This yeast donut recipe is fried and coated with glaze resulting in a batch of light and airy classic old fashioned raised donuts. These are likely to be the best doughnuts you've ever had!
Homemade Donuts
There was a time every home cook had a favorite doughnut recipe on hand. These days, we are more likely to grab a donut or dozen of then from a coffee shop drive through. There is good reason to try your hand at making this classic breakfast sweet yourself though. There is nothing like a crispy freshly glazed fried donut.
While baked doughnuts are popular, true donuts are fried like their ancestor the Dutch olykoeks--"oily cakes."
These homemade donuts are slightly crisp on the outside, yet light and fluffy inside. The raised yeast donuts themselves are mildly sweet. They are then dipped in a sweet vanilla glaze. Yum!
Time to make donuts!
Making Yeast Raised Donuts
This yeast donut recipe makes 2 dozen donuts, plus their accompanying doughnut holes. Printable recipe card below.
Total Time to make these doughnuts is 2 hours 40 minutes, but most of that is rise time for the dough.
Raised Donuts Ingredients
Here are all the ingredients you will need to make a batch of these easy to make glazed donuts.
- whole milk
- granulated sugar
- salt
- butter
- warm water
- active dry yeast
- room temperature eggs
- all-purpose flour
- oil for frying
- powdered sugar
- corn syrup
- vanilla extract
Get measures below in the printable recipe card.
Equipment
- mixer (stand or hand)
- large bowl
- kitchen towel or plastic wrap
- doughnut cutter
- rolling pin
- slotted spoon
- wire cooling rack
Donut Preparation
Let's make these doughnuts!
Yeast Doughnut Dough
First make the dough.
- In a medium saucepan, heat 1 ½ cups of the whole milk over medium heat just until the milk begins to simmer. Remove from the heat and add ½ cup granulated sugar, the salt, and the butter. Stir well until you have fully melted butter. Put aside.
- Pour the warm water into a small bowl; add 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar and the two packets of yeast. Stir together and set aside for 5 minutes to allow the yeast to bloom. The yeast should foam up and create bubbles.
- In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the yeast mixture and the milk/butter mixture. Drop in the eggs and beat together with an electric mixer.
- Add 1 cup of the flour and mix into the wet mixture using the dough hook of a stand mixer (or follow tip above). Incorporate the remaining flour 1 cup at a time, mixing just until the flour is incorporated into the dough.
TIP: A stand mixer is best for this whole process. If you do not have a stand mixer, begin by mixing the dough with an electric mixer, then switch to mixing by hand with a wooden spoon when the dough becomes too heavy for the hand-held electric mixer.
Knead and Rise Dough
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth. Add a little extra flour to the kneading surface as needed.
- Place the dough into a well-greased bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap, and set aside in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, about 60-90 minutes.
- Punch down the dough, then cover again and let rise a second time for 60 minutes.
Cut and Fry Doughnuts
- Turn the dough out onto a clean counter and roll out the dough with a rolling pin to a thickness of one inch.
- Cut the donuts into circles with a donut cutter or use a biscuit cutter, then cut out the center of the donuts with a small cutter. A round cookie cutter will do in a pinch.
- Place the cut out donuts onto large cookie sheets and set aside while you prepare the oil.
- Add vegetable oil to a large pot, Dutch oven, or deep fryer, to at least 2-inches depth. Heat the oil to 350 degrees F.
- Use a metal spatula or frying “spider” to gently lower a donut into the hot oil. Fry donuts one or two at a time on each side for about 1 minute until golden brown. Remove from the oil and cool on a cooling rack with a baking sheet or paper towel underneath.
TIP: Use a cooking thermometer to make sure heat of the oil is correct throughout the frying process. If the oil is too cool it will not cook the donuts well and donuts will take in a lot of oil, or too hot and the donuts will cook too fast on the outside before the inside.
Safety Tip: Be extremely cautious when frying! Research deep frying safety tips and be very gentle when adding donuts to the oil and flipping them.
Glazing
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, corn syrup, vanilla extract, and ½ cup of whole milk.
- Dip the warm donuts into the glaze and return to the cooling rack for the glaze to set.
- Serve the donuts warm while they’re fresh.
Variations
If you want to mix things up, toss some of the doughnuts in cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar. Chocolate glaze is also an option. Try piping a little jelly or jam into the donut holes too.
Bread Machine Doughnuts
The mixing, kneading and rising steps can actually be easily done right in a bread machine if you have one. Use the dough setting, then move right along to the rolling out, cutting, and frying steps of making the yeast doughnuts.
Leftover Yeast Doughnuts
While all donuts are best fresh, that is even more true of homemade doughnuts.
If you do have leftovers after preparing this yeast donut recipe, no worries. They can be warmed on a plate in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time until warm.
They could also be warmed in an oven or air fryer for a few minutes.
Donut Recipes
Here are a few more homemade doughnut recipes you may like.
- Cranberry Orange Donuts with Orange Ginger Glaze
- Easy Cronuts Recipe
- Apple Cider Donuts
- Baked Maple Donuts Recipe with Maple Glaze
- Greek Yogurt Lemon Donuts with Lemon Icing
Raised Donut Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole milk divided
- ½ cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar divided
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter
- 1 ½ cups warm water warm tap water is fine
- 2 packages .25 ounce each, .5 ounce total dry active yeast
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 9 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for kneading
- Vegetable oil enough to fry donuts in
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, heat 1 ½ cups of the whole milk over medium heat just until the milk begins to simmer. Remove from the heat and add ½ cup granulated sugar, the salt, and the butter. Stir well until melted. Set aside.
- Pour the warm water into a small bowl; add 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar and the two packets of yeast. Stir together and set aside for 5 minutes to allow the yeast to bloom. The yeast should foam up and create bubbles.
- In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the yeast mixture and the milk/butter mixture. Add the eggs and beat together with an electric mixer.
- Add 1 cup of the flour and mix into the wet mixture using the dough hook of a stand mixer (or follow tip above). Add the remaining flour 1 cup at a time, mixing just until the flour is incorporated into the dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth. Add a little extra flour to the kneading surface as needed.
- Place the dough into a well-greased large bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and set aside in a warm place to rise until doubled, about 60-90 minutes.
- Punch down the dough, then cover again and allow to rise a second time for 60 minutes.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, corn syrup, vanilla extract, and ½ cup of whole milk. Set this donut glaze aside.
- Turn the dough out onto a clean counter and roll out with a rolling pin to 1-inch thickness.
- Cut the donuts into circles with a donut or biscuit cutter, then cut out the center of the donuts with a small cutter.
- Place the cut out donuts onto large cookie sheets and set aside while you prepare the oil.
- Add vegetable oil to a large pot, Dutch oven, or deep fryer, to at least 2-inches depth. Heat the oil to 350F degrees.
- Use a metal spatula or frying “spider” to gently lower a donut into the hot oil. Fry donuts one or two at a time on each side for about 1 minute until golden brown. Remove from the oil and cool on a cooling rack with a baking sheet underneath.
- Dip the warm donuts into the glaze and return to the cooling rack for the glaze to set.
- Serve the donuts warm while they’re fresh.
Lisa says
Yummy! Krispy Kreme at home! These turned out perfectly. Thanks for such an easy to follow and delicious recipe!