• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Free Ebook!Subscribe to updates & get a recipe book!

Subscribe & Receive My Free Recipe Ebook!

The Chunky Chef

Comforting Family Recipes

  • All Recipes
  • Learn to Cook
  • Shop
    • My eBooks
    • Favorite Products
  • About
  • Contact
  • Trending:

    Slow Cooker

    Easy Dinners

    Desserts

    My Saved Recipe Box
  • Browse By:
  • Course
    • Appetizers
    • Breakfast
    • Main Dishes
    • Sides
    • Drinks
    • Desserts
    • Salads
    • Soups
    • Sandwiches
    • Healthy-ish
  • Ingredient
    • Chicken
    • Beef
    • Pork
    • Turkey
    • Seafood
    • Meatless
    • Pasta
  • Cuisine
    • Asian
    • Italian
    • Mexican
    • Hawaiian
    • Middle Eastern
    • Comfort Food
  • Method
    • One Pot
    • Crockpot
    • Instant Pot
    • Oven
    • Fried
    • Grilling/BBQ
  • Trending:

    Slow Cooker

    Easy Dinners

    Desserts

Home / Main Dishes / Breakfast

Easy Homemade Donut Holes

4.69
/5
30 minutes
134 Comments
Jump to Recipe Print Pin
By: The Chunky Chefpublished: 08/05/2018

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

The easiest way to satisfy your donut cravings, with no finicky yeast or rolling required. Just mix, fry, and eat!

The tastiest homemade donut holes, ready in about 30 minutes, with no rolling or yeast to deal with.  Mix, fry, eat!  Breakfast is served! #breakfast #donut #doughnut #homemade #donutholes #easyrecipe

Can we all just agree that donut cravings are real, and they’re not just for pregnant women?  Because y’all… I was hit with some MAJOR donut cravings last week.  It doesn’t help that there this amazing donut shop that I literally drive right past at least once a week… BUT, I’m trying not to gain a million pounds and spend money there every week.  But those cravings man, I couldn’t help myself!

So instead of stopping in the shop, yet again, I came up with a recipe for quite possibly my favorite type of donut of all time.  Donut holes!  So cute and pop-able, they’re the donut you can eat in one bite!

Mixing up donut holes batter in clear mixing bowl with wooden spoon

ARE DONUT HOLES REALLY FROM THE HOLE OF A DONUT

Traditionally yes.  When donuts were rolled out and cut into that classic donut shape, the dough where the center hole was removed and no doubt used in an effort to reduce food waste (and money!).  But you can absolutely make JUST the donut holes.

HOW MANY DONUT HOLES ARE EQUAL TO ONE DONUT

Sadly, less than you’d think.  1 regular sized donut is equivalent to about 4 donut holes.  So if you’re watching what you’re eating, keep that conversion in mind.  Or be like me and just keep poppin’ the donut holes and treat yo’ self!

Frying donut holes in hot oil

DO YOU HAVE TO FRY DONUT HOLES

Not necessarily!  For that classic donut taste and texture, with the crispy outside and fluffy inside, you do have to fry them.  But I’ve taken the dough for these chai vanilla donuts and baked little bits in mini muffin tins and gotten delicious baked donut holes that way.  So it’s really up to you and what texture you’d like.

ARE THESE CAKE OR YEAST DONUTS AND WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE

These donut holes would be classified under the “cake” variety.  When it comes to donuts, and donut holes, there are two main types; cake donuts and yeast (or raised) donuts.  Cake donuts are made using a sweetened dough that uses baking powder to rise.  Yeast or raised donuts are made using a dough that uses yeast (I know you’re shocked right?), and involves a rising time.  A classic glazed donut from Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Donuts would be a good example of a yeast donut.  Personally I LOVE the flavor of a great yeast donut, but they take time to make, and working with yeast can be finicky.  For a fool-proof donut, go with the cake variety.

Variety of fried donut holes

For these donut holes I couldn’t decide on a flavor, so I went with 3 types.  The classic sugared, chocolate ganache dipped, and filled with an orange scented raspberry sauce.  Can I just say, I literally couldn’t pick a favorite… they are all SO good!

I’ve included the ganache and raspberry sauce in the recipe below, but don’t let the fancy words like “ganache” scare you.  It’s quite simply the easiest sauce to make!

