These soft homemade donuts are easy to make and soooo tasty. A sweet glaze coats these delightful baked donuts, making them an irresistible treat to enjoy with your morning cup of coffee.
Homemade Glazed Donuts Ingredients
With this easy-to-follow recipe, you can make your own delicious glazed donuts from scratch with simple ingredients.
For our donut recipe, you’ll need:
Donut Dough
- 4 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting the surface for rolling and cutting the donuts)
- ¼ ounce packet instant yeast (Red Star Platinum brand)
- 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
- ½ cup salted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Oil for frying (canola or vegetable)
Glaze
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 6 tablespoons whole milk, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon salted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Substitutions and Additions
Toppings: To make these simple homemade donuts even fancier, while the glaze is still warm, you could add sprinkles, toasted coconut, finely chopped pecans or walnuts, toffee pieces, or a little bit of cinnamon sugar.
Glaze: How about a different twist on the simple glaze? Add a tablespoon of maple syrup to the glaze for a sweet surprise.
How to Make This Homemade Donuts Recipe
Whether you’re an experienced baker or just starting out, this recipe for classic glazed donuts is easy enough for anyone to make.
Here’s how you make our recipe for homemade donuts:
STEP ONE: In a medium bowl stir together the all-purpose flour and instant yeast. Set aside.
STEP TWO: To the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook, add the whole milk, salted butter, granulated sugar, lightly beaten eggs and vanilla extract.
STEP THREE: Turn the mixer on low speed and gradually add the flour mixture, ½ cup at a time, to the mixer. Be sure to allow the flour additions to fully incorporate before adding more flour.
STEP FOUR: Once all the flour has been added, increase the speed of the mixer to medium and knead the dough for 5-7 minutes or until it forms a ball around the dough hook and the dough is smooth and supple. The dough will be lightly tacky to the touch, that is ok. You do not want to add more flour or your donuts will be dense and tough when fried.
STEP FIVE: Transfer the dough to a very lightly buttered, or oiled, large bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a tea towel.
STEP SIX: Place the bowl of donut dough in a warm spot to allow the dough to rise for 1 ½ – 2 ½ hours or until it has doubled in size. Depending on the temperature of the room, the rise times can vary greatly.
STEP SEVEN: Once the dough has doubled in size, lightly dust the surface of the dough then gently press it down with your hands to release all the air bubbles from the dough.
STEP EIGHT: To a clean, lightly floured surface, turn out the deflated donut dough. Gently roll out the dough to a 12-13 inch circle approximately ½ inch thickness.
STEP NINE: Using a donut cutter (approximately 3 inches wide), cut 14-16 donuts, and their holes, from the rolled out donut dough.
STEP TEN: Place the cut out donuts, and their holes, onto a large parchment lined baking pan. Lightly cover the cut donuts with plastic wrap and allow the donuts to rest, and rise, in a warm place for 1-2 hours or until the donuts have risen to almost double their size.
STEP ELEVEN: While the donuts are rising you can make the glaze by adding to a medium bowl the powdered sugar, whole milk, salted butter and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
STEP TWELVE: Preheat an electric fryer, or large heavy duty pot of canola oil, to 375* F. Once the oil is hot, gently lower 3-4 donuts into the hot oil. Be careful not to overcrowd the fryer basket, or pot, to avoid dropping the temperature of the oil and to allow the donuts to move freely in the oil.
STEP THIRTEEN: Fry the donuts on each side for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until golden brown. The donuts will fry up very quickly so do not walk away from them as they are frying.
STEP FOURTEEN: Remove the fried donuts using the basket, or spider scoop, from the hot oil and place them onto a large baking sheet lined with paper towels and a wire rack. Repeat until all the donuts, and holes, have been fried. Allow the donuts to drain off as much excess oil as possible before dipping them into the glaze.
STEP FIFTEEN: While the donuts are still slightly warm, dip them into the glaze to cover both sides of the donut then place the glazed donut back onto the large baking sheet with the wire rack. This will allow any excess glaze from the donuts to drip onto the pan.
STEP SIXTEEN: Allow the glazed donuts to sit, undisturbed, until the glaze has set. Place the donuts onto a platter and serve.
How To Serve
These delightful donuts will have you hooked from the first bite.
