Homemade Melt in Your Mouth Donuts

Fresh homemade donuts are a rare treat around our house. They take quite a bit of time, but the whole family loves them! Yes my title is melt in your mouth, because well they are. Fresh warm donuts are amazing friends! I’m a huge fan of warm glazed donuts and Dunkin Donuts’ Chocolate kreme filled donuts. So those are the two types I’m giving you the recipe for today. If you like it topped with chocolate/maple/vanilla icing though just take the base donut recipe and make it your own. Sprinkles would be fun for a kids sleepover! 

Donut Ingredients:

2 packages of active dry yeast

1/4 cup water

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

2 eggs

1/3 cup of shortening

5 cups of all purpose flour

Vegetable oil for frying

 

Warm the water and milk in a glass measuring cup in the microwave for about 1 minute. Then add the yeast and sugar and stir. Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes until frothy. In a mixing bowl put the yeast mixture, salt, eggs, shortening, and 1 cup of flour. Mix well for about 2 minutes. Slowly add a cup of flour mixing it in well until you have mixed in all five cups. Knead your dough for about another 5 minutes, I let my dough hook attachment on my mixer do this. Once it is done the dough will be smooth. Let the dough rise covered in a warm place for about an hour or until doubled. Seriously important step, as with all yeast breads the rising time can’t be skimped on, it gives the final product the size and internal air/bubble structure that makes them soft and fluffy not hard and chewy!

Once doubled turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough to about 3/4″ thickness. Use a donut cutter or if you don’t have one a glass and a small circle cookie cutter like I do. Save the donut holes! I fry those up too, dip them in glaze and they make perfect sugary bites! If you are making the creme filled donuts then you can skip cutting out the donut holes.

I place my cut out donuts on a floured baking sheet for the second rise. Now this is where you have a choice! I do all of the above at night, then at this point put the cut out donuts on a baking sheet in my fridge for the second rise. Then in the morning all I have to do is the frying and icing/glazing. If you did all of the above in the morning you would have to get up pretty early. Honestly I’m a night owl NOT a morning person at all so I prefer to do the majority the night before. If you love getting up hours before breakfast and doing it all at once, by all means you’re awesome! If you don’t go with the overnight fridge method, let your donuts rise covered in a warm place for another hour until doubled in size. Again the time to rise is tedious and long but so worth it!

To fry, heat your oil to 350 degrees in a fryer or large pot. I use my big cast iron pot. Gently place one or two donuts in the oil. I lower mine in with a strainer scoop. Stay with them and turn when lightly browned. Remove when lightly browned on both sides. I place my hot donuts on a cooling rack with paper towels underneath to catch the extra hot oil.

Glaze Ingredients:

1/2 cup of butter

2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

hot water

I melt my butter in a saucepan. Once melted remove from heat and then I whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Add little bits of hot water while whisking until it is thinned out to a glaze but not watery. Dip the donuts while still warm and the glaze will drip down the sides and set up smooth.

Chocolate Creme Filling:

1/4 cup of butter

1/4 cup of shortening

1 heaping tablespoon of cocoa powder (omit for vanilla creme filling)

2 cups of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1-2 Tablespoons of milk

I use my whisk attachment on my mixer to blend the butter and shortening well first. Then add in the cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Stir it well. Then add the milk slowly while whisking until it is light and fluffy. I like to do this the night before also and refrigerate it so the filling is nice and firm. To fill the donuts without holes first I roll them in powdered sugar and then use a butter knife to create a hole in the side (not all the way through) and wiggle it around inside creating space for the creme filling. Then I pipe the filling inside letting a little show so its not a surprise for the person eating the donut. This might be a personal preference after feeling tricked into a lemon creme or two over the years, lemon is great just not my favorite in donuts!

Now if you have a house full of hungry kiddos and a husband like me these won’t last very long! If you have left overs take them to a friend, they taste best fresh. Thanks for stopping by 🙂

Johanna