Uploaded June 2022 | Updated September 2026, 5 hours ago
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There are a number of different ways to make donut-type objects. In this recipe we present a method for making a yeast-leavened donut dough, which is fried and then filled. The same dough might be cut into rings and fried into typical donuts-with-holes. When fried as whole pieces, whether round ‘donuts’ or square ‘beignets’ they can be filled with pastry cream, jam or lemon curd.
The dough takes a few hours to prepare, so start well in advance of needing to be done. The first rise may take from 60-90 minutes, followed by 10-30 minutes of work, followed by another rise of 30 minutes, after which the donuts are fried. Once fried they must cool, taking a minimum of 2 hours, and then be filled. Once filled they are ready for consumption.
In order for donuts to rise well, there should be some gluten development, but not enough to cause the dough to be tight. This means the dough must be handled carefully, and that the first donuts cut will be the best. Try to get 10 on the first pass, and then get about 2 and a fraction from the remaining scraps. Those last two donuts may end up having an unusual texture, or be more dense than the others, but they will still be delicious.
Frying the donuts doesn’t take long, perhaps up to 2 minutes per side. Donuts should puff a great deal in the fry oil, so that once finished, they have a light stripe of dough around their middle, which never spent long in the oil. Once removed from the fry oil, if so desired, dust the donuts in sugar by rolling them in a pan of it while they are still hot from the fryer. Do not crowd the donuts into the pan; in my countertop fryer, I did four donuts at a time.
Makes about 10 donuts, with 2 or so additional tester donuts from scraps.
Equipment:
• deep fryer or frying setup such as a cast-iron pan with about an inch of oil in it
• sheet pan with rack for cooling fried donuts
• pie tin or similar for dusting sugar
• piping bag or food syringe for filling donuts
• stand mixer or large mixing bowl and a love of kneading with sticky hands
Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk
2 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp sugar for yeast
400 g AP flour perhaps less if air conditioned; extra for work surface
75 g sugar optionally extra for coating
1 tsp salt
3 ea large egg yolks
1 Tbsp orange blossom water especially nice with vanilla or fruit fillings
Procedure:
1. Bring milk up to lukewarm in microwave or on the stove. It needs to be about 105F, so that it won’t kill the yeast.
2. Mix in the teaspoon of sugar and the yeast, and allow the warm milk to stand with the yeast and sugar for up to five minutes. Instant yeast does not require this, but helping it wake up and multiply is helpful and dissolving the yeast in the milk helps make sure it is well-distributed through the dough.
3. In a large mixing bowl or that of a stand mixer, combine the remaining dry ingredients, mixing well.
4. Add the milk to the dry ingredients, and the egg yolks, and mix with the stand mixer for 8-10 minutes, until the dough is supple, sticky and stretchy but not tight. It should be sticky but come away from the bowl without stretching out into taffy-like threads.
5. Lightly oil the bowl and the ball of dough, cover the bowl with a clean towel, and set in a warm place to rise for 60-90 minutes, until the dough has about doubled in size.
6. Turn out the risen dough onto a floured surface and roll it out to about 1/4” thick, then cut it into circles for traditional donuts, or into roughly 2” square pieces of dough if that suits better.
7. Carefully transfer the cut donuts to a lined sheet pan. Once all are done, cover it and let them rest for their second rising, about 30 minutes.
8. Prepare the frying set up, so that the oil will be at about 350F once the donuts are finished rising.
9. Once all is ready, place 3 or 4 donuts into the oil, as you have space.
10. Let each donut fry for 1-2 minutes per side, until they look golden-brown and delicious, then remove them from the oil and let them drain on the rack.
11. If they are to be coated with sugar, roll them in the pan of sugar before they cool too much. This may involve (double-layer) gloves or a light touch with a pair of tongs.
12. Allow the donuts to cool completely, at least 2 hours, before attempting to fill them. If they are not cool, the filling process will not go well, so keep waiting until they are.
13. To fill the donuts, make a cut with a paring knife, slicing just a slit on the outside but opening a pocket within the donut.
