30 Minute Donut Hole Recipe
Donut hole recipe that's ready in around 30 minutes flat. No joke it's doable and they are just as good as most donut shops. Don't forget the maple glaze!
30 Minute Donut Hole Recipe
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I’m generally very opposed to labeling recipes with a time. The whole 30 minute meal fiasco is something that I don’t really sign on to. But this Homemade Donut Hole Recipe is worth labeling with a time because you really can make them in about 30 minutes.
Sometimes, I think it’s important to really put some emphasis on how doable a recipe is. This is that time. This donut hole recipe has no yeast in it but uses a few other leavening ingredients that make for one very delicious donut hole!
Normally, I’m sure you know, donut holes are the remains of donuts. What’s poked out. These donuts have most likely been rising with yeast for hours. It makes it almost impossible to make donuts and donut holes on a whim.
But, if we just focus on the donut hole, there are some shortcuts we can take that get us really close to the real deal in a fraction of the time.
I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that these are as good as a perfectly prepared yeasted donut, but they are very tasty. Trust me when I say that your friends and family will not complain if they happen to end up on your breakfast table.
30 Minute Donut Holes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- 2 quarts vegetable oil for frying
Maple glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
- In a large skillet or pot, heat oil over medium heat until it reaches 350 degrees F.
- Stir together flours, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, milk, and vanilla. Stir wet stuff into dry stuff and stir until it’s just combined. Stir in melted butter until the batter is mostly smooth.
- Dust a clean surface heavily with flour and scoop donut dough out onto the surface. Cover with flour and press the dough out into a 1/4-inch thick layer. Use a small round cookie cutter to punch out holes. You should get about 3 dozen.
- Fry donut hole rounds in batches in 350 degree oil for about 90 seconds per side. Flip them as they fry so they don’t get too cooked/heavy on one side.
- When donut holes are golden brown (probably around 3 minutes), remove with a slotted spoon and let drain on a few paper towels. Finish frying all the donut holes.
- Stir together glaze ingredients and dunk each hole in the glaze. Use a fork to shake off extra glaze and let donut holes cool/harden a bit. Serve while warm or at room temperature.
Video
Nutrition
Did you make this?
Snap a photo and tag @macheesmo so I can see your work.
Homemade Donut Hole Recipe Batter/Dough
Yeasted donuts are generally made with an enriched dough which is really soft and pretty easy to work with. It does require some rising time (usually a few hours) and that makes it pretty much impossible to just whip up a batch.
The secret to these donut holes with no yeast though is that they are sort of half dough and half batter. Think of the thickest pancake batter you can think of.
The dry stuff is pretty standard. I like to use half whole wheat flour not necessarily for health reasons (it’s fried dough, people), but because it adds a little something to the flavor.
The other trick is baking powder. Instead of yeast, the dough/batter gets its leavening from baking powder like a pancake batter would.
The liquid parts of the dough/batter are familiar: milk, eggs, vanilla, butter. No need to fix any of that.
Stir everything together and then fold in the melted butter and you’ll be left with a very firm donut hole batter. You couldn’t really knead it if you wanted to, but you also couldn’t pour it.
You can make some delicious donut holes out of this dough/batter.
Testing The Donut Holes
I don’t always share failed versions of things in posts, but I thought this was particularly cool. It’s a good demonstration on how just a small tweak of a recipe can drastically change the outcome.
The first time I tried these, I took a spoon and dropped spoonfuls of dough/batter into hot oil. The results were okay, but were more like slightly sweet hush puppies.
Did we eat them? Yes. But they weren’t really what I was going for.
A Better Method for Donut Holes
Round two I tried a different method with great success. I started with the exact same dough/batter but instead of spoon dropping it, I scooped it out onto a very floured surface.
Then I floured the top really well and pressed it into a thin sheet about 1/4-inch thick. Get it?
Then I took a little cookie cutter and punched out rounds!
This led to a much more uniform dough ball.
Frying the Homemade Donut Holes
As with most donuts, fry these guys in 350 degree F. oil. Flip them with tongs as they cook so they don’t overcook on one side. You’ll probably have to fry in a few batches.
They will cook really quickly though. 3-4 minutes per batch is more than enough.
This version turned out much better. Not only were they more uniform, but they didn’t have the hard edges of the failed version.
Donut Hole Glaze
These guys definitely need a glaze though so I just mixed up a quick one of powdered sugar, milk, and maple syrup. A quick dip is all you need.
Time Review
I made these and photographed them in about 30 minutes so I have no doubt you can make it happen. Just to be thorough, here’s the process I used.
1) Start oil preheating. Use a thermometer and get it going over medium heat to heat slowly while you make the batter/dough.
2) Make the batter/dough. This will take like five minutes max.
3) Roll out dough and punch out holes. Again, probably five minutes.
4) Fry holes. 8-10 minutes.
5) Let holes cool while you whisk up glaze and dunk them in!
In other words, I think this donut hole recipe can officially be called a 30 minute recipe!
