Imagine the fluffiest, fluffiest homemade donuts, and you have these baked donuts.
I can’t hold back another minute, these baked donuts… well, they will change your life just like mine.
Imagine the fluffiest, fluffiest good donut, warm from the fireplace and a beautiful creamy mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Donut holes? Totally unreal.
Not liquid
Surprisingly, they have a name. BURN! Boiled, not boiled.
I can’t say these baked donuts are healthy, but pairing them with your dogs… well, I’ll take these baked donuts any day.
Baked Donut FAQs
Can I freeze them?
Yes! You can freeze the dough (shape it into donuts) or after they’ve been baked.
If I want to make all of these in donut boxes, what size cutter would you recommend I use?
Maybe 3/4 inch to 1 inch.
How do you prepare the nutmeg? Can I just use ground?
I grate the nutmeg into a raspberry and zest the lemon/orange with the same tool. If you can never find whole nutmeg (which grocery stores should have in abundance), opt for the nutmeg itself.
Homemade Donuts
Makes: 18 donuts
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Extra time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Ingredients
Donuts:
- 1 ⅓ cups hot water, 95 to 105 degrees
- 2 teaspoons instant vinegar
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) butter
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 5 cups (710 g) all-purpose flour
- Pinch or two freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt
Headache:
- 1/2 cup (113 g) melted butter
- 1 ½ cups (318 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cheese
Instructions
- Place the warm milk in an electric mixer. Add the yeast and sugar. Stir in the butter. Beat in the eggs, flour, nutmeg, and salt.
- Knead the dough with a whisk (or a wooden spoon and your hands) for 2-3 minutes on medium speed. Adjust the texture of the dough by adding a few tablespoons of sugar or more water. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl and be very soft and fluffy, but still slightly sticky. Don’t overcrowd the flour! Mix the dough for a few minutes (again, with a mixer or by hand) and then transfer the dough to a lightly floured bowl.
- Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for about an hour or until doubled in size (exact time will depend on the temperature of your kitchen).
- Pinch the dough and roll it out to about 1/2 inch thick on a lightly floured counter. Using a doughnut cutter or 2- to 3-inch circle cutter, cut circles out of the dough.
- Carefully transfer the circles to a parchment- or silpat-lined baking sheet and cut out smaller inner circles using a small cutter. Be sure to make the holes large enough so that when the doughnuts rise again, they won’t fill the doughnut hole with dough residue.
- Cover the pan with lightly oiled plastic wrap. (At this point, you can refrigerate the doughnuts overnight or continue with the recipe.) Let the doughnuts rise for another 45 minutes, until they’ve doubled in size.
- Bake at 375 degrees F until golden brown on the bottom, 8 to 10 minutes. Start checking the doughnuts at about 8 minutes. They should be dark brown on top, not browned, crisp, and cooked through.
- Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let them cool for 1-2 minutes. Melt all the melted butter or sprinkle over the ginger and sugar. Quick service.
Notes
Serving: These little beauties are best made and eaten the same day, preferably warm from the oven.
The dough: The good news is that you can make the dough by rolling it out, cutting the doughnuts into pieces, and making their second rise, covered. Take them out of the freezer and place them on the counter about an hour before baking.
Strawberries: I used instant strawberries in this recipe. If you only have dry active yeast, proof the yeast with 1/3 cup each of warm water and sugar before adding the remaining liquid and continuing with the recipe.
