Soft and fluffy lemon glazed doughnuts covered in a zesty lemon glaze is the kind of dessert dreams are made of.
That glaze. Dripping all over those golden doughnuts with their soft interior… woaaaaah momma! These lemon glazed doughnuts (donuts or doughnuts, does it even matter?) are the stuff of my dreams I tell you!
I am a fan of dough, pastry and batter. Bread, cookies, waffles, pancakes, croissants, doughnuts. You name it, I love it. And the most obvious reason is that all of these things are delicious (duh!), but I think there’s also something magical in taking the simplest of ingredients like flour, butter, sugar and eggs and turning them into a glorious cake, perfect bread or golden doughnuts. I mean it pretty much sums up my motto in the kitchen. Keep things as simple as possible while delivering huge on flavour and texture.
How to make doughnuts with yeast
Heat together the milk, butter, sugar and water until the butter has melted. Allow to cool to room temperature then stir in the yeast and allow to stand for 5-10 minutes until the mixture is frothy. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the flour and salt. With the mixer running, pour in the wet ingredients then allow the dough to knead for 5-7 minutes at medium speed until the dough is smooth and soft. If the dough is too sticky, add a tablespoon of flour at a time, allowing it to be incorporated in the dough until the dough is smooth.
Transfer the dough to a greased bowl then cover with a towel or plastic wrap and allow to rise for 1 hour in a warm spot. Turn the dough out onto a floured counter then using a doughnut cutter (you can also use two different size glasses or cookie cutters), form the doughnuts. Place the doughnuts onto a floured tray and allow to rise for another 30 minutes. Heat oil in a large pot (180-190°c / 360-375°f). Add two to three doughnuts at a time, flipping them immediately once they are in the oil. This trick ensures fluffy, well-risen doughnuts every time. Cook until cooked through and golden brown on both sides. Then remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper. Pour over the lemon glaze and allow to cool before serving.
How to store glazed doughnuts?
Keep cooled doughnuts in an airtight container for 1-2 days. After 2 days, doughnuts could become stale.
Can you freeze doughnuts?
Yes, you can freeze fried doughnuts before they are filled or glazed. Allow cooked doughnuts to cool completely then wrap well in plastic wrap or foil and place in a freezer safe container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw completely before serving.
Can you bake doughnuts?
Yeast doughnuts will become bread-like once baked. If you would prefer to bake doughnuts using a cake-like dough or batter will result in light and fluffy doughnuts.
Doughnut recipes
Lemon glazed doughnuts
Ingredients
for the doughnuts
- ¼ cup water
- 3 tbsp butter
- ½ cup milk
- 3 cups flour
- ¼ cup caster sugar
- pinch of salt
- 2 tsp (7g) dry yeast
- 1 egg
- oil, for frying
for the glaze
- 3 cups icing sugar
- juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
- 3-4 tablespoons boiling water
Instructions
- Heat together the water, butter and milk until the butter has melted.
- In a separate bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), mix together the flour, caster sugar, salt and yeast.
- Pour the warm butter mixture into the flour and add the egg.
- Stir to combine and knead for 5-8 minutes until the dough is smooth and soft. If the dough is sticky, add a little more flour.
- Place in a clean bowl and cover with a damp tea towel. Allow to rise for 1 hour
- Roll out the dough and cut out the doughnuts to your preference. Place on a floured surface and cover with a damp tea towel and allow to rise for another hour.
- In the meantime, make the glaze. Combine all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth. Place in a jug and press a piece of cling wrap to the surface. This will prevent the glaze from forming a skin.
- Heat the oil in a large pot. Carefully add 2-3 doughnuts to the hot oil at a time. Immediately flip the doughnuts when they are in the oil. This will allow them to rise more. Fry until the doughnuts are cooked through and golden brown on both sides.
- Remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper before pouring over the glaze.
- Allow to cool then serve.
Nutrition
I’ve always wondered with recipes that have yeast if you can freeze them at some point; and at what point the would be?!
Thanks
Cathy
Cathy, I have to be honest, I have no idea. But I would assume you can roll out the doughnuts then freeze them in a single layer?
Yay ! I am so doing these this weekend. 🙂
And? What did you think?
Ha ha, the waiting for the dough to rise, nearly killed me, but I survived :-)…….I made them, and they were great. They went down so well with the family and have a sneaky suspicion I will be making them often :-). thank you
I always make sure I have something to do while the dough rises because I too can’t wait! 🙂 So glad you liked them Lynne!
This is such a wonderfully easy recipe for donuts! And that glaze?! <3 <3 AWESOME!
So glad you approve Katrina!