Serve them along with a pumpkin spice latte, iced mocha, iced caramel macchiato for a sweet breakfast treat or afternoon snack.
Add a little bit of variety to your donut menu with our other donut recipes, including our apple donuts and baked sour cream donuts.
MORE DONUT RECIPES
Storage
ON THE COUNTER: Donuts are best enjoyed the same day. You can store them in an airtight container at room temperature to enjoy later in the day.
IN THE FRIDGE: We do not recommend that you store these donuts in the fridge for the best texture of these freshly fried and glazed donuts.
IN THE FREEZER: We don’t recommend that you store these donuts in the freezer.
This homemade donut recipe is addictive and much better than any coffee-shop donut you can get.
Soft, airy, and sweet, these treats are the perfect addition to any breakfast, brunch, or afternoon snack.
Frequently Asked Questions
The donuts in this easy recipe can also be cut out using the mouth of a glass plus the wider end of a piping tip to cut the inner donut hole.
This easy donut recipe is best enjoyed fresh, but if you have a few leftover, you can keep them on the counter for a day or in the fridge for up to two days.
We don’t recommend freezing these baked donuts as the soft, fluffy texture will change.
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Homemade Donuts
Ingredients
Donut Dough
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the surface for rolling and cutting the donuts
- ¼ ounces instant yeast, Red Star Platinum brand
- 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
- ½ cup salted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Oil, for frying (canola or vegetable)
Glaze
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 6 tablespoons whole milk, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon salted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a medium bowl stir together the all-purpose flour and instant yeast. Set aside.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook, add the whole milk, salted butter, granulated sugar, lightly beaten eggs and vanilla extract.
- Turn the mixer on low speed and gradually add the flour mixture, ½ cup at a time, to the mixer. Be sure to allow the flour additions to fully incorporate before adding more flour.
- Once all the flour has been added, increase the speed of the mixer to medium and knead the dough for 5-7 minutes or until it forms a ball around the dough hook and the dough is smooth and supple. The dough will be lightly tacky to the touch, that is ok. You do not want to add more flour or your donuts will be dense and tough when fried.
- Transfer the dough to a very lightly buttered, or oiled, large bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a tea towel.
- Place the bowl of donut dough in a warm spot to allow the dough to rise for 1 ½ – 2 ½ hours or until it has doubled in size. Depending on the temperature of the room, the rise times can vary greatly.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, lightly dust the surface of the dough then gently press it down with your hands to release all the air bubbles from the dough.
- To a clean, lightly floured surface, turn out the deflated donut dough. Gently roll out the dough to a 12-13 inch circle approximately ½ inch thickness.
- Using a donut cutter (approximately 3 inches wide), cut 14-16 donuts, and their holes, from the rolled out donut dough.
- Place the cut out donuts, and their holes, onto a large parchment lined baking pan. Lightly cover the cut donuts with plastic wrap and allow the donuts to rest, and rise, in a warm place for 1-2 hours or until the donuts have risen to almost double their size.
- While the donuts are rising you can make the glaze by adding to a medium bowl the powdered sugar, whole milk, salted butter and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
- Preheat an electric fryer, or large heavy duty pot of canola oil, to 375* F. Once the oil is hot, gently lower 3-4 donuts into the hot oil. Be careful not to overcrowd the fryer basket, or pot, to avoid dropping the temperature of the oil and to allow the donuts to move freely in the oil.
- Fry the donuts on each side for 30 seconds-1 minute or until golden brown. The donuts will fry up very quickly so do not walk away from them as they are frying.
- Remove the fried donuts using the basket, or spider scoop, from the hot oil and place them onto a large baking sheet lined with paper towels and a wire rack. Repeat until all the donuts, and holes, have been fried. Allow the donuts to drain off as much excess oil as possible before dipping them into the glaze.
- While the donuts are still slightly warm, dip them into the glaze to cover both sides of the donut then place the glazed donut back onto the large baking sheet with the wire rack. This will allow any excess glaze from the donuts to drip onto the pan.
- Allow the glazed donuts to sit, undisturbed, until the glaze has set. Place the donuts onto a platter and serve.
Nutrition
Comments
Yolanda says
These were incredibly delicious! My daughter didn’t care much for the butter extract in the icing but loved the doughnut texture and flavor! These are absolutely worth every minute! Thank you for sharing