Perfect yeast doughnuts are easy to make at home if you have the right recipe. You now have that recipe in your hands (or on your desk). What are you waiting for?
Who can resist perfect, soft and fluffy doughnuts?
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Especially if it is a fresh, fluffy homemade yeast doughnut filled with raspberry jam and fresh cream? Not me!
If you think that yeast doughnuts are difficult to make, think again, especially if you own a stand mixer or bread machine. You can make ring doughnuts, filled doughnuts, or doughnut holes. I just want you to know that one batch of these beauties will disappear within seconds. However, don’t take my word for it, read the comments!
You may also enjoy my VEGAN donuts recipe!
Incidentally, I’ve linked to the bread machine I have, but any bread machine with good ratings will work (like the one I linked to above), and they are much less expensive.
I also have an Italian Christmas doughnut recipe: frittelle! I just LOVE donuts!
Frequently Asked Questions are Under the
Printable Recipe Below
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How to Make Yeast Doughnuts
adapted from a recipe in The Bread and Bread Machine Bible
makes about 16 ring doughnuts
SEE PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW FOR MORE EXPLICIT DIRECTIONS FOR USING A STAND MIXER OR BY HAND
The measurements are critical in this recipe, so a scale is necessary. (This is why there are no cup measurements-please do not ask for them.)
Too many readers were not having success with this solid, tested recipe, and the only reason I can think of, is difference between using cups versus a scale (volume vs weight). The ONLY way to obtain the correct amount of flour and other ingredients is by weighing them.
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
Ingredients
- water
- buttermilk
- egg
- butter
- all-purpose or bread flour
- sugar
- salt
- regular or quick-rise yeast
- oil for frying
- (sugar for coating the doughnuts)
- (jam, chocolate hazelnut spread, and or whipped cream for filling, if desired)
Special equipment:
- parchment paper, cut into about 4″ squares (smaller pieces for doughnut holes)
- large pot, deep fryer or wok
- a sharp doughnut cutter (a reader asked what I recommend, and I like this one as there is no guessing where the center of the doughnut is–perfect doughnuts every time).
- candy/oil thermometer, not necessary, but very helpful if you’re not a deep-frying pro
- skimmer
Make the Doughnut Dough
Place the water, buttermilk, beaten egg and melted butter in the bread machine pan or stand mixer bowl, then add the dry ingredients, except for the yeast.
Make a small indentation in the dry ingredients, then add the yeast.
Set the bread machine on the ‘dough’ setting.
If using a stand mixer (see directions in printable recipe below, as steps with the yeast are different), run it with the dough hook, until a soft dough is formed, then cover and set aside until at least doubled in size.
I do not specify a time on the dough rising because there are too many factors that will determine the length of time. Which yeast was used (regular or quick rise), if the yeast was fresh or old (older yeast doesn’t work as well, or sometimes not at all), and the temperature of your kitchen. In my kitchen, this process usually takes 1 to 2 hours.
Roll out the Dough and cut
Once the dough has risen, place it on a floured surface and knead lightly. Divide it in half, keeping half the dough covered, so it doesn’t form a skin.
With a rolling pin, roll out half of the dough to about 1/2″ thickness. (Do not rest the dough.)
Cut with a round, sharp doughnut cutter (about 3″ diameter). Or else use a sharp cookie cutter, then make the holes with a smaller cookie cutter (about 1″ diameter), saving the holes. This is an older photo, I recommend this cutter.
Let the cut Doughnuts Rise
Place each doughnut on a piece of parchment paper, then place on a cookie sheet. Put the tray in the oven (turn it on for 1 minute, SET A TIMER, then turn the oven off again, just to make it barely warm). The oven warming step should not be necessary in the summer unless your a/c is very cool.
Next, boil some water and pour it into a measuring jug or bowl. Place the jug of water in the oven with the tray of doughnuts (this will create steam will keep a skin from forming).
