Sugar donuts

These soft and fluffy sugar donuts are the perfect treat. They are super easy to make, and you only need a few simple ingredients.

Nothing beats a warm fried donut sprinkled with castor sugar with a cup of coffee in the morning.

These sugar donuts turn out perfectly every time. That's why I love this classic recipe.

I also used this recipe to make my Valentine's Day mini donuts with strawberry glaze. These are a lot smaller than regular donuts but just as delicious!

Ingredients

Flour - I like to use bread flour when I make my donuts. This flour contains more gluten, making for a soft and fluffy dough.

Yeast - to let the dough rise, you need yeast. For this recipe, you will need one sachet of instant yeast.

Make sure the salt isn't in direct contact with the yeast before mixing because the salt can kill the yeast!

Milk - the fat in the milk, like the egg and butter, makes for soft donuts. That is why I always use full-fat milk when I make these old-fashioned donuts.

Other milk, like 2% milk or plant-based milk, will work too.

Whichever milk you use, make sure it's lukewarm. Warm milk gives the yeast a better start and makes for a fluffier dough.

Instructions

You start with making the dough.

Add the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast to a large mixing bowl. Make sure the salt and the instant yeast don't touch each other!

Pour in the lukewarm milk, water, egg, and melted butter, and mix everything until just combined. Don't worry if your dough is sticky!

Turn the dough onto your work surface and knead for about 10 minutes until you have a soft, smooth dough.

Grease a mixing bowl and let the dough rise under a towel for about 45-60 minutes.

Knead it a little more and roll the dough to a thickness of ½ inch or 1-2 cm.

Cut out rounds from the dough with a round cutter and then cut out another round with a smaller cutter. Glasses also work very well!

Let the doughnuts rest covered with a tea towel for another 30 minutes.

Heat the sunflower oil in a deep fryer to 356°F or 180°C.

Put the doughnuts in portions into the hot oil and fry on both sides until golden brown. This takes about 3-5 minutes.

Pour some castor sugar into a shallow dish and dip the warm donuts into the sugar until completely coated.

How to decorate your donuts

Sugar

Decorating your donuts with sugar is super easy. Put some granulated sugar in a shallow dish and roll the still-warm doughnuts in the sugar until they are completely covered.

You can also sprinkle them with powdered sugar, but you must let them cool first.

Did you know it is super easy to make powdered sugar at home?

Glaze

Mix 1 cup or 100 grams of powdered sugar in a shallow dish with one tablespoon of water or milk.

Dip the top of a cooled donut in the glaze and let it harden completely on a cooling rack. You can also color the glaze with a few drops of food coloring or beet juice.

Chocolate

Mix 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder with 1 cup or 100 grams of powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk for an easy chocolate glaze.

Stir everything well until you have a smooth glaze, and dip half of the cooled donuts in the glaze.

Decorate them with your favorite sprinkles while the glaze is still wet!

Equipment

Frying doughnuts is best done in a deep fryer. This way, you can be sure that the temperature remains good and you have less chance of accidents.

You will also need large mixing bowls and a tea towel to make the dough, cookie cutters, or a donut cutter, and a measuring cup or a kitchen scale.

Storage

Donuts are best stored at room temperature for 2-3 days. In the refrigerator, like bread, they get a little dry.

You can also freeze them. Put the cooled donuts in a freezer bag. This way, your sugar donuts will keep for about three months.

More donut recipes to try next