Doughnuts ala Krispy Kreme
June 22, 2015
Let's take a break from ice cream and talk about doughnuts! A few months ago, I craved Krispy Kreme doughnuts. There was no Krispy Kreme nearby (now that we've moved to a new apartment, there's a Krispy Kreme about 3 miles away) so I had to make some myself. Luckily, I found a Krispy Kreme copycat recipe online and it definitely delivered.
These doughnuts were so good that I made them twice in the same week - diet be damned. I inhaled four doughnuts and a dozen or so doughnut holes in one sitting. They are soft, "light," and not greasy - very, very similar to (if not the same as) Krispy Kreme doughnuts that I almost couldn't believe it.
Quite a bit of work, these donuts, but worth it if Krispy Kreme is too far away plus you get to eat the doughnut holes too. They're not difficult to make, it's just that the waiting time is quite long since the dough has to rise twice. I'm not a patient person so this part of the recipe is annoying. Also, shaping the doughnuts can be a little tricky especially if you do not have a donut cutter. I don't have one so I used two round cutters: 1 large and 1 small to make the holes. They don't have to be perfect so don't sweat it if the shape looks weird, they're all going to taste the same in the end. ;)
No oven needed, just a big pot of hot oil. Take care when transferring the doughnuts to the oil though, make sure they don't splash, and be extra careful not to stretch the doughnuts and deform them. These don't take long to fry so keep an eye on them so they don't get burned. Dip in your glaze of choice while still warm and sprinkle with whatever toppings you fancy (I used roasted peanuts and crushed Oreos).
And that's about it. I had some of the leftover doughnuts with a matcha latte for breakfast the next morning and they were still good. I doubt you'll have issues with storing these doughnuts though because they will be gone in a snap.
Doughnuts ala Krispy Kreme
Print Recipe
makes about 18-24 doughnuts, depending on the size of your cutters
Ingredients
Glaze
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 2 tsp evaporated milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3-4 tsps hot water
Nutella Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 1/2 tbsp Nutella
- 4-6 tsps milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- sprinkles, nuts, crushed cookies, for topping (optional)
Doughnuts
- 2 1/4 tsp or 1 packet active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup warm water, around 110F
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup evaporated milk, warmed to 110F
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup vegetable shortening (or vegetable oil), at room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, then more as needed
- 3-4 cups vegetable shortening or vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, whisk together yeast, warm water and 1/2 tsp of the sugar. Let rest 5 - 10 minutes until frothy.
- Add in evaporated milk, remaining granulated sugar (3 Tbsp + 2 1/2 tsp), salt, 1/4 cup shortening, egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Add half of the flour and set mixer with whisk attachment and blend until smooth.
- Switch mixer to hook attachment, slowly add remaining flour and knead on low speed until smooth and elastic about 4 - 5 minutes, adding additional flour as needed (You shouldn't need a lot more, you want dough to be slightly sticky and tacky but shouldn't stick to a clean fingertip).
- Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until double in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Punch dough down and roll into an even layer onto a floured surface to slightly less than 1/2-inch thickness.
- Cut into doughnut shapes using a doughnut cutter or two round circle cutters (on large and one small for holes). Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 - 40 minutes.
- Heat shortening in a in a big pot to 360F (don't walk away from oil while preheating and don't let it get above 375F, remove from heat and reduce heat as needed). Oil temperature needs to be above 360F so that the doughnuts don't absorb too much oil.
- Meanwhile, prepare the glaze. You can make either the plain sugar glaze, or the Nutella glaze, or both if you like. Mix together all of the glaze ingredients in a shallow dish (don't add too much water, you'll be dipping warm doughnuts in glaze so you don't want it to be runny, fairly thick is good).
- Carefully transfer doughnuts to oil and fry until golden on bottom, then using a wooden chopstick, flip to opposite side and fry opposite side until golden brown. Do not crowd the doughnuts in the pan or the temperature of the oil will drop.
- Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool 1 - 2 minutes then dip top half in glaze while still warm and return to wire rack and allow glaze to set at room temperature.
- Best served warm. Once cool reheat in microwave 5 - 10 seconds if desired.
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