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Hi Bold Bakers!
On Bigger Bolder Baking, I like to take what I have learned as a professional pastry chef over the years to create recipes for you that yield amazing results using creative methods. My recipe for No-Knead Donuts is exactly that, a simple method with great results.
No-Knead Donuts are simply donuts that don’t reqiure a mixer, you just mix it by hand in minutes. And to really add a cherry on top of this recipe, you also don’t need a deep fryer because these little beauties are baked not fried!!!! Can you believe it? They don’t look like those cakey baked Donuts, right? That’s because it is a real yeast dough I use and I think you will agree these guys are way less fuss and better for you than the traditional fried Donuts.
I made Baked Donuts last year and they were a HUGE hit, but you still wanted to see my No-Knead method so here it is at last.
I am a huge bread nerd. I love working with yeast because you can see your creations come to life in front of your eyes. All the science and care that goes into working with yeast is what makes a happy dough. Yeast doughs are very simple, they want what any living thing wants: love, water, warmth……. and a little bitta sugah! 🙂
I have made many No-Knead recipes before, like my Cinnamon Rolls, Brioche, and my delicious Soft Pretzels so I hope you enjoy all of these recipes using my favorite dough making technique.
You can create any flavor or shape donuts you like and they will look like they were made professionally in a donut shop. 
Traditional Sprinkle Donuts
I LOVE the look of this donut, it reminds me of one you would see in a traditional donut shop.
Glazed Donuts
So I am definitely a Krispy Kreme gal over other donut shops and this glaze reminds me of their glaze. Dip these little guys straight from the oven and the glaze will form a crisp shell on the hot donut. Double dip if you like a lot of glaze.
Chocolate Glazed Donuts
If you want your donuts to really stand out dip them in different flavored glazes, making them all unique in look and flavor. No one will say no to a homemade Chocolate Donut.
No-Knead Donuts (Baked not Fried)
Ingredients
- 3 ¾ cups (531g/ 1lb 4oz) all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp Instant yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- ¾ cup (200ml) milk, warmed
- ¾ cup (6oz /170g) butter, melted
- 4 eggs , at room temperature
- ¼ cup ( 80g/ 3oz) honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a large bowl add in your flour, yeast and salt and mix well together.
- In a separate jug, whisk together the milk, eggs, honey, melted butter and vanilla extract
- Mix the wet into the dry with a spatula until you form a wet loose dough. Cover tightly with cling film and lay a towel over the top. That’s it, your dough is mixed and no machine needed!! You may have some lumps in the dough but don’t worry, they will disappear in the finished product.
- Leave the rise at room temperature for 2-3 hours. You will see it rise and bubble up.
- Once doubled in size place the dough in the fridge overnight, roughly for 12 hours. The dough will be loose but will firm up when chilled. Don’t try to work after the 3 hours, it needs to be chilled
- overnight. The dough can be kept for 3 days in the fridge.
- To form your Donuts: On a floured surface, roll out your dough to ¼ of an inch thick. Using a scone cutter cut out your round pieces of dough. To cut the hole in the middle I used a piping nozzle.
- Lay your donuts and donut holes on a baking tray lined with parchment paper (use a good thick baking tray, or double tray so your donuts don’t brown too much on the bottom)
- Cover your donuts with a towel and leave to rise again at room temperature for 20-30 minutes. You will know when they are ready because they will have puffed up.
- Gently brush the donuts with melted butter
- Bake at 375oF (190oC) for 15 minutes. Keep a close eye on them so they don’t get too brown.
- Once out of the oven dip your donuts in the glazes. I like to this this straight away because it soaks into the warm donut and creates a lovely crisp glaze.
Vanilla Donut Glaze Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup (187g/ 6oz) powdered sugar
- 2-3 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients.
- Whisk until silky and smooth.
- If you want it thinner add a little more milk
- Store the icing at room temperature in an airtight container for 2 weeks.
Pink Vanilla Donut Glaze Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup (187g/ 6oz) powdered sugar
- 2-3 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 small drop Pink food coloring
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients.
- Whisk until silky and smooth.
- If you want it thinner add a little more milk
- Store the icing at room temperature in an airtight container for 2 weeks.
Chocolate Donut Glaze Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (187g/ 6oz) powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract.
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Slowly stir in milk and vanilla extract. Whisk until silky and smooth. If you need a touch more milk to make this a dippable glaze, add a bit more.
- Dip doughnuts in chocolate glaze and let rest to harden slightly.
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About Us
Meet Gemma
About Us
Meet Gemma
Hi Bold Bakers! I’m Gemma Stafford, a professional chef originally from Ireland, a cookbook author, and the creator of Bigger Bolder Baking. I want to help you bake with confidence anytime, anywhere with my trusted and tested recipes and baking tips. You may have seen one of my 500+ videos on YouTube & TikTok or as a guest judge on Nailed It! on Netflix or the Best Baker in America on Food Network. No matter your skills, my Bold Baking Team & I want to be your #1 go-to baking authority.
Could I use sugar instead of honey?
i’m so glad I found this donut recipe. I love donut but avoid it because of oil deep-frying! Then I see yours, and tried. Wonderful outcome. Now I could enjoy healthier donut more often. thank you so much for sharing your tips and recipes.
Stay safe.
Warmest regards,
from Thailand
p.s. weather here is too warm, working with sticky and wet dough is quite hard. so I slightly floured the surface and top of the dough before rolling out. and if it stick, i put it back to fridge for 5 min. It help.
Hi,
What can I use to substitute the egg / flax egg in this recipe.. can I use buttermilk instead if yes how much .?
A huge fan of all your recipes …. they have worked out wonderfully !!!
I let the dough rest overnight in the fridge, but when I tried to roll it out it was very sticky and wet. I can’t even get my biscuit cutter to cut it out.
Hello Gemma! Can you make this in an airfryer?
Disappointing I made this recipe with high hopes however, like the dough, it fell flat. I had misgivings the whole way through the recipe however I have a policy of following a recipe through to the letter in order to give it a fair shot. My first concern was the honey in the recipe and how it would affect the flavor. I wasn’t wrong. The honey made the dough taste cloying rather than being a fresh, light counterpoint to the sweet icing which I prefer. The long ferment of the dough gives complex yeast-like flavors, this combined with the flavor… Read more »
Can the dough be kept in the freezer
Hi Gemma. As we are in quarantine, we dont have the yeast you used. We just have the yeast that is like cube (i hope you know what i mean, i dont know what its called in english… Im from Czechia). So Im just asking if I can use this one or baking powder..?
Hey Gemma,
Can I use your hot chocolate sauce (the one you make with the baked churros) as a chocolate icing for the doughnuts? Or make an icing using just chocolate chips and a tbsp of milk ( to prevent it from hardening) ?
Mine seem to be more like a sweet roll than doughnut.