Looking for another tasty dessert? Try my homemade churros next!
Easy Cake-Style Homemade Donuts
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!
Homemade Doughnuts Video
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
Donut Hole Ingredients
For this recipe you’ll only need 7 basic ingredients which you may already have. You’ll need:
All-purpose flour: I like to use unbleached flour but bleached will work fine too. Baking powder: This helps the donuts puff up, don’t skip it. Salt: Just use standard table salt. Nothing special here. Buttermilk: I don’t recommend substitutes here, the milk and vinegar substitute isn’t quite thick enough. Granulated sugar: You’ll add this to both the donut dough and use for rolling. Melted butter: This adds a delicious flavor to the donuts. Stick with real butter. Vegetable oil: Needed for frying.
How to Make Donuts From Scratch
How to Make Donut Glaze
If you’d like to cover the donuts in classic vanilla glaze* then you could mix (and spoon over):
3/4 cup powdered sugar 1 1/2 Tbsp milk 1/2 tsp vanilla
*For chocolate glaze just add 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder to the mixture above.
Does it Matter What Oil I Fry the Donuts in?
Yes, you should use a neutral flavored oil with a high smoke point. I recommend using vegetable oil when making these fried donuts.
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.
More Easy Donut Recipes to Try
Baked Coconut Donuts Baked Vanilla Bean Donuts Baked Cinnamon Sugar Mini Donuts Pumpkin Donuts Copycat Krispy Kreme Donuts Baked Lemon Poppyseed Donuts
Recipe originally shared January 31, 2012. Text, recipe and photos have updated May 3, 2020.
