Easy Homemade Glazed Donuts
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Breads, Breakfast, Sweets
Serves: 26 3-inch donuts
Ingredients
  • Dough:
  • 3½ cups all-purpose flour + ¼ cup for dusting
  • 1½ tbsp active dry yeast
  • ½ c warm water
  • ¾ cup whole milk
  • ⅓ cup vegetable shortening
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp + ¼ cup white granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 quarts (8 cups) canola oil for frying
  • Glaze:
  • 1½ cup powdered sugar
  • 2½ tbsp warm water
  • ½ tsp vanilla
  • Tools/Materials You'll Need:
  • Mixing bowls
  • Measuring cups
  • Measuring spoons
  • Whisk
  • Fine mesh strainer
  • Small sauce pan
  • Rolling pin
  • 3-inch donut cutter
  • Slotted spoon or spider strainer
  • Deep fryer or deep frying pan
  • Deep fryer thermometer
  • Baking sheets
  • Wire rack
  • Parchment paper/aluminum foil
  • Scissors
  • Paper towels
  • Cooking spray
Instructions
  1. Transfer warm water into a medium bowl. Add 1 teaspoon sugar andthe yeast and stir to dissolve. Set aside until bubbles form on top, about 10 minutes
  2. Meanwhile, place milk and shortening into a microwaveable cup. Microwave till shortening is just melted, about 1 minute. You can also do this over a stove top. Place milk and shortening in a small sauce pan and cook over low heat until shortening melts. Remove from heat and stir. Add salt and sugar, then stir again. Set aside until ready to use.
  3. Crack 2 eggs in a small bowl and beat lightly. Check temperature of milk mixture in step 2. Make sure it is warm but not too hot as you are going to add the eggs in. If it is too hot, let it cool down. Faster way to do this is to soak the cup in a cold bowl of water. Or you can just wait and let it sit on the counter for couple more minutes. When it's warm to the touch, pour the eggs in and stir to mix.
  4. Sift the flour using a fine mesh strainer. Set aside ½ cup for dusting later on
  5. Create a well in the center of the flour. Pour in the yeast and milk-egg mixture. Use your fingers to slowly mix the wet and dry ingredients. Add a little more flour (about ¼ cup from the one you set aside in step 4) when needed. The dough should be a a little sticky but not too much, and should start to pull away from the side of the bowl.
  6. Lightly flour a clean, flat surface and transfer dough to knead. Stretch and fold the dough repeatedly using the heel of your hands until it gets soft, smooth and elastic. Add the remaining flour slowly at a time while kneading until the dough no longer sticks to your fingers or onto the surface. Click to watch a video on how to knead dough by hand.
  7. The dough should have a soft, silky texture and will spring back when poked with a finger. Form dough into a ball and transfer to a large mixing bowl greased with oil. Turn dough once to coat the other side. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or a plastic wrap. Let it sit in a warm place and allow to double in size, about 1 hour.
  8. While the dough is getting ready, cut out parchment paper/aluminum paper into 3-inch squares, about 26 pieces. You will use this to hold individual donuts later on after shaping them.
  9. As soon as the dough has doubled in size, punch it down with your knuckles or press down with your fingers to release air bubbles. Transfer to a clean, flat, surface and knead a little bit. Form into a ball and cut in half. Set aside the other half while you work on the other. Form half of the dough into a ball. Lightly flour a rolling pin to prevent from sticking (use the additional ¼ cup of flour for dusting) and flatten dough, stretching outwards as you go.
  10. Flatten dough to about ¼ inch thick. Use a 3-inch donut cutter to cut out donut shapes. Use a smaller 1-inch cutter to cut out the donut holes in the center. If you don't have a donut cutter, find anything that you can use that's a circle with a 3-inch diameter, such as the lip of a drinking glass, a lid of a jar, cookie cutter, etc. Be resourceful. Work with the other half of the dough till you're done.
  11. Place donuts on individual foil/parchment paper and lay flat on a baking tray or plate ½ inch apart. Lightly flour a separate baking tray and place donut holes ½ inch apart from each other. Let them rise undisturbed in a warm place until double in size- 45 minutes to an hour.
  12. Prepare the donut glaze before frying the donuts. In a medium bowl, add powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1½ tbsp of warm water. Whisk to dissolve the sugar and turn into a glaze. Set aside until ready to use.
  13. Heat oil over high until it reaches 350ºF (180ºC) temperature. If you don't have a thermometer, do the sprinkle test by sprinkling a little bit of water into the oil. It should start to sizzle. Take note that the oil shouldn't be smoking as well. Carefully drop the donuts one at a time as fast as you can into the hot oil. I fry the donuts 5 pieces at at a time so the oil temperature doesn't drop too much. I usually count up to five in my head and turn the donuts over, and keep doing so until they are golden in color. Remove donuts from oil and place on a plate/tray lined with paper towels. Fry the rest of the donuts till you're done.
  14. Now comes frying the donut holes. This part is actually tricky since they burn very fast. What I did is turn off the stove and drop all of them at once into the fryer. It only takes less than a minute to cook them as they are smaller. To ensure they get cooked and turned golden evenly, as soon as you drop them into the oil, quickly use a slotted spoon or spider strainer to move them back and forth so the oil touches every surface. As soon as they turn golden color, remove them quickly from the oil and drain on paper towels.
  15. To glaze the donuts: Dip each donut into the glaze and hold for 2-3 seconds. Lift and let it drip before arranging them glazed side up onto a cooling rack. Place a baking tray or foil on the bottom of the rack to catch any drippings. It makes cleaning up a breeze! Glaze remaining donuts until done
  16. You can glaze the donut holes as well following step 15. But I find them better just with a light coating of sugar. Place 2 tbsp of white sugar into a medium mixing bowl. Add the warm donut holes and shake the bowl until all of them are evenly coated.
  17. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe by Russian Filipino Kitchen at http://www.russianfilipinokitchen.com/2015/07/10/easy-homemade-glazed-donuts/