuts won't rise at all.

Let stand for 5-10 minutes until the yeast gets foamy on the surface. This is also the test to see if your yeast is still active or not. If nothing happens after 10 minutes, your yeast is most likely expired. In this case, stop here, get fresh yeast and start again. It's not worth proceeding with expired yeast because the dough won't rise.

Then add eggs, melted butter, and salt and whisk to combine.

Replace the whisk attachment with a dough hook and add the flour. Start with 3 ½ cups of flour and knead the dough for 4-5 minutes on medium-high speed that it comes together.

The dough should start pulling away from the sides of the bowl after 4-5 minutes of kneading. If the dough is still too sticky, turn the speed down to low and add more flour as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time. Depending on the humidity and temperature where you live, you will need between 3 ½ and 3 ¾ cups of flour (437-469g).

Then knead another 5-10 minutes on medium-high speed until the dough doesn't stick to the bowl anymore. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°F (100°C).

Transfer the donut dough to a lightly greased bowl and lightly brush the top of the dough with oil as well. Turn off the oven and place the bowl in the preheated oven. Leave the oven door ajar and pinch a wooden spoon. Let rest for 10-15 minutes.

Then remove the dough from the oven and preheat again to 200°F. Roll the dough out on a very lightly floured surface, about½ inch (1.2cm) thick. Lightly flour a 3-inch (7.6cm) donut cutter and cut out donut rings and holes.

Reroll and cut the dough until you run out of dough. Remember, use as little flour for rolling as possible (just that it doesn't stick to the board or rolling pin), or the last couple of donuts you cut will be dry.

Place donut rings and holes on 3 parchment paper-lined baking sheets with about 3-4 inch (7.6-10cm) space in-between. Turn off the oven and place all three baking sheets in the oven. Leave the oven door ajar and pinch a wooden spoon.

In the meantime heat the frying oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan or dutch oven. I use grapeseed oil because that's my favorite oil for frying donuts. I tried this cronuts recipe by Dominique Ansel, and he uses grapeseed oil for his cronuts. I found out that this works great for donuts too and never switched to another oil anymore.

The oil temperature needs to be between360°F and 370°F (180°C-185°C) constantly. Use a thermometer to check the temperature with every donut you fry. Too cold oil leads to oil-soaked donuts and too hot oil to very dark donuts.

Before you add the donut rings to the oil, carefully widen the holes with the back of a wooden spoon. Then transfer them with a spatula to the oil rather than with the hands. If you don't care about the shape of the donuts, you can transfer them with your hands as well.

Depending on the size of your pan, fry one or maximum two doughnuts at a time. Fry on each side for 60-90 seconds. Place a stopwatch next to you.

Placefried doughnut rings on a wire rack or paper towels.

I love to make a combination of donut rings and holes. But you could go just with donut holes too with this recipe. Prepare the dough exactly as if you do donut rings as well. Cut out 1-inch (2.5 cm) donut holes and let them rise as described.

Fry a handful of donut holes at a time on each side for 30 seconds. They might be hard to roll to the other side because the fried side tends to look down to the bottom. In this case, carefully push them with the spatula into the oil that they fry from all sides.

I don't know about you, but sugar glazed donuts are my favorite. You could make this simple doughnut recipe with any glaze you want. Chocolate, caramel, lemon glaze, you name itor think about a cinnamon sugar coating. That all fits perfectly.

Whisk the melted butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla until combined. The texture is very crumbly at this step.

Then add the one tablespoon of hot water at the time and stir to combine.

The consistency should be thick but liquid. If the glaze is too thick, it will be too much glaze on the doughnuts, and when it is too thin, too little.

Dip warm doughnuts on each side into the glaze, drip off any excess glaze and place on a wire rack or parchment paper layered baking sheets.

Expert tips for success

• If your dough isn't rising, it could be due to expired yeast. You can try putting the dough in a warmer environment and see if it just takes longer to rise. If it doesn't rise at all, it's better to start over with fresh yeast.
• Please resist the urge to add more flour to the dough as needed. If the dough is still sticky and doesn't release from the sides of the bowl after mixing on high speed for 6-8 minutes, add 1 teaspoon of flour at a time until you reach that point. Depending on the protein content and the absorption rate of the flour, the altitude, humidity, and temperature, you may need more or less flour.
• Use as little flour as possible when rolling out the dough. When rolling out the dough again, do not keep adding more flour, otherwise, the donuts will be tough and won't rise properly. Flour the surface and the rolling pin just very lightly.
• Do not roll out the dough too thin. Aim for a thickness of ¼ inch (6mm).
• Let the cut dough rings rise until they have doubled in size. If you bake them under-proofed, your donuts will turn out flat.
• Don't crowd the pan while frying the donuts and make sure the oil is as hot as stated. If the oil is too cold, the donuts will be greasy and if it's too hot, they will be darker as desired. I recommend using a thermometer.

Prepare the dough the day before

If you want to make the dough the night before to fry the rings fresh in the morning, just make it and let it rise in the fridge overnight. It should be at least double or even triple in size. Before rolling and cutting, take the dough out of the fridge for about 30 minutes to allow it to come to room temperature. After cutting, let rise until doubled in size. Since the dough is still cool, this will take a little longer than stated in the recipe.

How to store

They are best eaten the same day. However, you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 day. Let come to room temperature before serving.

Freezing instructions

• Raw dough: Prepare the dough, let it rise and cut. After cutting, place in the freezer for up to 3 months. Place in the refrigerator overnight to thaw. Let rest at room temperature for 30-60 minutes before baking.
• Fried donuts: Allow the fried rings and holes to cool completely. Then freeze unglazed for up to 3 months. Let them thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. Then reheat at 350°F (175°C) for 1-2 minutes in the air fryer or for 5 minutes in the oven and glaze while still warm.

More yeast bread recipes to try

• Cinnamon Rolls
• Croissant
• Beignets
• Challah bread
• Brioche Buns
• Dinner Rolls

Recipe