With the remaining dough, divide into quarters, then divide each piece in half to make 8 equal amounts. If you are perfectionistic, you can weigh each piece–not that I’d ever do any such thing! ;)
Roll each piece of dough into a smooth ball on a lightly floured surface, and place on parchment or waxed paper pieces and place on a cookie sheet; place in the oven with the other doughnuts and holes to rise until doubled in size. (Please don’t focus on the time, just go by how they look, but usually anywhere from 1/2 hr to 1 hour is normal for this second rise.) I don’t like to waste plastic wrap, so use the hot water method again.
Fry the Homemade Yeast Doughnuts
Heat the oil to about 350ºF (180º). If you don’t have a thermometer, test the oil with a doughnut hole. If it doesn’t start frying (bubbling) immediately, the oil is too cold, if the hole turns brown right away, the oil is too hot. Adjust the heat accordingly.
Drop the donuts and donut holes into the hot oil using the paper to carefully lower them into the oil.
Turn them over as soon as they become golden brown on the underside, then remove and place on a paper towel lined plate or baking sheet once they are ready.
How Should You Finish Your Donuts
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Sugar Coated Doughnuts
When the doughnuts have cooled, roll them in sugar to coat evenly.
You can also use powdered sugar to coat them. I remember liking the Dunkin’ Donuts chocolate kreme filled donuts when I was a young transplant to the US in the late 1970s! They were filled with a fake chocolate “cream” and coated with confectioner’s sugar! I don’t think I’d like them today. Now I’m wondering if they still make them?
Put some powdered sugar in a small bowl and add a little bit of milk or water. Stir and keep adding liquid until you reach a smooth, slightly runny consistency. You want the glaze to run off the doughnuts when you’ve dipped them.
Dip a donut hole to test the glaze, and place it on a cooling rack to set. If all the glaze runs off, add more sugar, and if it’s too thick, add more liquid. No measuring needed.
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Filled Doughnuts
If you choose to fill the large yeast doughnuts, push a skewer into the center of the doughnut to make a hole. Next, put some room temperature jam, or slightly warmed chocolate hazelnut spread (I’ve gone off Nutella since they’re using tons of palm oil) into a piping bag and pipe the filling into the doughnut.
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Scottish Style Yeast Doughnuts with Jam and Cream
If you don’t already know, raspberry jam is a frequent ingredient in Scottish fare, like these coconut and raspberry tartlets.
And finally, this is why I shared this doughnut recipe: I recently (now it’s about 10 years ago!) received this message~
“One day at work your brother showed me a picture of some absolutely perfect-looking donuts you made. Any chance of posting that recipe?” -Destruction
Yeast Doughnuts vs. Baked Doughnuts
For me, there is no comparison. Yeast doughnuts are a delight in how simply light and airy they are because they are leavened with yeast. Frying them makes them even lighter. In contrast, baked unleavened donuts, often called cake donuts, seem like a whole other pastry, and are quite heavy and dense. Which do you prefer?
Another of my readers’ favorite recipes: authentic Scottish shortbread
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Perfect Yeast Doughnuts
The best recipe you'll ever find for light and fluffy yeast doughnuts! I promise!
Ingredients
- 6 Tbsp (90 ml) water
- 5 oz buttermilk (150 ml) (at room temperature)
- 1 egg, beaten (at room temperature)
- 2 oz (57 g) butter, melted
- 16 oz (454 g) all-purpose or bread flour (please use a scale)
- 2 oz (57 g) sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp (5 g) regular or quick-rise yeast (one and a 1/2 teaspoons)
- oil for frying (I use sunflower or grapeseed or a combination)
- (sugar for coating the doughnuts)
- (jam, chocolate hazelnut spread, and or whipped cream for filling, if desired)
Instructions
FOR BREAD MACHINE:
- Place the water, buttermilk, beaten egg and melted butter in the bread machine pan, then add the dry ingredients which were weighed using a scale (it's so important), except for the yeast. Make a small indentation in the dry ingredients, then add the yeast. Set the bread machine on the ‘dough’ setting.
