Matt's Famous* Donut Recipe

Krispy Kreme style!

(*Famous with my friends, family and colleagues! And probably yours too, soon!)

I never thought I'd be writing a recipe on my development blog, but here we are. Maybe this will just be my general thoughts - it is a blog, after all!

If you found me from Threads, thanks for coming, and I hope you enjoy my donuts. I like to add my mental commentary, so sorry if it feels like a long read. But I did write it all by hand to be fair, so at least you haven't got to listen to AI slop!

Ingredients

245 g whole milk, warmed to 38°C (don't worry too much about this being exact, I've even microwaved it with the yeast in, and to my surprise, it didn't kill it!)
7 g active dry yeast (fast action, dry active, they can have different names but I use them interchangeably, doesn't seem to make a big difference)
50 g granulated sugar
500 g bread flour (personally, I use Marriage's Manitoba Very Strong White Flour - in Costco UK you can buy these in a big sack!)
5 g fine salt (personally, I use sea salt flakes and crumble them up to be fine)
1 (~50 g) large egg (crack the shells... of course, I hope you knew that)
60 g unsalted butter, softened - don't worry about it being hot, I give it 30 seconds in the microwave straight out of the fridge!)
1.5L neutral oil for frying (e.g. sunflower - I just use this in a countertop deep fat fryer - a solid investment by the way - but you can also use a saucepan, just don't let it get too hot as it's the easiest way to start a kitchen fire. Not trying to scare you, but it can happen, especially if you leave a pan of hot oil unattended on a flame)

Glaze

400 g icing sugar
60 g whole milk
5 g vanilla extract
30 g unsalted butter, melted

Get creative with the glaze! I found the whole milk made the glaze creamier, and I like to add other things like salted caramel or honey, and sometimes I swap out the vanilla extract for a dash of a coffee syrup - French Vanilla works amazing here.

Steps

1. Bloom the yeast

Combine 245 g warm milk (38°C) with 7 g yeast and a teeny pinch of the 50 g sugar.
Let sit until foamy. I like to leave it a bit longer than 5-10 minutes so I know it's fully 'awake' - at this point it should have a very yeasty smell, and the entire surface of the milk should have the yeasty/frothy appearance. It is possible your yeast has just died in the cupboard, this happened to me when I hadn't used it in a while. The way you'll know is, well, it just won't go frothy!

2. Make the dough

In a stand mixer with a dough hook, combine everything:

500 g bread flour
remaining 50 g sugar
5 g salt
50 g egg
the bloomed yeast mixture
60g softened butter

Sod the recipe, I just throw everything in! The only thing I ask from you, is that you put all the dry ingredients in, make a crater in the middle, then put all the wet ingredients in. Mix on low until shaggy. I use a stand mixer with a dough hook for this, and just leave it going for like 10 minutes. If you also plan on using a stand mixer, or a handheld electric whisk, they start real slow, and perhaps consider folding your ingredients in by hand or you'll end up looking like you're straight out of GhostBusters!

3. Continue to knead, speed up a bit

Add 60 g softened butter, a little at a time.
Knead on medium until smooth, elastic, and pulling cleanly from the bowl. There is a trick to know when the dough is perfect, it's quite hard to explain without a video but I'll try. Basically you grab a small ball of the dough and place your two index fingers and thumbs inwards into the ball, then you're going to stretch the dough out - like Cassandra from the British sci-fi show Doctor Who, if that helps. Sorry if it doesn't. If it breaks, it needs longer, if it's really elastic-like and you can see light coming through the thin, stretch dough - then it's ready.

4. First rise

Cover and let it rise until doubled.
Do not knock it back, keep the air in.

I'd give you a time estimate here but it varies massively. It can feel like it's really taking too much time, but you just have to trust the process. For me personally, I place the bowl on a shelf of a heated clothes airer I have, because it seems like the perfect temperature. If you have any sort of boiler cupboard, or somewhere in your house which is notably warmer - I would try put it here. Keep an eye on it though, you don't want it to over-proof.

Once it's twice the size, or slightly bigger (I find you can slightly overproof good donuts) then take it back to the kitchen.

5. Roll and cut

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface.
Pat/roll to 1 cm thick.
Cut rings with an 8 cm cutter and a 3 cm hole.
Re-roll scraps once.

I got some cool donut-shaped cutters from Amazon, I think it was like £6 for a pack of 3! This isn't cheating, it's how most people get the perfect donut shape.

6. Second rise (proof)

Place donuts on squares of parchment paper, cover loosely, and proof until very puffy and jiggly. The parchment squares aren't mandatory, but it makes it incredibly easier to fry them without knocking the air out. You want to be really light handed when handling them!

It might just be me, but I find the second proof takes longer than the first. I've had times where it's literally taken twice as long. As soon as they look twice the size or bigger, and they're noticeably puffy - that's where you want them. I put them on a baking tray and let them proof in the airer again, and it makes them really easy to transfer to the fryer - and you're handling them as little as possible.

7. Heat the oil

Heat 1380 g neutral oil to 175°C in a deep pot. (I put 175 to keep a nice multiple, but actually I specifically do it at 177 - it could just be an old wives' tale, but it's the way I learned! My best guess would be because it's 350 Fahrenheit converted.)

Temperature control is crucial. Note what I said in the ingredients list about the potential dangers.

8. Fry the donuts

Lower donuts into the oil parchment-side down.
Fry until deep golden, flip, and fry the other side. I almost always give them 2 mins a side. Sometimes a bit less - you'll figure out how to do it by eye after a couple of attempts). Drain on a rack.

I fry as many as I can fit in mine at a time - usually 3 or 4 donuts at a time, massively brings down batch cooking times! The bigger the fryer, the more donuts! (But worth making sure it holds its temperature)

9. Make the glaze

Whisk together:

400 g icing sugar
60 g whole milk
5 g vanilla extract
30 g melted butter

Glaze should be smooth and pourable, like a thin stream, and not clumpy. As I mentioned further above, you can get creative with the glaze.

10. Glaze while warm

Dip each warm donut, let excess drip, and set on a rack. The glaze should set into a thin, crackly shell within minutes.

I'm impatient, and do it pretty quickly after taking them out of the fryer, but you should leave them to cool for 15-30 minutes. By being impatient, you'll get a thinner coat, but I then just double-whammy them and toss in sugar, for a nice bite.