A while back I was baking these cute mini donuts, and I often got asked whether they taste like real fried yeast donuts. The answer is no. They taste good and are cute, but they taste nothing like yeast donuts.

That got me thinking whether it was possible to make a baked yeast donut that tastes like a fried yeast donut. I came across a recipe in Doughnuts: Simple and Delicious Recipes to Make at Home by Lara Ferroni for a baked raised yeast doughnut recipe which she claimed resembled the fried yeast doughnuts.

So this weekend I put the recipe to the test. The doughnuts rose beautifully. They tasted soft and fluffy. But, they didn’t taste like yeast donuts. They really didn’t taste anything like yeast donuts in my opinion. Not even like a healthier version of a donut. Had I closed my eyes and taken a bite and was asked what I was eating, I wouldn’t have guessed a donut.

They don’t taste bad, they just don’t taste like a donut. In fact, they taste similar to the mini baked donuts I previously made that didn’t require yeast. Given all the work that went into making these donuts (having to wait for the dough to proof, cutting out donuts), I probably won’t make this again. I’m disappointed they didn’t come out as I hoped. I will have to check out the other recipes in her book though.

You can learn more about the book on Amazon.