What’s even better than a doughnut? A pile of doughnut holes! I’m the kind of person who needs a little something sweet after every meal, and to me doughnut holes are the ideal treat because they’re small, sugary, easy to customize, and perfectly poppable.
This easy doughnut hole recipe requires no yeast, and takes just 20 minutes from start to finish—so I can skip the store-bought boxes and make delicious doughnut holes at home any time I’m craving them.
Ingredients for Doughnut Holes
- Flour: Our doughnut hole recipe calls for all-purpose flour. This type of flour works nicely in a soft dough that doesn’t require a high amount of protein.
- Granulated sugar: Sugar sweetens the dough, and helps each doughnut hole turn that beautiful golden-brown color.
- Confectioners’ sugar: Rolling the doughnut holes in confectioners’ sugar makes each bite powdery and extra sweet.
- Baking powder: Instead of yeast, this recipe uses baking powder to make the dough rise. Make sure you know the difference between baking soda and baking powder—they’re not interchangeable.
- Milk: Our Test Kitchen recommends using 2% in most baking recipes that call for milk, but you can also use 1% or whole. The milk contributes richness to the dough.
- Oil for frying: The best oils for frying have a neutral flavor and a high smoke point. Canola oil is a great choice for doughnuts and many other fried foods.
Directions
Step 1: Combine the ingredients
In a large bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. In a different bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and melted butter.
Step 2: Make the dough
Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture, and mix well to combine.
Step 3: Heat the oil
In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat the oil to 375°F.
Editor’s Tip: If you don’t have an electric skillet or a deep-fat fryer, you can fry in a deep pan instead. Use an instant0read thermometer to check the temperature of the oil for best results. If you don’t have a thermometer, dip the handle of a wooden spoon into the oil. If the oil starts bubbling, you’re good to go. If the oil starts leaping out of the pan, you’ll want to lower the heat a bit before you start frying.
Step 4: Fry the doughnut holes
Drop the dough by heaping teaspoonfuls, five or six at a time, into the oil. Fry until browned, about one to two minutes, turning once. Drain the fried doughnut holes on paper towels.
Editor’s Tip: We use a cookie scoop to drop the dough into the oil. It’s the perfect tool to get round, uniform balls of dough into your hot oil. However, a spoon is a fine replacement. While the shape of each doughnut might not be as round as it would be with a scoop, misshapen doughnut holes are just as tasty!
Step 5: Coat the doughnut holes
Let the doughnut holes cool just slightly. Roll them in a bowl of confectioners’ sugar when they’re still warm but not hot. The sugar sticks better this way. Then, devour.
How to Tell When Donut Holes Are Done
You’ll know the doughnut holes are done frying and cooked through when they’re evenly golden brown on the outside. After your first batch, break one or two of them open to check if they’re cooked through. If they’re still gooey on the inside, fry the next batch a little longer.
The temperature of the oil will lower when you drop in the doughnut holes. So after you fry a batch, let the oil come back up to the correct temperature before frying the next batch. Keeping the oil at the correct temperature and frying only five to six doughnut holes at at time is the key to making perfectly cooked doughnut holes.
How to Store Doughnut Holes
Store doughnut holes in an airtight container or bag, where they’ll last for one to two days. If you know you won’t finish the doughnut holes within that timeframe, you can freeze them.
To freeze doughnut holes, first let them cool completely. Then, arrange them in layers in a resealable freezer bag, with a piece of waxed paper between each layer to prevent them from sticking together in the freezer.
Thaw the doughnuts in the microwave. Start with 10 seconds at 50% power and add more time as necessary. Our guide to how to freeze doughnuts provides more detail on freezing and thawing.
Doughnut Hole Variations
- Glazed doughnut holes: If you want to swap the powdered sugar for a sticky glaze, try our vanilla doughnut glaze, maple doughnut glaze or chocolate doughnut glaze. Or make a colorful fruity glaze by whisking together 2 cups of powdered sugar with 3 to 5 tablespoons thawed frozen juice concentrate. Grape, cherry-pomegranate, or cranberry are all good options. Dip the doughnut holes in the glaze and let them dry on waxed paper.
- Filled doughnut holes: Filling isn’t just for full-sized doughnuts! Scoop jam, cream or Nutella into a piping bag. Poke the fitted tip into the center of each doughnut hole and gently fill it.
Tips for Making Doughnut Holes
Why are my doughnut holes greasy?
If your doughnut holes came out greasy, your frying oil wasn’t hot enough when you dropped in the dough. Next time, make sure you use a thermometer to gauge the temperature, or use the wooden spoon method described above.
Don’t forget to give the oil time to come back up to temperature in between batches, since it will lose some heat with each batch.
Why did the doughnut holes fall apart in the oil?
If your batter falls apart in the oil as it fries, the dough likely didn’t have enough moisture. Double check your ingredient measurements when making the dough.
What can I do if the dough is too sticky?
If you’re having a hard time getting the dough to come out of the cookie scoop, try spraying the scoop (or the spoon) with cooking spray first. You might need to re-spray after a few batches.
