Mini Doughnuts

Mini Doughnuts

Homemade Donuts that taste like what you get at the local bakery, but you can make them at home in 15 minutes! This easy donut recipe is perfect for a quick weekend treat and it’s always sure to satisfy those sweet tooth cravings.

Bite size donuts (AKA Donut Holes) with a lightly crisp and golden brown, sugar coated exterior, and a soft and fluffy, tender interior. Just like an old fashioned cake donut but ready in a flash!

I made this easy donut recipe because who can resist a fresh donut? But how many of us actually want to put in all the typical effort of a homemade donut?

I’ve seen donut holes made with a store-bought biscuit dough but I’m all about the freshly made dough.

It’s a hundred times better and unbelievably easy. No mixer required, no kneading, rolling or cutting. Just a quick stir and shaping and they’re ready for frying!

Topping Ideas

Then you can finish them as you like. I just go the sugar route but you can also cover them with:

vanilla donut glaze

chocolate icing

cinnamon sugar or pumpkin spice sugar

powered sugar

Tips for the Best Easy Homemade Donuts

Use a deep fry thermometer to test oil temperature so donuts cook properly.

Don’t try to fry all the donut holes at once, otherwise you’ll lower the temperature of the oil and they won’t fry properly (they’ll start absorbing excess grease).

These homemade donut holes taste best rolled in sugar otherwise they aren’t sweet enough

Fried donuts are best eaten the day prepared. The texture changes the next day and they start to dry out.

Ingredients

• 2 cups bread flour (280g)
• 2 cups 00 flour (or all purpose-flour) (280g)
• 1/2 cup caster sugar (100g)
• 6.5 tablespoons butter, softened (90g)
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (7g)
• 1/2 cup lukewarm milk (120ml)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup caster sugar or icing sugar (for rolling doughnuts in or for making icing to drip over doughnuts)
• Vegetable oil for deep frying
• Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Place the flour*, sugar and yeast in a bowl and stir by hand until combined. * See notes for measuring flour.

Scatter the cubes of butter over the flour so they are evenly distributed and then add in the milk, eggs, vanilla and salt

Using the dough hook attachment for your electric mixer, knead on low speed for 10 minutes ( I use my Kitchen Aid mixer on level 2).

After 10 minutes the dough should be soft, elastic, smooth and slightly tacky.

On a smooth clean surface, tip the dough out and shape it into a neat ball (don’t overwork with it)

Once it has been shaped, place into a bowl that has been slightly greased with oil. Now cover with plastic wrap and allow to prove for 2-3 hours (it should double or even triple in size)

Once the dough has risen nicely, place it onto a clean work surface once again and knead it 2-3 times and then roll it out until it is 1.5 cm (1/2 inch) thick.

Using a 4cm cookie cutter (or roughly that size), punch out as many circles as you can. Combine the dough back into a ball, roll out and again punch as many circles as you can.

Cover the cut out doughnuts loosely with some plastic wrap and allow them to prove for another 1 or so.

In a wide frying pan or shallow pot (depending on how much oil you have), heat the oil until almost simmering.  (Oil should be 3 inches or 8cm deep for best results)

Carefully place one doughnut into the oil, and test out the temperature by cooking it for one minute on each side. Remove from the oil, and allow to drain on some paper towel. Break it open with a fork and check that the inside is cooked through. If not, adjust the temperature very slightly

Cook the dough in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan which reduces the temperature of the oil (we don’t want that). Place the doughnuts carefully into the pan/pot and cook for a minute on each side, turning them and removing them with tongs (seems to work best!!)

Allow them to drain on a paper towel whilst you attend to the next batch.

Once you are done frying, roll the doughnuts whilst still warm in a bowl of caster sugar or alternatively, dust with icing sugar or make some Glacé icing using icing sugar and water – both are just as delicious!!

Now eat and enjoy – these doughnuts are best eaten soon after cooking!!

Cook for one minute a side, turning them over using tongs.

NOTES

Measuring flour – If you are using cups to measure the flour, make sure you spoon the flour into the cup and tap the cup to get rid of air volume. This is important to get the right quantity of flour.

I usually use 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp buttermilk since I'm in a drier climate so if needed add a little extra buttermilk to bring dough together.

Cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar or a vanilla glaze are other great options for coating fried donuts.

Use a thermometer to take temperature of oil so donuts fry up properly.

Don't try to fry all the donut holes at once, otherwise you'll lower the temperature of the oil and they won't fry properly (they'll start absorbing the grease).