Monday, September 6, 2010

Better than Crispy Cream's Doughnuts



When fall is in the air, warm, wonderful, homemade doughnuts are on the menu.  A number of years ago, I searched for the "perfect" doughnut recipe and came up with this gem.  They are easy to make, light as a feather and perfectly crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.  The one problem that we have found with  making our own doughnuts is that our children shun any doughnut that has been out of the fryer for more than 10 minutes!  Spoiled kids!!!

Generally, we dip half of the doughnuts in a glaze and frost the other half with  maple frosting (my personal favorite).  When we have any left over, I don't cover them overnight.  When they are covered they seem to get heavy and moist.  When we leave them uncovered they stay crispy and light.

Better than Crispy Cream's Doughnuts

1 T Yeast
1 3/4 C lukewarm Water
1/2 C Sugar
1 tsp Salt
2 Eggs
1/3 C Shortening
5 C Flour


  • Dissolve yeast in water.  Add sugar, salt, eggs, shortening and 2 cups of flour.  Beat on low for 30 seconds, scraping bowl occasionally.  Stir in remaining flour until smooth
  • Cover and let rise until double (50 to 60 minutes)
  • Turn dough onto flour surface - coat lightly with flour.  Gently roll dough 1/2" thick with floured rolling pin
  • Cut with floured doughnut cutter
  • Cover and let rise until double (30 to 40 minutes)
  • Heat oil to 350 degrees
  • Slide doughnuts into hot oil with a wide spatula
  • Turn doughnuts as they rise
  • Fry about 1 minute on each side
  • Remove from oil
  • Dip in glaze

Freshly cut out doughnuts

Frying half the batch at a time


Doughnut Glaze

1/3 C Butter
2 C Powdered Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
4 - 6 T Hot Water


  • Heat butter until melted
  • Remove heat
  • Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth
  • Stir in water, 1 T at a time, until desired consistency



Dipping the doughnuts in the glaze


Cooling on the wire rack



Maple Frosting

1/2 C Butter
3 C Powdered Sugar
2 tsp Maple Flavoring


  • Thoroughly cream butter and powdered sugar
  • Add maple flavoring
  • Beat until spreading consistency

Try them, I think you'll love 'em!

Maple Frosting



13 comments:

  1. Ok, I just gained two pounds reading your post. I'll gain some more trying to make it! Thanks!

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  2. Those look very very awesome and yummy. Also looks like a lot of work!

    At the Kansas State Fair this year (next week), they say they are going to debut "Krispy Kreme Hamburgers" -- a hamburger that has Krispy Kreme donuts as the bun. I don't think I would like such a thing. (but then again, I like it when my pancake syrup gets on bacon/sausage -- so maybe the sweet wouldn't be too bad).

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  3. What type of oil do you recommend when frying? Vegetable, Peanut, Olive?

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  4. Yummy! What do you use as the maple flavoring? :)

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  5. Save the Canning JarsSeptember 7, 2010 at 7:32 AM

    OK, another great recipe to print and try. On Sunday, I made your Chinese Almond cookies. We soooooooooo enjoyed them! Grinding the soft white wheat with the Nutramil was easy, but I was not sure about grinding the almonds? I tried grinding them with the Family Grain Mill (manual, non-electric grinder) and the almonds just gummed up in the machine. I finally just pounded them in the mortar and pestle. What am I doing wrong in trying to make almond flour from the nut itself because it can't be this labor intensive? Please let me know how you do it because I'm sure I'm going to see I was doing this the hard way.

    Thanks and keep posting those great recipes. My family is enjoying taste testing!

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  6. Oh, the temptation! How cruel to post photos of such delicious doughnuts when some of us (me)
    cannot eat them. Cruel, I tell ya!

    I'm trying to ignore the doughnuts (yeah, right) and focus instead on what appears to be a huge cast iron pan in which they are frying.
    I'm guesstimating the diameter of the doughnuts
    to be approximately 3.5" to 4". So, based on that, I'm thinking that fry pan must be about 24" across. Surely that can't be right?!!?

    Both your recipes and cooking paraphenalia appeal to me.

    NoCal Gal

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  7. Anonymous; I fried these in Canola, but to tell the truth my favorite oil to fry doughnuts in is rendered bear fat! It makes the most delightfully light, crisp doughnuts ever!

    Sarah; I buy maple flavoring from Azure Standard in Dufur, Oregon. It is mail order and they have a huge selection of organic and bakery type items. I really prefer real maple to mapleine.

    Save the Canning Jars; Aren't those cookies wonderful?! I roast the almonds in the oven on a cookie sheet for about 15 minutes and then I grind them up in my Bosch mixer. It makes perfect ground almonds in about 10 seconds! I think that just about any blender would work, however, if you don't have a blender I think that chopping them up fine with a knife would work just fine! My grain grinders don't like the oils in nuts either!

    NoCal Gal; Good Morning! Sorry, the skillet is only 20" across. But here is the really cool part - I have a cast iron lid for it! I have to have Sir Knight lift it if it has the lid on it, but, boy, can I do some cooking it in. Sir Knight bought it for me for Christmas at Cabela's (of course!)

    Enola Gay

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  8. Try Cocoanut oil. It is what we use at home. Canola oil has some.. er.. consequences.. for our family.

    Well, I WAS on a diet....

    Actually it might be good that I am nearly worthless in the kitchen or I might try this. My Lovely and Talented wife is the cooking guru and she won't let me eat such marvels....

    Maybe after another 20 pounds lost puts me in striking distance of merely being heavy... sigh...

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  9. Oh.Dear. Those look SOOOO good! That's just plain mean to show those off to someone from a gluten-free family. I'm sure your family enjoyed them. Please eat an extra (or two or three) for me!

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  10. Gluten-free here too (darn it!) but it saved my life. So much better, I know it's worth not cheating although your pictures are so very tempting! and I love maple too!
    ~Clare

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  11. Save the Canning JarsSeptember 8, 2010 at 7:48 AM

    Rendered BEAR FAT??? Well, okay then, bear fat it is. One must do whatever it takes to have donuts that are perfect!

    Since WalMart is just one mile from my house, I'll run right over and get that bear oil! Ha ha ha ha ha!

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  12. I just made these with my girls! I didn't really expect them to turn out. Nothing ever does the first time for me. BUT this sure DID!!! The girls were VERY excited. We shared with our neighbors. They loved them too. I can see this becoming a long time favorite recipe for us! Thank you so much for sharing!!!

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  13. Made these the other day and they are THE BEST I've ever made! SO good. I used half whole wheat flour and they are still light and fluffy and totally tasty! My family is begging me to make more. Maybe for Christmas we'll be having doughnuts. :) Thank you SO much for posting this amazing recipe. It is NOW a family favorite. So easy to make too!

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