Kirbie's Cravings

Soft and Fluffy Glazed Donuts

These bakery-style glazed donuts are soft, fluffy and completely made from scratch.

photo of a plate of glazed donuts

I finally found a great donut recipe. These donuts are soft, fluffy, and taste like bakery-style donuts.

I wasn’t planning on making donuts. It all came out of a failed attempt to get donuts this weekend. I’ve lived in California for most of my life now, but every once in a while, my days of living on the East Coast make an appearance. One of the things I had to adjust to when I first moved to California is the lack of fresh donuts available after the early morning hours because most Californians consider donuts only as a breakfast food.
close-up photo of a plate of glazed donuts
When I lived in New York, donuts were eaten in the morning, in the afternoon, at kids’ birthday parties, etc.  Whether it be a grocery bakery or a Dunkin’ Donuts, fresh donuts were always available.

photo of two donuts on a plate

This weekend, we went to check out a donut bakery shop that got really good reviews. I had plans on buying many of these delicious donuts. When I got to the shop, the trays of donuts were all empty except for a few jelly donuts. I was so disappointed. I ranted and raved to the FH. I told FH about my childhood days and eating donut holes in the classroom whenever it was someone’s birthday.
glazed donuts
And then I decided to make some donuts. The only problem was, I didn’t have a good recipe. I’ve tried several, and while none of them tasted bad (it’s hard to complain about fried dough), the recipes I’ve tried have not been fluffy and soft like the donuts I buy. And they’ve been a lot of messy work.
photo of donuts piled on a plate
Then I came across this recipe that looked promising. And it was fairly easy too. A few hours later, I was frying up donuts that looked like donuts. And they tasted incredible. I topped them with a simple glaze because glazed donuts are my favorite.

close-up photo of two donuts

I definitely will be keeping this recipe and using it again next time I’m in the mood for donuts and all the donut shops are out of fresh donuts.

The recipe comes from Allrecipes and I followed it exactly as written.

photo of two glazed donuts on a plate

If you want a quick homemade donut recipe you should check out my 15-minute donut recipe, too.

Soft and Fluffy Glazed Donuts

Servings: 18 donuts
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
These donuts are soft, fluffy, and taste like bakery-style donuts.

Ingredients

  • 2 (2.5-oz) packets active dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup warm water 105-115°F
  • 1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup shortening
  • 5 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 qt vegetable oil for frying
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 4 tbsp hot water

Instructions

  • Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water, and let stand for 5 minutes, or until foamy.
  • In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the yeast mixture, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix for a few minutes at low speed. Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl. 
  • Switch to a dough hook and knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Place the dough into a greased bowl, and cover it. Set in a warm place to rise until it has doubled in size. The dough is ready when you can press it and it creates an indentation.
  • Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and roll it out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut out the donuts, cover them with a cloth and leave them to rise again until they've doubled in size. 
  • To make the glaze, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the confectioners' sugar and vanilla and stir until smooth. Remove the mixture from the heat, and stir in hot water one tablespoon at a time until the icing is somewhat thin, but not watery. Set the glaze aside while you fry the donuts.
  • Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large heavy skillet to 350°. Place the donuts in the hot oil using a wide spatula. Fry doughnuts on each side until golden brown. Drain the fried donuts on a wire rack. 
  • To glaze, dip donuts into the glaze while they are still hot, and set onto wire racks (with a baking sheet or parchment underneath to catch the drips) to drain off excess. 

Notes

Recipe source: All Recipes

The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.

Did you make this recipe?I'd love to see it! Mention @KirbieCravings and tag #kirbiecravings!

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Recipe Rating




39 comments on “Soft and Fluffy Glazed Donuts”

  1. Can I have the recipe for this Soft and fluffy glazed donuts please!

    Thank you and More power to you guys….

  2. Me being one to never follow any recipe exactly, this was no exception.  I used 2 cups cake flour and 3 cup all purpose flour.  Because the dough was so sticky, after the first rise, I kneaded it a second time before cutting out the doughnuts.  They were as close to a bakery style doughnut as I have ever achieved!  So light and tender I had a difficult time dipping them in the icing.  I also added vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  This recipe was easy and quick.  