FOR STAND MIXER WITH DOUGH HOOK, OR BY HAND:
- Place the dry ingredients in a bowl. Put 6 Tbsp of lukewarm water in a cup and sprinkle the yeast on top, set aside for about 5 minutes, until the yeast begins to react (you can add a pinch of sugar to help it). Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, then pour in the buttermilk, egg, melted butter, and yeast mixture. If using a stand mixer, run with the dough hook until a dough forms then continue for about 5 minutes. By hand, knead for about 10 minutes. Cover and set aside until at least doubled in size (usually 1 to 2 hours, depending on the freshness of the yeast, temperature of the water and ambient temperature).
BOTH BREAD MACHINE, STAND MIXER/HAND INSTRUCTIONS FOLLOW BELOW:
- Once the dough has doubled, place it on a floured surface and knead lightly. Divide it in half, keeping half the dough covered, so it doesn’t form a skin. With a rolling pin, roll out half of the dough to about 1/2″ thickness. Cut with a round, sharp cookie cutter (about 3″ diameter) then make the holes with a smaller cookie cutter (about 1″ diameter), saving the holes. Or splurge (haha) and buy this doughnut cutter and save yourself a lot of trouble!
- Place each doughnut on a piece of parchment or waxed paper, then place on a cookie sheet. Put the tray in the oven (turn it on for 1 minute, SET A TIMER, then turn it off again, just to make it barely warm).
- Next, boil some water and pour it into a measuring jug. Place the jug of water in the oven with the tray of doughnuts (this will create steam will keep a skin from forming). With the remaining dough, divide into quarters, then divide each piece in half to make 8 equal amounts. Roll each piece of dough into a smooth ball, and place on parchment or waxed paper pieces and place on a cookie sheet; place in the oven with the other doughnuts to rise until doubled in size.
- Heat the oil to about 350ºF (180º). If you don’t have a thermometer, test the oil with a doughnut hole: if it doesn’t start frying immediately, the oil is too cold, if the hole turns brown right away, the oil is too hot. Adjust the heat accordingly.
- Drop the doughnuts into the hot oil using the paper to carefully lower them into the oil. Turn them over as soon as they become golden brown on the underside, and remove them and place on a paper towel lined platter once they are ready.
- When the doughnuts have cooled, roll them in sugar to coat evenly. If you choose to fill the large doughnuts, push a skewer into the center of the doughnut to make a hole, then place some room temperature jam, or slightly warmed Nutella into a piping bag and pipe the filling into the doughnut. Using an ISI whipper, pipe fresh cream into a doughnut cut in half (add some jam first if you like).
Notes
-This recipe requires the use of a scale. Please do not attempt to make these without one, as you'll most likely be disappointed.
-Special equipment: a kitchen scale, parchment paper, cut into about 4″ squares (smaller pieces for doughnut holes) and a pot, deep fryer, or wok and candy thermometer (optional).
-Times for prep, rising and cooking the doughnuts are estimates. It depends on many factors, but the times given are estimated at minimum.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 175Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 12mgSodium: 95mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 2g
Nutrition information is only estimated, and depends on the coating, topping or filling. Information is based on a plain doughnut.
Tips and Questions
Please do not write to ask me any questions if you did not weigh the ingredients, or follow the directions as written. As you can see, there are over 1000 comments and many are questions; please read the following FAQs first.
Question: Can I make the dough ahead of time and fry them the next day?
Answer: Yes! Make the dough and put it in the refrigerator in a sealed container, (but it needs room to expand) and then bring to room temperature, roll and cut and continue. Just remember: the dough will form a skin if exposed to the air and it will ruin your doughnuts. Always keep the dough either in a sealed container or in the oven, with a little hot water for humidity.
Question: My dough is very sticky, even after letting it knead for over 5 minutes after it formed a dough; what did I do wrong?
