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Homemade, eggless, yeasted fried donuts, glazed or cinnamon.

Homemade Fried Donuts (Eggless)

Homemade, eggless, yeasted fried donuts either glazed or coated in cinnamon sugar!
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Makes: 8 donuts
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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

*Though this is a fast-rising dough, if you're working in a cold environment and want to speed things up, preheating the oven to 100C for just a minute and then switching it off creates a nice warm environment for your dough to rise in.
*I tend to keep my glazes a little bit lower on sugar so they tend to be thinner and will take longer to set and harden. Feel free to adjust the quantities here if you want a thicker glaze.
*Prep time does not include rising time.
*There's also a chocolate version of this recipe!
*Adapted from Binjal's Veg Kitchen and Sally's Baking Addiction