I do love a good yeast-raised doughnut, and in fact in most ways, they’re easier to make than their cake-style counterparts. True, they require some advance planning, but they’re aren’t as fussy in the oil, or as sensitive to ambient temperatures. The best part is, they’re amazingly light, much more so than a store-bought version. Try them once and you’ll be making them every weekend.
The Ingredients
For the sponge:
4 ounces (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
3.5 ounces (half cup minus one tablespoon) lukewarm water
1 large egg
For the doughnuts:
5.75 ounces (1 slightly generous cup) all-purpose flour
1.5 teaspoons instant yeast
0.6 ounces (1/4 cup) milk powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
0.5 ounces (2 1/4 teaspoons) sugar
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ounces (4 tablespoons) butter at room temperature
Canola oil for frying
Extra fine sugar for rolling (for jelly doughnuts)
Raspberry or other fruit jam for filling (for jelly doughnuts)
The Procedure
Combine the sponge ingredients in a small bowl and stir them with a fork until smooth. Let the sponge ferment for half an hour at room temperature, then refrigerate overnight.
The next day, put the sponge in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add all the remaining ingredients except the butter. Knead it for 10 minutes on medium speed, scraping down as needed. After 10 minutes, start adding the butter a tablespoon at a time, kneading until each is well incorporated.
Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and leave it in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a thickness of 3/8 inches. Using a 3 1/2-inch circular cookie cutter, cut out the doughnuts, re-rolling the scraps until the dough is completely used. If making jelly doughnuts, leave the dough circles intact. Otherwise, use a small 3/4″ circular cutter to punch out holes in the center. Return the doughnuts to the towel-lined baking sheet, covered with a sheet of lightly oiled plastic wrap. Let them rise until puffy, about an hour.
Fry in 370-degree oil for roughly 30 seconds per side. Drain on a wire rack. Ice and decorate as desired.
For jelly doughnuts, roll the fried rounds in superfine sugar while the doughnuts are still warm. Attach a pastry tip (ideally a #230 Bismark tip, but just about any good-size tip will do) to the corner of quart-sized zip-lock bag and fill with about a cup of jam. Using a cake tester, gently poke a hole in the side (or bottom) of each doughnut. Fill with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of jam. Eat!
Makes 12-14 doughnuts.
They look great. But I wish the recipe had the USA equivalent to it. Call me dumb but I just don’t know what 4.2 ounces or 5.8 ounces of flour is. An I don’t have a food scale. A lot of other recipes here have the equivalent to them. But not the good looking doughnuts.
I’ll make that change, Jackie. You’re not the first person to ask me for the volume equivalents. I try to make a habit of putting up both, but sometimes I get rushed and foget.
Cheers,
- Joe
Yay…that was my request too! Thank you!
Thanks Joe. I really would appreciate it. You recipes look good. And you explain them so well.
Hi, love your website. I was wondering would this recipe work fine making it the night before, refrigerating the dough, then roll and cut and rise,fry that morning?
Hey Alicia! Oh yes, this dough is great for that. In fact that’s mostly how I do it. Why I didn’t think to mention it I have no idea, other than I’m an idiot.
Thanks for the wake-up!
- Joe
I made the doughnuts as we had talked about, however after rolling the pin over the dough to roll it out it kept retracting and wanting to pull back together. Would adding just a touch of vinegar to the dough help with this or would something else make the dough easier to roll out?
Thanks, Alicia
Hi Alicia! When you’ve got a dough that’s very elastic, the best thing to do is to simply let it rest. About ten minutes will suffice, you can rest it on the counter or in the refrigerator, either one is fine. Once the dough has relaxed it will roll easier, though you can relax it again if need be.
- Joe
Thanks for the recipe! I made them today and the flavor and texture are fantastic. Since the dough is so tender I had a hard time getting the dough with holes into the oil without distorting them. The jelly doughnuts seemed to be easier to handle. Any suggestions on transfering them from towel to oil without deflating or misshaping them?
Hey Amanda! That is indeed a little tricky. In the professional doughnut world they’re proofed on big rectangular racks that are simply lowered into the (rectangular) fryer. I can’t think of a way to replicate that in the home kitchen. I’ve fiddled with splatter guards…but you’d need to buy several, then bend all the handles so the’ll lower into the fry pan. It’s not an easy solution, but I’ll keep thinking!
- Joe
Hi Joe,
What can I use as a substitute for the Milk Powder? (Preferably non-dairy)
Thanks
Hello Sam!
There are several possible non-dairy products that can be used in place of dry milk, just head down to your local health food store. You should be able to find soy milk powder, coconut milk powder or rice milk powder there.
- Joe
Thanks Joe for everything!
As I see I’m not going to the health food store I put in some mashed potato instead.
Since I was not at the computer when I made this last night -from memory, I shaped it into a rectangle but instead of refrigerating it then, I rolled it right after shaping it into a rectangle and refrigerated it then. Did I kill it? Can I still save it?
I think it will still rise, though mashed potato…hmm…let me know how it goes!
