Easy, from-scratch, no yeast donut holes! These homemade donuts can be mixed up and fried in minutes! A great guide for making donuts on your own at home!
I spent six years of my life shackled to a deep fry station.
I exaggerate a bit, I wasn’t exactly shackled (only by the need for a paycheck to keep my college from slamming its door in my face each semester), and it was more often the drive-thru window or the sandwich station that I found myself stuck overseeing, but in the six years that I worked for a particular red-hatted fast food company, I experienced a lot of deep frying and bathed my fair share of curly fries and chicken tenders in sizzling wells of golden-brown (more often brown-brown) oil.
And, every evening when I would punch out to go home, my clothes, hair, and skin would be saturated with the distinct scent of all things deep fried.
So I think that might be why it’s taken me so long to share anything on my site that’s been fried, despite the fact that deep fried desserts are truly some next-level stuff… 6 years of scrubbing oil out of your (already acne-prone) pores will do that to you (and if I never see another curly fry in my life, that’s just fine by me).
But today, I’m finally breaking my no-fry streak with these incredibly easy, bite-sized, no yeast homemade donut holes, made with my versatile no yeast cinnamon roll dough and fried until golden-perfection.
Deep frying can be a little messy, but it’s quick, and the results are well-worth any cleanup. These donut holes need to only fry for about 3 and a half minutes (do them in batches of about 4-5 at a time), then roll them in cinnamon/sugar (or powdered sugar — makes them taste like funnel cake or fried dough) and you’re done. Coupled with the fact that the dough is also very simple to make and comes together easily, you can easily have home-fried donuts ready for eating in under 30 minutes.
I’m not sure there’s anything quite as beautiful as watching homemade donuts floating in golden oil until they’re cooked to perfection <3
Except maybe eating said hot homemade donuts.
To be honest, I have quite a few homemade donut hole recipes coming up (ones with surprises tucked inside), but I wanted to share this basic recipe first, as it’s going to be the foundation for the future ones.
Stay tuned, and Happy Friday!
Donut Holes (Fried, No Yeast)
Ingredients
- Vegetable oil or canola oil for frying
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 5 Tbsp butter cold
- 3/4 cups milk
For rolling
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix.
- Using a pastry cutter cut butter into your flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add milk and mix until all ingredients are combined.
- Transfer dough onto a well-floured surface, and knead gently until it forms a cohesive ball. If dough is too sticky to manage, continue to work in flour until it is smooth and manageable (I've found on hot days or if my butter isn't cold enough the dough can be quite sticky)
- Break off approximately 1 1/2 Tbsp-sized pieces of dough and roll into smooth, tight balls. Set aside.
- Fill a medium-sized saucepan 2-inches deep with your oil over medium-high heat. Use a candy thermometer (make sure it isn't touching the bottom of the pot) to monitor your temperature.
- Heat oil to 350F (you will have to monitor the heat pretty regularly and may need to increase/decrease your stove temperature to keep it consistent).
- While your oil is heating, prepare your cinnamon/sugar mix by stirring together cinnamon and sugar in a small dish. Set aside.
- Prepare two plates for your cooked donut holes by lining them generously with paper towels.
- Once oil has reached 350F, very carefully fry your donut holes, about 4 at a time, carefully transferring them to the oil with a slotted spoon (don't drop them in or the oil may splash, lower them into the oil instead).
- Fry donut holes for approximately 3.5 minutes*, remove carefully with a slotted spoon, and place them on a paper towel laden plate. Allow them to sit for about 30 seconds and then use another spoon to transfer them to your cinnamon/sugar dish, roll them in the topping until fully covered, and then transfer to your other paper towel lined plate.
- Repeat until all donut holes are cooked and have been rolled in cinnamon sugar.
- These donuts are best enjoyed warm/hot, and do not carry over well to the next day.
Notes
While these should take about 3.5 minutes under optimal conditions with a consistent oil temperature of 350F, it's still important to check so that you don't end up with 1 1/2 dozen donuts that are still gooey in the middle!
