Homemade Raised Doughnuts

By
Molly Watson
Molly Watson
An award-winning food writer and cookbook author, Molly Watson has created more than 1,000 recipes focused on local, seasonal ingredients.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 06/29/21
Homemade Raised Doughnuts

The Spruce

Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Total: 50 mins
Servings: 18 servings
Yield: 18 doughnuts
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
199 Calories
11g Fat
21g Carbs
3g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 18
Amount per serving
Calories 199
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 11g 15%
Saturated Fat 2g 11%
Cholesterol 17mg 6%
Sodium 84mg 4%
Total Carbohydrate 21g 8%
Dietary Fiber 1g 3%
Total Sugars 4g
Protein 3g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 6mg 0%
Iron 1mg 6%
Potassium 35mg 1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Homemade doughnuts are amazingly tender. In all honesty, they can also be a major pain to make, but when you're aiming to impress, these will do the job every single time. They are a case of the homemade and the D.I.Y. standing in for the local in a most spectacular fashion.

The dough for these raised doughnuts isn't terribly sweet, so the coating of sugar doesn't make them cloying at all. A mix of cinnamon and sugar or your favorite frosting or glaze would be just as tasty.

Ingredients

  • 2 quarts cooking oil, or lard

  • 1 tablespoon dry active yeast

  • 1/3 cup sugar, plus more for coating doughnuts

  • 3 1/4 cups flour, plus more for rolling and shaping

  • 1 egg

  • 1 cup water, warm

  • 4 tablespoons butter, softened

  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Doughnuts Recipe ingredients
    The Spruce 

  2. Dissolve yeast in 1 cup of warm water.

    Yeast in warm water
    The Spruce

  3. Let sit about 5 minutes until the yeast foams a bit (so you know it's active).

    Yeast activated in warm water
    The Spruce

  4. Beat in 2 cups of the flour, 1/3 cup of sugar, egg, 4 tablespoons of butter, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour, 1/4 cup at a time until the dough starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl.

    Dough in blue bowl
    The Spruce

  5. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let sit in a warm place until the dough doubles in bulk — about 2 hours.

    Dough in blue bowl covered by kitchen towel
    The Spruce

  6. Punch down the dough and turn it onto a floured surface.

    Fist punching dough
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  7. Roll dough to about 1/2 inch thick. 

    Rolling out dough
    The Spruce

  8. Use a large round biscuit cutter to cut circles and a smaller round cutter to cut out the holes. Obviously, if you are lucky enough to be in possession of a doughnut cutter, go ahead and use that!

    Doughnuts being cut from dough
    The Spruce

  9. Cover doughnuts (and holes) and let rise until puffy looking — about 2 hours.

  10. Heat an inch or two of oil or lard in a large heavy pot to 350 F to 375 F. Set a cooling rack over a baking sheet and put them near the pot. Put about a cup of sugar in a medium bowl and have that handy as well.

  11. Add 3 or 4 doughnuts (or 8 to 10 doughnut holes) to the oil. They should sizzle immediately as you add them to the fat.

    Doughnuts in cooking oil
    The Spruce

  12. Cook doughnuts until light brown on one side. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to flip the doughnuts, cook until the second side is light brown. Transfer cooked doughnuts to a cooling rack and let cool and drain for a few minutes. Dip doughnuts into sugar to coat. Repeat with remaining doughnuts.

    Finished doughnuts with sugar
    The Spruce

  13. Serve warm if at all possible.

    Doughnuts on platter
    The Spruce

  14. Enjoy!

Tips

  • If you'd like to make this dough ahead of time, you can skip Step 5 and chill the dough overnight before you roll it out and make the doughnuts.
  • Or, you let the dough rise (Step 5), roll it out, and cut the doughnuts and doughnut holes out, then put the cut doughnuts and holes on floured baking sheets, cover, and chill the cut dough overnight, instead of doing the second rising (Step 9).
  • If you don't have doughnut cutters or biscuit cutters, a drinking glass works well too.