14. Using a pastry bag or food syringe, fill each donut with your preferred filling, perhaps a batch of pastry cream.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
Check our our Patreon!
patreon.com/loveyourfood
There are a number of different ways to make donut-type objects. In this recipe we present a method for making a yeast-leavened donut dough, which is fried and then filled. The same dough might be cut into rings and fried into typical donuts-with-holes. When fried as whole pieces, whether round ‘donuts’ or square ‘beignets’ they can be filled with pastry cream, jam or lemon curd.
The dough takes a few hours to prepare, so start well in advance of needing to be done. The first rise may take from 60-90 minutes, followed by 10-30 minutes of work, followed by another rise of 30 minutes, after which the donuts are fried. Once fried they must cool, taking a minimum of 2 hours, and then be filled. Once filled they are ready for consumption.
In order for donuts to rise well, there should be some gluten development, but not enough to cause the dough to be tight. This means the dough must be handled carefully, and that the first donuts cut will be the best. Try to get 10 on the first pass, and then get about 2 and a fraction from the remaining scraps. Those last two donuts may end up having an unusual texture, or be more dense than the others, but they will still be delicious.
Frying the donuts doesn’t take long, perhaps up to 2 minutes per side. Donuts should puff a great deal in the fry oil, so that once finished, they have a light stripe of dough around their middle, which never spent long in the oil. Once removed from the fry oil, if so desired, dust the donuts in sugar by rolling them in a pan of it while they are still hot from the fryer. Do not crowd the donuts into the pan; in my countertop fryer, I did four donuts at a time.
Makes about 10 donuts, with 2 or so additional tester donuts from scraps.
Equipment:
• deep fryer or frying setup such as a cast-iron pan with about an inch of oil in it
• sheet pan with rack for cooling fried donuts
• pie tin or similar for dusting sugar
• piping bag or food syringe for filling donuts
• stand mixer or large mixing bowl and a love of kneading with sticky hands
Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk
2 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp sugar for yeast
400 g AP flour perhaps less if air conditioned; extra for work surface
75 g sugar optionally extra for coating
1 tsp salt
3 ea large egg yolks
1 Tbsp orange blossom water especially nice with vanilla or fruit fillings
Procedure:
1. Bring milk up to lukewarm in microwave or on the stove. It needs to be about 105F, so that it won’t kill the yeast.
2. Mix in the teaspoon of sugar and the yeast, and allow the warm milk to stand with the yeast and sugar for up to five minutes. Instant yeast does not require this, but helping it wake up and multiply is helpful and dissolving the yeast in the milk helps make sure it is well-distributed through the dough.
3. In a large mixing bowl or that of a stand mixer, combine the remaining dry ingredients, mixing well.
4. Add the milk to the dry ingredients, and the egg yolks, and mix with the stand mixer for 8-10 minutes, until the dough is supple, sticky and stretchy but not tight. It should be sticky but come away from the bowl without stretching out into taffy-like threads.
5. Lightly oil the bowl and the ball of dough, cover the bowl with a clean towel, and set in a warm place to rise for 60-90 minutes, until the dough has about doubled in size.
6. Turn out the risen dough onto a floured surface and roll it out to about 1/4” thick, then cut it into circles for traditional donuts, or into roughly 2” square pieces of dough if that suits better.
7. Carefully transfer the cut donuts to a lined sheet pan. Once all are done, cover it and let them rest for their second rising, about 30 minutes.
8. Prepare the frying set up, so that the oil will be at about 350F once the donuts are finished rising.
9. Once all is ready, place 3 or 4 donuts into the oil, as you have space.
10. Let each donut fry for 1-2 minutes per side, until they look golden-brown and delicious, then remove them from the oil and let them drain on the rack.
11. If they are to be coated with sugar, roll them in the pan of sugar before they cool too much. This may involve (double-layer) gloves or a light touch with a pair of tongs.
12. Allow the donuts to cool completely, at least 2 hours, before attempting to fill them. If they are not cool, the filling process will not go well, so keep waiting until they are.
13. To fill the donuts, make a cut with a paring knife, slicing just a slit on the outside but opening a pocket within the donut.
14. Using a pastry bag or food syringe, fill each donut with your preferred filling, perhaps a batch of pastry cream.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