Variety of donut holes on white plate with chocolate sauce

HELPFUL TOOLS

  • Cookie scoop – the PERFECT tool to drop the dough into the oil with… plus it’s great for cookies and meatballs!
  • Piping tip – I love using this tip in either a piping bag or regular ziplock for filling the donuts with raspberry sauce.
  • Cooling rack – This is great for placing the donut holes to cool after you’ve fried them.  It lifts them off the counter so they don’t get soggy on the bottom.
  • Wire Spider – the BEST tool for removing fried foods from the hot oil!


Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!

The tastiest homemade donut holes, ready in about 30 minutes, with no rolling or yeast to deal with.  Mix, fry, eat!  Breakfast is served! #breakfast #donut #doughnut #homemade #donutholes #easyrecipe

Homemade Donut Holes

4.69 from 51 votes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Calories: 218
Servings: 8 servings
(hover over # to adjust)
Print Rate Pin
The easiest way to satisfy your donut cravings, with no finicky yeast or rolling required. Just mix, fry, and eat!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour , (I always use unbleached)
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar , use less for a less-sweet donut hole
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg , optional
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup milk , I use whole
  • 1/2 - 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • oil for frying, (canola, peanut, or vegetable are good choices)

Instructions

  • Line a large baking sheet with a few layers of paper towels then top with a wire cooling rack.  Set aside.
  • Pour oil into heavy bottomed pan (dutch ovens or deep cast iron pans are fabulous for frying), until oil is about 2 inches deep.  Heat over MED heat until oil comes up to 350 F degrees.  Adjust heat level as needed to maintain the 350 degree temperature.
  • While oil is heating, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl.  In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, egg and vanilla.
  • Pour the wet ingredients into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients and stir together for a few seconds with a wooden spoon.  Add melted butter and stir until mixture forms a thick batter.
  • Once oil has reached 350 F degrees, use a cookie scoop to scoop up batter and drop them into the hot oil.  Be careful when dropping the batter, do it from just above the oil so you minimize splashing!  Hot oil is no joke and it hurts like crazy if you get burnt!
  • Add about 8 donut holes to the oil in one batch, and fry about 2 minutes per side.  Remove fried donuts to prepared cooling rack/baking sheet.

FOR SUGARED DONUT HOLES:

  • Add about a cup of granulated sugar to a shallow bowl.  When you take the fried donut holes out of the oil, add them to the sugar bowl and toss to coat them in sugar.  Transfer to cooling rack to cool down.

FOR GANACHE-DIPPED DONUT HOLES:

  • Let donut holes cool on wire rack for a minute or so, then dip into ganache sauce.  Return to cooling rack to finish cooling.  Alternatively, dip a fork in the ganache sauce and wave it back and forth over donut holes to drizzle them with the sauce.

FOR RASPBERRY-FILLED DONUT HOLES:

  • Let donut holes cool completely.  Prepare a piping bag fitted with a round piping tip (alternatively, snip off just the tip of a corner of a ziploc bag and add piping tip to bag so it comes partially through the hole).  Use the empty bag with the tip to poke a hole in the donut hole, being careful not to poke all the way through the other side.  Fill bag with cooled or slightly warm raspberry sauce, and pipe into hole.  Garnish with a little orange zest if you'd like.

Want to save this recipe for later? Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your own recipe box!

Chef Tips

** Recipe makes approximately 24 larger donut holes.  Smaller donut holes will yield a larger amount. **

CHOCOLATE GANACHE SAUCE:

  • ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • ¼ cup heavy cream
Add chocolate pieces to a mixing bowl.  Heat heavy cream until simmering and hot.  Pour cream over chocolate in bowl and let sit 5 minutes.  Whisk until all chocolate is melted and sauce is smooth and glossy.

RASPBERRY SAUCE:

  • 8 oz raspberry jam
  • ¼ tsp vanilla extract
  • ¼ tsp orange zest
Heat jam in a saucepan over MED heat, stirring often, until jam is loosened to a sauce consistency.  Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and orange zest.  Let sit 10 minutes and serve.

Nutrition Disclaimer

The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

Did You Make This?Tag @the_chunky_chef on Instagram and hashtag it #thechunkychef so I can see what you made!
Tag on Insta! Leave a Rating Save for Later Saved!

 

The tastiest homemade donut holes, ready in about 30 minutes, with no rolling or yeast to deal with.  Mix, fry, eat!  Breakfast is served! #breakfast #donut #doughnut #homemade #donutholes #easyrecipe

You May Also Like...

