When I was in school, the neighbourhood Monginis was the epitome of culinary heaven. All our birthday cakes came from there, ‘fun dinners’ came from there, and the only kind of donut I loved before Krispy Kreme came to India, came from Monginis too. Soft, buttery, with a flavour that only old school donuts have. Guess what I did without meaning to. Made that donut right in my kitchen. You guys, donuts at home, not the baked kinds, the FRIED kinds, with yeasty dough and hot oil and what not, are really easy to make! And when warm, dusted with cinnamon sugar or dunked in a sugary glaze, then washed down with piping hot coffee, they make you wonder why you haven’t been making them your whole life.
For good reason, this has been the MOST popular recipe on my blog for three years now and because I hadn’t made donuts at home in a long time, and I wanted to add new photos to this post, I also revisited the recipe to include stand mixer instructions. There are no major changes, just a slight difference in shaping the dough which now results in fewer but more plump donuts. They are perfectly pillowy and airy, with a delightful chewiness. I also changed up the proportions of the two topping options and they work so much better now.
Most homemade donut recipes online contain eggs. And I have no issues with that, but for the fact that I don’t like eggy dough-related things very much. After more hunting, I found this recipe on Binjal’s Veg Kitchen which uses baking powder as a rising agent to make up for the fluffiness that eggs give. I also liked the precise instructions in this with-egg version on Sally’s Baking Addiction so I set about creating a mash-up of both.
I really, really liked the first version, but I knew something was wrong when my dough wasn’t ‘a little sticky’ as both recipes said it should be and the donuts were a little firmer than I would have liked, though the flavour was amazing. I couldn’t figure out why the texture was off, but decided to try it one more time, with some variations. The second time around, the donuts looked pretty much the same, but the texture was spot-on. A little more butter, a little more baking powder, a little more milk and a little less kneading. The dough was on the softer side but I now found it much much easier to work with.
The recipe below has measurements for half glazed, half cinnamon sugar donuts. Feel free to go only one way if you prefer. But I loved having the option of both! The sugar glaze sets and hardens into a lovely crackly top, just like the Krispy Kremes we know and love! It’s the perfect contrast with the pillowy interior. The cinnamon sugar goes so well with the donut holes and they’re super easy to just toss in it.
These are NOT hard to make. Honest. They just need about 3 hours of your time (and I know that seems like the time it’s going to take you to read the recipe itself, I promise it’s just very thorough, not difficult), of which more than an hour is just rise-time. Old school, readymade donuts, now homemade. Let’s do this!
Please read the recipe notes before beginning.
Homemade Fried Donuts (Eggless)
Ingredients
For the dough
- 2 and 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 3/4 cup whole milk (190 ml)
- 3 tbsps caster sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (240 gms)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt if using unsalted butter
- 4 tbsps butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
For the toppings (4 glazed + 4 cinnamon)
- Cinnamon sugar: 6 tbsps caster sugar + 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- Glazed: 3/4 cup sifted icing sugar + 2 to 3 tbsps milk
Instructions
- Warm 1/2 cup milk in a small bowl (set aside the remaining 1/4 cup milk). The milk should be just hot enough that you can dip a finger in comfortably. Stir in the yeast and 1 tbsp sugar. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes until frothy.
- In the meantime, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Now add the melted butter, vanilla and the yeast mixture.
- Use the dough hook to bring the mixture together on low speed, then pour in the remaining 1/4 cup milk. Knead on medium to high speed for 3 to 4 minutes until you have a soft, slightly sticky dough. If doing this by hand, the kneading time won't really change much, it's quite an easy dough to work with. When you poke a finger in the dough and it slowly bounces back, it's ready to rise.
- Shape the dough into a ball and leave it in the bowl itself (normally I'd grease the bowl but it isn't necessary here). Cover the bowl tightly with clingfilm and let the dough rise for about an hour until it doubles.
- Punch down the risen dough to release any air bubbles, then turn it out onto a lightly floured counter or a silicone baking mat (my preference).
- Roll the dough out to about 1/2 inch thickness. The shape isn't important at this stage. Do your best to smoothen any creases in the dough.
- Using a donut cutter if you have one, or a 3" bowl and a 1/4 inch bottle cap (or any small tool like a piping tip!), cut out circles and then 'donut holes' in the center of each circle. Bring the dough scraps together and re-roll as needed till you've cut it all out. I managed 8 donuts and a few extra donut holes. Space the donuts out at least an inch apart on the silicone mat, using a second mat as well. Place the donut holes on them too.
- Loosely cover the mats with clingfilm and let the donuts and donut holes rise again for 30 minutes, or until puffy and almost doubled. At this stage, if some of them look a bit lopsided or uneven, shape them gently with your fingertips.
- While the donuts are rising, stir together the caster sugar and cinnamon in a shallow plate. Set aside.
- In a sturdy, deep-bottomed pot or wok, pour in oil two-thirds of the way and let it heat on high.
- Remove the clingfilm from the puffed donuts. Pinch off a small bit off one of the donut holes. Pop it into the oil and watch when it begins to turn brown, as an indication of the oil being ready.
- Gently lift each donut and transfer it carefully into the hot oil (the shape might get a bit distorted, use your fingers to neaten them again if needed). I prefer to fry a maximum of 3 at a time. Cook each one about a minute on each side, adjusting the heat between medium and high as needed. The donuts should be deeply browned on both sides but not burnt.