Oh… and in case you’re wondering I do not think you could make full donuts using this method. They would end up being too heavy and not have the right texture. But, the little bite-sized nuggets work just fine!
I will have to try these next time I’m jonsing for fried dough and don’t have the car to hit the store.
I tried a slight variant of this years ago and they were more like bricks than fried balls of yum.
My first version of these were a bit brickish Joanna, but the second method solved the problem. I think overworking the dough or waiting too long to fry them can cause the dough to lose it’s light, fluffy texture. Report back if you try it out!
I have an assortment of different sized ice cream scoops for making cookies, etc. I think the small scoop (not much larger than a melon baller) would be perfect for this, and probably a bit faster. spray with pam or dip in the oil, then scoop and drop.
This recipes looks so easy and delicious! Do you think 2 cups of all-purpose flour would work instead of half whole wheat flour??
Absolutely! Shouldn’t be a problem at all. :)
Great, thanks!
Hi Stephanie, I just made these with 2 cups of all purpose flour and salted butter and they turned out amazing!!! I saw the recipe and didn’t feel like going to the store for wheat flour or unsalted butter. Nick is absolutely right about the dough!! DO AS HE SAYS IN THE INSTRUCTIONS!!! It makes a big difference in the way the donut holes turn out. Thank you Nick for this amazingly tasty treat!!! They taste great without the glaze as well.
Talk to me about the glaze. Does it dry and solidify nicely, or would the donuts get soggy if I glazed them and then let them sit out for awhile before eating? I’d be making them a few hours ahead of time for a party. I promise, I don’t just let donuts sit around without eating them, unless I have a good reason. ;)
Hey Katie! Yep.. I haven’t made these in a while but I recall that the glaze dried nicely and you could easily make these a few hours in advance without too much worry. Good luck!
Good and simple, thanks :)
Hey so I’m a kid and from what I understand you can use a cookie cutter to make the homes and what would happen if I used a star cutter! Would they turn out the same
Hey Kierstyn! Cool idea but I doubt it would stick with the star shape. When they fried, they would probably just look like odd shaped balls. Ha! Give it a shot with a few though if you want! Good luck!
Hi Nick – can you prepare the batter in advance like a day in advance? I thought about making the dough ahead of time and frying them up the next day a couple of ours in advance of our party – what do you think?
Hey Pat, I don’t think it’s a batter that could be made in advance because it uses rising ingredients that would die by then… It’s kind of a quick do-right-before situation I think. Good luck!
so eager to try this. what could I use as an egg subsistitue for it?
Tough to substitute the egg here , but you might try a mashed banana. Sometimes that’ll do the trick, but I haven’t tried it personally! Good luck if you give it a go!
Would it be possible to use an All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Blend for these as a Gluten Free Recipe? I’ve got a kid that’s allergic and would love to bring some donut holes into his world!
Hey Robert! I don’t think that gluten is a huge part in this recipe because the rising agents are all quick-rising. In other words, I THINK it would work okay, but I’ve never actually tried it. ;) If you give it a shot, report back!
I really want 30 donuts holes
i am going to try to make these today hopefully we will like them
I really want 30 donuts holes please and I want 2 big cinnamon rolls
Istead of koshker salt can I use normall salt.Im a kid and I dont have Koshker Salt.
Hi olivia, yes, but half the amount in the recipe. Good luck!
Just made these little lovely balls of yum…
I made a few changes…recipes, I believe, are a starting point to creativity!
Apple cider for milk
1/4 teaspoon of cloves and the cinnamon
The thickness of your dough in the photo is 1/2 inch…directions said 1/4 inch…tossed the first batch of 10 out as they were not thick enough to have any innards…remainder was done at 1/2 inch thick, circle cut out with a shot glass…
I did vanilla sugar and cinnamon to coat the balls as I am not a glaze person…
I can see using orange juice instead of milk Nd 1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice for the cinnamon in the batter…
I have a happy husband! Thanks for a great recipe! Wish I could post a picture!
These were super easy to make and definitely delicious but it took me an hour and 22 minutes from start to finish to make fry and glaze all of the donut holes. I may halve the recipe next time. There *might* have been some ready to eat at the 30-minute mark but I think it was a little later. Totally worth it for a special occasion.
For anyone new to frying, I’d recommend using a bamboo skewer or chopstick to help flip the donuts.
Also, having a VERY well-floured surface and hands is essential for getting uniform shapes and handling the dough. The dough is very wet to start with.
Think they could be air fried??
Hmm… I worry they would fall apart. Haven’t tried them but not confident they would work well.
how much yeast do i put in?
and Btw i’m just a kid
Hiya! There isn’t any yeast in the recipe actually. It’s kind of a shortcut donut recipe. :) Good luck and be careful frying!
oh are u sure?
Haha. yes. I made the recipe. :)
Hello, when i saw this my stomach was going crazy, i was about half way through and then we noticed that you had to fry them. So we baked them instead. They were AMAZING mmmmmm the maple glaze was just PERFECT !
Betty, at what temp. and for how long??