  3. .25 ounce means how many tea sopoons or how many tablespoon??? 🙁

  4. I had tried making donuts last week bt my donuts were crispy on the outside n suttle on the inside as in it wasnt that fluffy n softer as we get in restaurants!

    • I think maybe something went wrong during your rising. But I really can’t tell exactly what went wrong. I haven’t had any issues with this recipe.

  5. I’ve tried several recipes and keep having this crust on the out side. Is there a way to get rid of that. I want a softer donut not a crispy one.

    • Hmm, I haven’t had that issue with this recipe. Did you try this one yet? They might be crispy right after you fry, that’s pretty normal because it’s fried. But once they cool and you put glaze on, they should not have a thin crust. Also you might need to turn down your temperature for frying. It sounds like a thin crust might have developed if the temperature you fry is too high or if too long.

  6. does the texture is same like dunkin donuts?

  7. Awesome recipe! These are Yummy! Thank you!

  8. Soft and fluffy glazed donuts
    I need the recipie please!!!!!!
    send to my email, cant find it anywhere
    [email protected]

  9. can I get the recipie for the
    Soft and fluffy glazed donuts from some one,, I cant find it,
    my email is [email protected]
    please thank you…..

  10. I’ve been honing my yeast donut recipe the past few weeks and have had terrific success using a preferment. The flavors and texture it imparts are substantial. The extra prep-work 1-2days prior is definitely worth it. You get a much more fragrant, yeasty, nutty aroma. Let me know if you ever want to give it a shot. I’ll send you my recipe.

    • Roger!!! Are you back to blogging? I bet your yeast donut recipe does taste wonderful. I don’t know if I have the patience for it, but I can imagine. Just did a whole yeast taste testing thing at White Labs this weekend.

  11. Please send me the recipe. Thank you

  12. i tried making this recipe. wasn’t the dough sticky in the beginning, before proofing?

  13. My daughter has food allergies – peanuts/nuts. If I can recreate these I will be so happy to teach her to make her own superior doughnuts!

  14. where is the recipie

  15. I love love love simple yeast-risen glazed donuts though I usually go for the twists. I am gong to have to try this recipe!

    P.S. Did you hear? Dunkin’ Donuts is planning on expanding westwards. 🙂

    • Twists are my favorite. I saw this recipe for good twists, I will have to try it soon.
      Serious about DD? I always get mad when I see their coffee because i think “Seriously?? You bring the coffee and not the donuts?!?”
      I would so happy if DD came here.

  16. Mmmm, doughnuts. I have bookmarked this recipe!

  17. Looking marvelous, I can eat them out of my screen 🙂 Great appealing photos.

  18. They look like Krispy Kreme donuts! Yummmyyy!

  19. The doughnuts are beautiful! You’re right, us Californians only like doughnuts early in the day. It’s hard to find a fresh doughnut for an afternoon snack. I bet some chocolate glaze and sprinkles would be lovely on them as well. I attempted to make doughnuts earlier this year but they were such an EPIC FAIL that I was too embarrassed to post about them!

    • I tried a chocolate glaze on some but my glaze was too thick. I didn’t photo those. Oops. I’ll definitely make some more variations like cinnamon sugar, chocolate glaze, etc on my next batch. I tried a recipe earlier in the year that got really good reviews but my donuts were a mess. I had given up and decided just to buy them but then I tried this recipe and love it.

  20. I just made donuts this last weekend, too, but I had quite a few more issues! It looks like this recipe was fairly easy though, so I might have to try this out and redeem myself! I attached the link to my first-time donut making experience and am wondering if you could offer me any advice!

    https://lifessimplemeasures.blogspot.com/2011/08/chocolate-cake-doughnuts-with-chocolate.html

    • You should try out this recipe. I’ve had issues with past ones, but this one was so easy to put together and I didn’t run into any problems. I left a comment on yours as well regarding some of your questions. Hope you have more success on your next batch!