- Lift the cooked donuts out of the oil and place them on a plate lined with paper towels. Let them drain for a few minutes, then toss them in the cinnamon sugar while still warm so that the sugar sticks. Coat both sides generously, then set aside on a wire rack to cool completely.
- For the glazed donuts, first let the donuts cool completely on a wire rack. In the meantime, stir together the icing sugar and 2 tablespoons milk in a deep bowl, until you have a smooth glaze. Thin it out with more milk or thicken with more sugar as desired. Dunk each donut in the glaze, then set aside on a wire rack to let the glaze set and harden. Scoop up any glaze that's dripping off (place a tray underneath) and drizzle it over the donuts repeatedly for a nice coat.
- Fry the donut holes all at once till golden brown and set them aside on paper towels, dunking them in either the glaze or cinnamon sugar as you like.
- These donuts are best made and eaten fresh, immediately after topping. They will keep at room temperature for 2 to 3 days in an airtight tin but won't be quite as soft and you may find the sugar on top getting a bit moist though it doesn't affect flavour. You can reheat them before eating to restore the softness. Happy donuting!
Notes
I don’t know, I thinking i might have missed an ingredient. Anything you can suggest please do. And please post pic. Of dough
It’s difficult for me to suggest anything unless I know what your dough felt/looked like. What ingredient do you think you missed ?
Hi, can you please post a pic. Of your dough. Your donuts look great. I have made this recipe and I always think something is wrong.so please post your dough so I can compare to mine.
Hi, unfortunately I don’t have any photos of the dough but I will make sure to update the post with more photos when I make these next. What do you think went wrong with your donuts? I’d like to try and help 🙂
I don’t know, I thinking i might have missed an ingredient. Anything you can suggest please do. And please post pic. Of dough
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Hi can I sub butter with melted coconut oil?
Hi, I haven’t tried it but it should work
Hello I tried this recipe plenty of times and I really love it. I have a question though, instead of frying the donuts can you bake them instead?
Hi Amelia, thank you ! I haven’t tried baking them and you’ll probably need a donut pan so they don’t lose their shape, but I guess it could be done like most other bread doughs 🙂
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Hi,
Just wondering what type of oil you use?
Thanks!
Regular vegetable oil or any other neutral flavoured oil is fine
It’s my first time making donuts and it turned out pretty great! So helpful to have an eggless recipe that works. Thank you so so much!!
That’s so good to hear ! Thank you 🙂
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The best donuts ever! We make this all the time😍 Thank you for sharing☺
That’s so good to hear ! Thank you 🙂
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Hello,
I can’t drink dairy milk, so I wondered if coconut milk from a can would be a good substitute?
Also, do you think these could be baked instead of fried?
It seems like a wonderful recipe
Thank you
Hi! Coconut milk should work, if you’re ok with the flavour coming through a little bit. I’m unsure about baking these but in theory it could be done if you have a donut pan. Let me know how it goes!
Fantastic recipe! I made these because my son has an egg allergy – they were a huge hit for everyone! I put the dough in the refrigerator overnight for the first rise, it worked perfectly.
That’s great to hear, Beth!
Heat up oil in a pan. To know when it s hot enough, fry a little bit of bread in the oil. If it goes brown and floats to the top, in 45-50 seconds the oil will be ready!
Hi, what brand Yeast do u use?
Usually blue bird but any other kind is ok too
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Hello, I was just wondering if it would affect the recipe drastically if I subbed out the milk for ricemilk and the butter for margarine? I’m super allergic to milk and eggs and I’d like to try this recipe. 🙂
Hello 🙂 I honestly can’t say for sure since I’ve never tried those substitutions. My guess would be you’d lose a bit of the richness and tenderness in the recipe, but in theory, it should still work. Let me know how it goes 🙂
Well I made my first attempt today, they taste pretty good but I think I messed up the temperatures for all the rising so they didn’t fluff up. So next time I’ll lower the temp a bit and use a smaller bowl since the one I used couldn’t be covered with a single sheet of clingwrap, the dough dried out when both sheets shrunk lol. All in all though I really like this recipe so far! My first time ever eating an actual donut! Thank you! 🙂
Thank you for reporting back! I’m glad you liked them, a homemade donut is always great 🙂
Have you tried refrigerating the dough overnight after you cut out donut shapes and before you let it rise the second time?
I haven’t but let me know how it goes for you!
This is amazing. I am vegan as well. I would like to have these donuts from time to time. Also, the instructions here are really well written and super neat. Thank you for the fun recipe!
The ingredient list asks for 1/2 c of milk but in the directions, it states to add 1/4 c of the milk to the mixture. When do you add the other 1/4 c?
You use 1/2 cup milk to proof the yeast and another 1/4 cup while kneading the dough. I’ll make that clear in the recipe. Thanks!
I made the donuts for the first time, my dough didn’t really rise like it should have but I decided to roll it out and give it a shot. The donuts are really good, my room mate really like them. I will be making more of these soon.
Thank you for this recipe
Hello,
What is caster sugar?
Thank you.
It’s a finer sugar compared to regular granulated sugar you get in India 🙂 Bluebird brand is what I generally use
Omg so excited to make these and eat..eggless donuts!!! Yes!! Thank you your a god sent
I hope you love them!
Making these now but the recipe doesn’t mention when to add the vanilla. Thank you!
I’m so sorry about that! It goes in with the melted butter. Hope you like the donuts!
Thanks! They were delicious even without vanilla! I’ll be sure to add it next time.
Oh this is very rich, i will try it this weekend. thanks a lot for sharing this post.