  • Baked Vanilla Chai Donuts | Delicious baked donuts filled with great vanilla chai flavors, rolled in cinnamon sugar, and served with an optional chai glaze! | http://thechunkychef.com
    Baked Homemade Vanilla Chai Donuts
  • Delicious Homemade Apple Butter, made easily on the stovetop (or in the crockpot!), and ready to be slathered on just about anything!  Deeply spiced and sweet, it tastes like spoonable apple pie! #applebutter #withapples #falltreat #spicedapples #applepie #homemade #easyrecipe #apples #crockpot #stovetop #slowcooker
    Homemade Crockpot Apple Butter
  • Perfect for quick dinner, these family-favorite homemade sloppy joes are ready in 30 minutes or less!  The silky rich sauce is ultra flavorful with a zesty kick! #sloppyjoes #weeknight
    The BEST Homemade Sloppy Joes
  • This simple fruit salsa recipe is made with a variety of great summer fruits and served alongside the most mouthwatering cinnamon sugar chips!  Perfect for summer parties and even snacking! #fruitsalsa #appetizer #cinnamonchips #dessert #snacks #potluck #summerparty
    Fruit Salsa with Homemade Cinnamon Chips
Previous Post
Next Post

Meet The Chunky Chef

Hey there! I'm Amanda. Wife, mother, photography nerd, and bacon lover! I believe that delicious meals should be easy to make. Now that you’re here, stay a bit, browse a few recipes, and let’s get cookin’!

Learn More

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Have a question? Submit your question, comment, or review below.

Recipe Rating




  1. Doc says

    Posted on 3/18 at 2:17 pm

    Yuck…didn’t like these at all! They are not sweet enough and they are so sticky that they can’t be formed into any semblance of a circle.

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 3/19 at 8:36 pm

      I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this recipe! However the batter is supposed to be sticky, as these are scooped and dropped into the oil, rather than rolled or shaped.

      Reply
  2. Steph says

    Posted on 3/4 at 10:39 am

    Whole fam loved it and keeps begging to make again!

    Reply
  3. Ashley says

    Posted on 2/11 at 10:26 am

    at what demp should I back my donut holes?

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 2/13 at 8:52 pm

      I haven’t tested baking these donuts, so I can’t say for certain exactly what the time and temp would be. If you do some experimenting, I’d love to know how it turns out 🙂

      Reply
  4. Kayla L. says

    Posted on 1/29 at 1:17 pm

    We had these for breakfast this morning. I had all ingredients and it was super easy. Overall, my family and I love this recipe! I need to perfect the toppings but the ones rolled in suger were a hit. Thank you.

    Reply
  5. Carrie says

    Posted on 1/21 at 10:14 am

    Would bread flour work ok?

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 1/21 at 9:18 pm

      I haven’t tested this recipe using bread flour, so I can’t say for certain how well it would work, or whether any changes would need to be made. If you do some experimenting, I’d love to know how it turns out 🙂

      Reply
  6. Peretimitula says

    Posted on 12/17 at 1:24 pm

    5

    Reply
  7. Shari says

    Posted on 12/6 at 8:17 pm

    My son and I made these for a school project and they turned out amazing!! I made a double batch because I am not very confident in my donut-making skills, but this recipe was so easy to follow we were able to eat the extra ones because they all turned out great! We rolled them in cinnamon sugar, but next time I’ll try chocolate.

    Reply
  8. Lucinda says

    Posted on 10/25 at 10:38 pm

    Great doughnut recipe it’s also easy I put mine in a plastic bag and piped it into the oil it worked a treat.

    Reply
  9. Kerina says

    Posted on 10/4 at 3:25 pm

    absolutely delicious and 100% worth making

    Reply
  10. Cindy says

    Posted on 5/2 at 5:22 pm

    Sounds good. Similar to a recipe I used to use, but no vanilla. Nowadays, I take a big shortcut, and used “just add water” pancake mix, adding a little sugar and an egg with the water. Your recipe is right on about nutmeg; can’t make a real cake donut without nutmeg! Thanks!

    Reply
  11. Kathy Doughty says

    Posted on 2/8 at 6:12 pm

    Could you baked these in the oven?

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 2/8 at 8:42 pm

      Yes, please see the section of the post titled “do you have to fry donut holes” for more details.

      Reply
  12. JCOOPER says

    Posted on 1/21 at 4:58 am

    Delicious! Just the right amount of sweetness. I also tried powdered sugar as a topping.

    Reply
  13. Shy Miller says

    Posted on 1/8 at 12:26 pm

    This recipe is the best! It’s so easy to make and my kids loved it!❤️ Thank you so much for this recipe!!!

    Reply
Older Comments

Primary Sidebar

welcome!

Hey there! I'm Amanda. Wife, mother, photography nerd, and bacon lover! I believe that delicious meals should be easy to make. Now that you’re here, stay a bit, browse a few recipes, and let’s get cookin’!