Nutrition
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Rick says
Is there any reason not to use an electric mixer to mix everything, starting with when the butter is added? Can I just drop smallish pieces of cold butter into the flour mixture and let the mixer do the work? And same for when the milk is added? Thanks, can’t wait to try this.
Sam says
Hi Rick! You need to be careful to not over-mix the batter and using an electric mixer won’t quite combine the butter the way it’s supposed to be combined. 🙂
Nadine mclean says
Made them with my 5 year old grand daughter , perfection at its best , easy and delicious
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Nadine! 🙂
Laurinda savilla says
Pretty good recipe for my first time and impressed my 12 yr old. Added part of a hot chocolate packet to part of the mix came out pretty good since I didnt have cocoa. This will go in my recipes thank you!
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Laurinda! 🙂
Imola says
Very tasty,and super easy to make.
Just what i been looking for!
Thank you.
Sam says
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Allyssa says
I’m planning to make this recipe soon. Could you clarify about how many donut holes I should get from the recipe? At the top it says the recipe yields about 12, but at the end it says you don’t want to end up with “1 1/2 dozen donuts that are still gooey in the middle.” Thanks!
Sam says
Hi Allyssa! I’m sorry for the confusion! It really depends on how large you make the donut holes. I typically end up somewhere in between 12 and 18. 🙂
Peach says
Hi! I’d just like to know if it’s ok to use baking soda instead? I love fried donuts but haven’t really tried to do cook one on my own. I’ve got your ingredients, but instead of baking powder, I happen to have baking soda for cooking only. And instead of cinnamon, I’m thinking of using chocolate powder.
Sam says
Unfortunately the baking soda won’t work here. 🙁
Stephanie Dwinal says
can you make the dough ahead of time?
Sam says
Hi Stephanie! I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see any reason it shouldn’t be ok to hold for a day in the refrigerator. Make sure to store them in an air tight container so they don’t dry out. 🙂
Mia says
Hi, I tried theses and they are lovely. I did them 3 more time and on the 3rd I diddnt do something quite. Right and they sank and after 7 minutes they where still raw. What did I do. All in all they where lovely still. Thanks for the recipe
Sam says
Hi Mia! It sounds like the oil was not hot enough, could your thermometer be going bad?
Safa Hussain says
I accidentally used self-raising flour instead of plain flour. Is this bad???
Sam says
They probably won’t turn out like they should. 🙁
Blanca says
Hi thank you for sharing this recipe well try this as to make good snacks for our families. God bless!
Sam says
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Blanca! Thank you so much for commenting! 🙂
Moose says
Hi. I tried the recipe and when they started to brown they started to melt, what do you think could be the problem
Sam says
Hmmm I wonder if your oil temperature was accurate? Do you have a thermometer to check the temperature?
Hannah Murray says
Help they’ve come out really greasy and much darker outside to ensure cooked inside! Advice please because yours look so delicious!!
Sam says
Hi Hannah! This sounds like an oil temperature issue, I would make sure you aren’t heating your oil too quickly and that your thermometer is placed in the center of the oil (not touching the bottom of the pot) and is accurate. I hope that helps! 🙂
Hector says
Hey after about 5 mins of browsing ur recepies and watching one of your videos I’m in love with ur site!!!! It’s full of amazing ideas and it’s exactly my style of cooking and baking I’m never prepared when I spontaneously decide to bake so im constantly substituting ingredients and surprisingly it always comes out great. Anyway i can’t wait to try all your recipes. Keep up the good work. you’re amazing and beautiful.
Sam says
Thank you so much, Hector! I am so glad you enjoy all of the recipes so much! 🙂
JN says
Can you air fry these?
Sam says
I have not tried it. I would be afraid the batter would just puddle in the bottom of the air fryer, but if you try it let me know how it goes! 🙂
Josie says
May I use Mazola oil instead of Vegetable or Canola?
Sam says
Hi Josie! That should work just fine. 🙂