Answer: If you weighed the ingredients and didn’t make a mistake, it may just be the flour you’re using, the humidity in the air or another factor. Just add a little flour, just enough so that you can work with the dough. However, if you add too much flour, your doughnuts won’t be light.
Question:Can I bake the doughnuts?
Answer: No, unfortunately, they simply won’t turn out anything like they’re supposed to. I do not recommend it because these are meant to be deep fried.
Question: Can I substitute x ingredient?
Answer: I have successfully made these yeast doughnuts without eggs, butter and milk. Please look at the following recipe to substitute any of these: VEGAN YEAST DOUGHNUT RECIPE.
Question: Can I use instant yeast?
Answer: Yes. Instant yeast is the same as quick-rise yeast.
Question: Can I freeze the doughnuts once they’ve been fried?
Answer: The fried doughnuts can be frozen, but I honestly wouldn’t recommend it. These yeast doughnuts are best when eaten fresh, just like a French baguette. Day old doughnuts are no fun!
Question: I don’t have buttermilk, what else can I use?
Answer: Use regular milk with a little lemon juice (1/2 tsp.)
Question: What temperature do I set the oven to when I’m warming it up to proof my dough and doughnuts?
Answer: It doesn’t matter; whether it’s set to 150 F or 200 C, you’re only leaving the oven on for a few seconds, then turning it off, so there’s not enough time for it to get up to any set temperature.
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is there any way to upload the pics of the outcome…i am thirteen and like to cook and bake and thought i could this recipe a try i have made the dough and so far so good its coming out nice…not sure why people say it didnt come out.maybe this was there first time making doughnuts…this is my third but just trying out this recipe.
Raena
Raena, I’d LOVE to see your doughnuts! Please email the photo(s) to me at christina at christinascucina.com (but use the @ symbol). Thanks for asking! Can’t wait to see them! CC
i am definitely going to try this and i will let you know how they come out…how much is 5 oz of milk in like cups or tablespoons?
Raena
Raena, it’s best to use a glass measuring jug for liquids, but if you don’t have one, half a cup is equal to 4 ounces, so I’d put in half a cup plus 2 tbsp. of milk.
I was very eager to try out this recipe because the pictures were very intriguing. I did have a couple of problems while I made them, however. First of all, like some other people here, I followed the recipe exactly and ended up with an incredibly dry dough (it was closer to bread-crumbs than dough) so I added some more buttermilk and water until the dough came together. Surprisingly, it took a half-cup more of warm buttermilk and about a half-cup of warm water for this to happen. The proofing went pretty well, with the dough doubling in about two hours. Rolling was good, and then I put the donuts back in the oven (with lights on) for them to proof longer. I waited two hours but they didn’t really double in size that much. I’d say they increased about 50% in volume and their rate of expansion wasn’t increasing. I’d say one of the main problems arose with the frying. I put the donuts in (and they didn’t even sink to the bottom, which is fantastic) and flipped them. This shouldn’t be much of a problem to anyone else after all, as the donuts seemed perfectly fine after they were taken from the fryer, but I was very disappointed about the size of the “proof band” the donuts had (which is the gorgeous white band of dough that forms when oil can’t reach the sides of the donut due to the lightness of the dough). It’s apparent in your pictures that your donuts had a spectacular proof band, which is what I was expecting. Most of my donuts, however, didn’t have any and, if they did, it was very thin.
Overall, this is the first donut recipe out of many that I was somewhat satisfied with. Every other recipe provided me with a dark proof band caused by a heavy and dense donut and a crispy surface that crunched when eaten (yeugh). Your recipe gave me donuts that were pretty light compared to many other recipes (I must suffice it to say that they could have been lighter), donuts that had a soft surface and donuts that were tasty. The proofing problem is probably my fault and I should have let them rise longer, but I was worried about over-proofing. If you’d like to see pictures of my result, I’d be happy to post an external link to them.