- Joe
So here are the results! Some rose nicely and some not. The ones that did were delicious, gorgeous and fluffy, light as paper. I don’t think the potato added anything I just put in a drop – maybe 2-3 tablespoons. I do think that the bakeries use an extra strong vanilla or some different flavoring that gives it that unique taste.
Glad at least some of them turned out, Sam! Well done!
- Joe
hi joe, i love your donuts. i was wondering if i didnt have a mixer, can i do it al by hand ?. i broke my mixer last night. i make a lot of bread by hand so i’m use to effort. what do you think ?
Hey Shell!
So glad to hear that because, as you know, I’m a doughnut man. That said, I’d never let a trifle like a broken machine get between me and a regular fix. They absolutely can be made by hand. You’ll want the butter a bit softer than normal to ensure that it incorporates well…otherwise you should be good to go! Let me know how they turn out, OK?
Many thanks!
- Joe
Okay, two questions, actually –
First: if I wanted a classic glazed doughnut (and boy, do I!), what would I use for the glaze, and at what point? Just a simple confectioners sugar water concoction?
Second: how do you stay thin around all this amazing stuff? (and you do — your hands don’t lie)
Hey there again!
Yes, a simple icing like this works great: http://www.joepastry.com/2011/on-simple-icing
Just thin it out a little more than normal so it runs all the way down around the sides. Also I got a good chuckle out of your “hands” comment. My wife is a university professor, and as you probably know, in that environment there’s never any shortage of hungry mouths to feed. Grad students especially rely on the kindness of strangers. That’s where everything goes…otherwise I’d eat it all and, well…it would go straight to my hands.
- Joe
Hi Joe,
I’ve been on the quest for an icredible yeast doughnut recipe since having an amazing doughnut about a month ago in Brooklyn, NY. I stumbled upon your site yesterday and am excited to give your recipe a try (btw, I’ve never made doughnuts before but am determined!)
Question for you – A lot of other recipes use bread flour instead of AP flour. What characteristics would each flour give to the doughnut, regarding lightness and fluffiness of the inside, crispiness of the outside, tenderness of the overall doughnut?
Thanks!
High Jen!
Great question. Bread flour has more protein (gluten) in it, so that’s going to make the dough more elastic, more capable of holding bubbles of gas and steam. That cam be good for lightness, but the trade-off is a chewier doughnut. It think these doughnuts are plenty light and fluffy without the bread flour, plus they’re nice and tender to the bite. That’s why I prefer all-purpose flour.
Thanks and let me know how they turn out!
- Jim
Hi Joe,
I just came across your site looking for a yeast doughnut to make for our annual DoughnutFest (doughnut frying in the backyard with friends!), and can’t wait to try this one out. In years past I’ve used shortening to fry the doughnuts (I think it was on Smitten Kitchen that I read it was often preferable to oil for some reason). What’s your opinion?
There’s lots of information on the site about frying:
http://www.joepastry.com/category/techniques/frying/
However my short answer is that either one will do. A solid shortening will firm back up at room temperature so you won’t have to worry about weeping on bags or boxes. But if you’re just doing a few of them, a liquid oil is more convenient. Let me know how they turn out!
- Joe
Oh, and one more question– building on Alicia’s question about making the dough completely the night before: After the dough is made, would it go into the fridge immediately and then be pulled out to rise the next day, or does the rise take place before going into the fridge? In either case, how long should it stay at room temp before it’s rolled out for cutting? Thanks!
Hi Nuala!
You’ll want to refrigerate it before the proofing (second rise). It’ll probably take half an hour to warm up then another hour to proof.
Thanks for the question!
- Joe
Ugh– call me a bad student, but I just want to be sure I do this right (I’m making them this weekend). Should I actually cut the doughnuts before refrigerating them? Thanks for answering all these questions!
Hey Nuala!
I thought I’d taken the refrigeration step out of this (I changed the recipe recently to make it easier). Is there still a reference to refrigerating the finished dough? I think all it calls for now is rising and proofing at room temperature (except for the sponge of course, which does rise overnight).
- Joe
No reference to refrigerating, just in the comments (on 6/8/11 Alicia asked about making the dough the night before and refrigerating). My last question is a follow-up to questions I asked previously about making the dough in advance. You mentioned refrigerating before the second rise– just wanted to confirm that this was after the dough is cut into rounds.
Ah yes. I understand. Yes, refrigerate them right after cutting. Let them warm and rise in the morning.
- Joe
Wonderful– thanks again!
Hello Joe,
I tried this recipe today. Delicious! I didn’t use the sponge but substituted in some sourdough starter that I keep. We gobbled the whole batch up. They are so soft and fluffy.
Thanks for sharing your recipe,
Sierra
Nice solution!
And it’s me pleasure. Thanks for the note!
- Joe
Hi,
I can’t find milk powder anywhere. Can I use liquid milk instead of water?
You can!
Thanks!
Hello Joe,
I tried this recipe and followed your instructions, the result was great!! My family and my friends love it, me too…
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Midia
Great to hear it, Midia! Thank you for getting back to me with the results!
Your friend,
- Joe