New! Save Recipes To Your Own Account!

Free eBook!

Subscribe & receive my most popular recipes compiled into an easy ebook format!

download now!

Subscribe & Receive My Free Recipe Ebook!

Game Day Recipes!

These crowd-pleasing tender meatballs are smothered in a super flavorful honey garlic bbq sauce.  Perfect for parties, this crockpot meatball recipe couldn't be more simple to make! #meatballs #crockpot #slowcooker #honeygarlic #bbq #appetizer #party #honey #garlic #easyrecipe

Honey Garlic Crockpot Meatballs

2 hours 5 minutes

Smooth and silky queso dip, made using NO velveeta!  Packed with flavor, yet so easy to make, and party ready in just 20 minutes! #queso #dip #cheese #mexican #appetizer #party #cincodemayo #easyrecipe

Queso Dip Recipe

20 minutes

Creamy, cheesy, and oh so addicting, this bacon cheeseburger dip is just like your favorite gooey cheeseburger... but in a party-ready dip form! #bacon #gameday #cheesy #cheeseburger #party #appetizer #dip #easyrecipe

Creamy Bacon Cheeseburger Dip

32 minutes

Insanely tasty chicken wing recipe, dry rubbed, then hickory smoked to perfection.  And don't forget the homemade bourbon bbq sauce! #chickenwings #wingrecipe #smoked #smoker #smokedchickenwings #bourbon #bbq #crispy

Bourbon BBQ Smoked Chicken Wings

3 hours

This easy game day appetizer combines classic buffalo wing flavors with cool creaminess in an easy dip made in the crockpot. Perfect for any party, serve it up with chips or celery sticks and watch everyone go back for seconds!

Buffalo Chicken Dip (Crockpot Recipe)

2 hours 10 minutes

Chicken Taco Mexican Pinwheels | These pinwheels are filled with a creamy chicken taco filling, which is easily customizable, and rolled up to make a perfect appetizer or party food! | http://thechunkychef.com

Chicken Taco Mexican Pinwheels

15 minutes

More Holiday Recipes >

Who doesn’t love free stuff?

Who doesn't love free stuff? Get an ad-free ebook of my most popular recipes, plus be the FIRST to know about new things coming to the site!

Looking for something?

As Seen On…

Stay Connected

subscribe to get new posts via email:

Quick & Easy

Dinner Favorites

Hearty and positively soul-warming, this beef barley soup simmers all day in the slow cooker, which makes for an incredibly rich soup recipe! #beefbarley #soup #slowcooker #crockpot #comfortfood #barley #beefsoup #easyrecipe #dinner
M

Crockpot Beef Barley Soup

white bowl of chicken and dumplings
T

Instant Pot Chicken & Dumplings

HONEY GARLIC SALMON - Succulent and tender salmon filets cooked in a mouthwatering simple honey garlic sauce, then broiled until sticky and caramelized.  Made with simple ingredients, in one pan, and in just 20 minutes! #salmon #honeygarlic #onepan #easyrecipe #dinner #seafood #fish
W

Honey Garlic Glazed Salmon

Light and filling, this Italian Wedding Soup is perfectly delicious comfort food, all year round.  Made in one pan, and ready in 30 minutes, this recipe is great for a weeknight meal! #soup #souprecipe #Italianweddingsoup #onepot #30minutemeal #weeknight #dinner #easyrecipe #homemaderecipe
R

Italian Wedding Soup

This Honey Garlic Chicken is one incredible weeknight dinner idea. Juicy chicken coated and cooked with a glorious sauce made with soy, hoisin, garlic, honey and more! Toss it all in the slow cooker and let it do the work for you! #dinner #chicken #asian #honey #garlic #honeygarlic #easyrecipe #weeknight #slowcooker #crockpot
F

Honey Garlic Chicken

S

Swedish Meatballs

Opens in a new window Opens an external site Opens an external site in a new window
free e-book!

Download MY Free Recipe eBook!

Subscribe & receive my most popular recipes compiled into an easy ebook format!

get my copy!

Subscribe & Receive My Free Recipe Ebook!

As Featured On:

Back to Top

Recipes

Dinners

Appetizers

Desserts

Slow Cooker

Learn to Cook

Start Here

Tips & Tricks

e-Cookbook

Easy Recipes

  • About
  • Work With Me
  • Privacy
  • Contact
© 2023 The Chunky Chef
Site Credits Designed by Melissa Rose Design Developed by Once Coupled
Back to Top