Hi Chris, I have double checked my recipe and it is correct, but it’s really making me doubt myself with people having bad luck with the recipe so this is what I suspect: I weigh my ingredients which is much more precise than using cups. I honestly think if you have 5 people scoop out 4 cups of flour in their own homes with all different brands of flour that we would probably end up with 5 different weights of that flour.
Here’s my suggestion: if you don’t own a scale, invest in one, even an inexpensive one will be worth it’s weight… (no pun intended!) :) Seriously, these doughnuts always come out perfect for me, and I’m thinking that people are using old yeast and the measurements are incorrect because it’s a fantastic recipe from a very reliable book (The Bread and Bread Machine Bible).
I’m glad they ultimately came out relatively well for you, but I honestly think you’ll be elated if they come out perfectly…try a scale and let me know. Good luck! CC
Oh no, sorry I missed this comment, Helena…that is so frustrating. I don’t know why it was a failure. Maybe the yeast wasn’t good if you followed everything to a “t”. :(
How long does the rising in the oven take? I will be using a bread machine for the dough and my machine says that will be about 1 1/2 hours but I am a fairly new baker and have no idea how much time to expect the dough to take after I put it in the warm oven. Thanks so much!!!
Hi Carrie, if you pre-warm the oven just slightly (if it’s a hot day, it’s not even necessary) I would say they should double in size in half and hour to 45 minutes. Definitely not over an hour. If they over-prove, they won’t fry up nicely and will not taste as nice, either. Good luck!
I see your printer friendly directions and I’m hoping they cleared up all of the issues that we all are having. I am willing to give this recipe one more try. They just look too good in your photos to give up just yet. Third time is a charm , right? I used active dry instead of rapid rise and started making them too late in the day to make for breakfast so I gave up the first time. The second time I followed your directions with the rapid rise yeast and I now realize they were for a bread machine and I use a kitchen aid with dough hook. Thank you for the clarification! I’m a novice when it comes to using yeast so the additional instruction is very helpful.
Good luck, Nicole! Yes, let’s hope the third time’s the charm! :)
I am having the same issue with the dough nit rising… This is also my second time trying. The first time I used the wrong yeast ( my mistake ) but the second time… Followed directions exactly. I would like some clarification. Do you add hot water for the 6 tbsp? The recipe does not state so but the packet of yeast says liquids should be 120-130F. Also, how long do you cover the dough for to rise? Do you cover in a bowl or wrap in Saran Wrap?
Hi Nicole. What do you mean you used the wrong yeast? If you used regular vs. quick rise yeast, it would still rise if the yeast is fresh, it would just take longer. If you are using a bread machine, it doesn’t really matter if the water is warm (never use hot water with yeast or it will kill it) since it is mixed with the other liquids, however it is important that the buttermilk and eggs are at room temperature.
If you are making the doughnuts in a bowl, then the yeast should be mixed with lukewarm water as noted on the packet. Once it becomes frothy, then it can be used…so maybe this is the problem. I will be editing this recipe to make a print-friendly recipe and will include the instructions if not using a bread machine. The bread should be covered with Saran Wrap, yes, as it must be sealed or it will form a crust and won’t rise. The rise time varies upon so many conditions, which is why I don’t state an actual time. Sometimes in summer it can take an hour to double, and it might take 3 hrs when it is cooler and if the yeast isn’t as fresh. Hope this helps!
Hi Christina,
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with the world. I’m praying thoroughly for it to work because they just look so yummy!! But….my dough isn’t rising at all. I’m scared. Was I supposed to mix the yeast with water prior to putting it in the mix?
Blessings,
Karen
Hi Karen, I’m so happy you’re trying the doughnuts! If you are making the dough in a bread machine, then no, the yeast shouldn’t get mixed into the water. However, whether the yeast is mixed into the water or not shouldn’t affect the rising. If nothing is happening and it’s been over an hour, I hate to say it but it sounds as if you have bad/old yeast :( You must be sure to use fresh yeast or whatever you make won’t turn out. Please keep me updated and good luck! CC