These lemon flavored donuts are soft and fluffy. The donuts need just 4 ingredients and don’t require any eggs, butter or oil. The donuts can be baked instead of fried.

These donuts take just a few minutes to prepare and contain a hidden high protein ingredient. You can have a homemade batch of donuts in about 20 minutes, including cooking time.

Ingredients

  • Self-rising flour
  • Cottage cheese
  • Lemon
  • Sugar

Self-rising flour: Self-rising flour is a flour blend that already includes a leavening agent and sodium, saving a few extra steps in the preparation of these donuts. You can also make a homemade self-rising flour blend with all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.

Cottage cheese: Cottage cheese adds protein and other nutrients to these donuts while also keeping the dough light and fluffy. The cottage cheese is blended until smooth before using.

Lemon: Lemon juice and zest are added to give the donuts their lemon flavor.

Sugar: Powdered sugar is added into the dough to add a little sweetness. You can also dust more powdered sugar on the finished donuts. Or you can add lemon juice with powdered sugar to create a lemon glaze.

How to Make Lemon Donuts

  • Combine the flour, blended cottage cheese, sugar, lemon juice and zest until a dough forms.
  • Use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the dough and shape into balls. If the dough is too sticky, you can add a little more flour.
  • Cook the donuts in the air fryer for about 10 minutes or bake them for about 20 minutes in the oven. If you want the donuts to have a more classic donut texture, you can also fry them in oil.

Texture

The donuts have a light and fluffy texture if eaten soon after they are done cooking. They will become more dense when they are fully cooled. Because these are baked donuts, they will not be as light and fluffy as traditional fried donuts. You can fry the dough if you want an even lighter and fluffier texture.

Expert Tips

  • These donuts can be cooked in the air fryer, oven or deep fried on the stove. My favorite method is the air fryer because the donuts cook faster and come out light and fluffy. However, if you want a more traditional donut texture, frying them in oil is the best method.
  • You can brush or spray the tops of the donut holes with oil before baking or air frying them. It does create a more smooth and even brown surface and the outside is slightly crispier, but it’s only a slight difference so brushing the tops with oil is really optional.
  • The donuts are best enjoyed while they are still warm. The texture becomes denser as they cool and they become more bread-like.

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4 Ingredient Lemon Donuts

These lemon donuts are soft and fluffy. They only need 4 ingredients and don't require any eggs, butter or oil. The donuts can be baked, air fried or deep fried. The dough comes together in just minutes and you can have donuts ready in about 20 minutes.
Servings: 16 donuts
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
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Ingredients

  • 1 cup (230g) 4% cottage cheese, see note before starting
  • 1 1/4 cups (175g) self-rising flour, see note before starting
  • 3 tbsp (21g) powdered sugar, plus more for dusting or glaze
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice + 1 tsp lemon zest

Instructions
 

  • If baking the donuts, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. If cooking the donuts in the air fryer, line the air fryer insert basket with parchment paper. If deep frying the donuts, see recipe notes for frying instructions.
  • Blend cottage cheese in a small high powered blender until smooth. If the cottage cheese is difficult to blend fully smooth, you can add a splash of water to help the blender blend.
  • Add blended cottage cheese, 1 cup flour, powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest to large mixing bowl and mix until a dough forms. If the dough seems too sticky to work with, add the remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. If needed, you can add more flour than the recipe calls for but the more flour you add, the denser the dough will be. You want the dough to be workable but still a little bit sticky.
  • Use a 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop to scoop dough. Lightly wet your hands and roll each dough into a loose ball and place onto your prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Optional step: To have a more even browned surface and slightly crispier exterior, you can brush or spray the tops of the donuts with oil. This is optional because the donuts will still brown even without the oil.
  • Air fryer instructions: Preheat air fryer to 350°F (177°C) and then cook the donuts for about 10 minutes or until puffed and golden brown on the surface and cooked through. You will likely need to cook the donuts in batches because they don't all fit in the air fryer at once.
    Oven instructions: Bake for about 20 minutes in preheated oven or until the donuts are cooked through, puffed and golden brown on the surface.
  • Allow the donuts to cool for a few minutes before enjoying. Donuts are best enjoyed soon after they are done cooking. They will become more dense when fully cooled. If desired, you can dust the donuts with powdered sugar or you can make a simple lemon glaze with powdered sugar and lemon juice. See notes for lemon glaze recipe. Store any uneaten donuts in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. Reheat before serving.

Notes

  • Cottage cheese note: I used 4% Daisy cottage cheese* which contains 13 grams of protein per 1/2 cup serving. If you use a cottage cheese with less or more protein, this can affect how much flour is needed in your dough. If your cottage cheese has more protein, you will need less flour. If your cottage cheese has less protein, you will need more flour.
  • Self-rising flour note. There are 2 main kinds of self-rising flour sold in the US. One that is a lower protein (2 grams per 1/4 cup serving) flour and one that has a regular amount of protein (3 grams per 1/4 cup (30g) serving). The amount of protein affects how much liquid is absorbed. For this recipe, I tested it with Gold Medal self-rising flour* (regular amount of protein). Please use a self-rising flour with a regular amount of protein (3 grams per 1/4 cup), or make your own self-rising flour with the recipe below.
  • *These product links are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
  • Homemade self-rising flour: Whisk together 2 cups all purpose flour, 1 tbsp baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Make sure your all purpose flour has a regular amount of protein (3 grams per 1/4 cup). Most brands in the US contain this amount but there are some brands with higher protein (4 grams per 1/4 cup) such as King Arthur Flour and Bob's Red Mill, which will not work well for this recipe. Measure out 1.25 cups for the recipe.
  • Fried Version:
    • Add 2 inches of canola oil to a medium saucepan. Bring oil to 325°F-350°F (163°C-177°C). Fry the donuts in small batches for a few minutes until golden brown and cooked through.
  • Optional lemon glaze:
    • 2 cups powdered sugar
    • 3-4 tbsp lemon juice, or more as needed
    • Combine powdered sugar and lemon juice and whisk together until you have a smooth glaze. You can add more lemon juice or water to thin out the glaze or add more powdered sugar to thicken the glaze.
  • Estimated nutrition is for the donut hole and does not include glaze or sugar dusting.
Serving: 1donut, Calories: 56kcal, Carbohydrates: 10g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 0.4g, Sodium: 181mg, Fiber: 0.003g, Sugar: 2g, NET CARBS: 10
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. This is not a comprehensive list of all the nutrients in the recipe (i.e., does not include vitamins, cholesterol, etc). I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
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