Easy Yeast-Raised Donuts – This delicious treat needs little to no introduction. It’s mildly sweet, soft and slightly chewy.
How to make doughnuts
This Donut is basically the Old fashioned Yeast raised kind of Donut. It is often fried not baked and it uses Yeast as their primary leaving agent. They are popular everywhere in the world with different names, they are fun to make and it’s also a great way to spend time with your kids in the kitchen.
When done with the Donuts. Fill with Jam or Jelly, roll in Granulated or icing sugar (Caster Sugar), or eat as is!
In this recipe, I have skipped the first stage which is the sponge making. Sponge making is a common practice when making donuts but with this method, you don’t need to go through that stress at all. This will save you time and the texture and taste of your donut will not be compromised.
Can you see how soft and chewy this donut looks? In order to achieve this, it is very important not to be tempted to add extra flour while kneading. Otherwise, you will end up with fried bread instead of donuts.
Note that, you may end up not using the all the flour but you are definitely not going to need more. Also, keep it in mind that the softer the dough the better the outcome of the donut. If you follow the listed steps in details you will get amazing hot and fresh homemade donuts.
Wondering what these are? They are donut holes, my kids love them so I leave it for them.
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Here is a question I get asked a lot – Can these donuts be baked?
My answer will always be no. This is because the primary leaving agent is yeast. When you bake a yeasted dough, you are more than likely going to end up with bread. If you want a baked donut, then I will advise you to go for this baked donut recipe. This recipe uses baking powder as its main leavening agent and the outcome is outstanding!
NOTES ON MAKING THESE DONUTS
- First of all, I have to sound this warning: Whenever you are deep frying please take caution. Never leave your Oil on the stove-top unattended to.
- In order to get the best out of your Yeast Donuts make sure you use the least possible flour as you can when kneading because the quality of your dough has a lot to do with the quality of your resulting donut; so it’s good to maintain a roll-able soft and moist Dough.
- Make sure your yeast is active. A dead yeast will ruin the donut. If you are not sure, simply proof it by dissolving the yeast and sugar in warm water or warm Milk and wait for 5 to 10 minutes) if the Yeast is active it should foam. If otherwise just discard it and don’t use it at all.
- For best results, all your ingredients must be at room temperature.
Some other delicious recipes you might like:
More Notes
- In order to get the best out of your Yeast Donuts make sure you use the least possible flour as you can when kneading because the quality of your dough has a lot to do with the quality of your donuts so it’s good to maintain a roll-able soft and moist Dough.
- Also, make sure your Yeast is active. If you use a dead Yeast the Dough will be dense and it’s going to be a mess when you fry it. If you are not sure about this then proof the Yeast (dissolve the Yeast and sugar in warm water or warm Milk and wait for 5 to 10 minutes) if the Yeast is active it should foam. If otherwise just discard it and don’t use it at all.
- Once your Donut is fried, you can fill it with Jam or Jelly, Roll it in Granulated or icing sugar (Caster Sugar), or simply it as is.
This recipe will yield approximately 12 to 15 pieces of donuts plus 15 donut holes. If you don’t want the holes, then you will be able to get about 2 extra donut pieces.
You can half, double or triple the recipe to your liking. Good luck with your calculations!

Easy Yeast Raised Donuts
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour Plus 1/2 cup for kneading
- 1/3 cup Sugar
- 3/4 cup Milk
- 1 Tsp Nutmeg optional
- 1 Tbsp Yeast
- 2 Eggs
- 4 Tbsp Butter melted
- pinch Salt If using Unsalted Butter
- Oil Enough for deep frying
- Strawberry Jam optional
Instructions
- Sift 2 Cups of flour in a large Bowl and reserve 1 to cup for later use.
- Combine the yeast, sugar, Nutmeg and the 2 cups of flour. Mix together.
- Create a well at the center and add the warm Milk, melted Butter, and Eggs. Mix everything together until a very wet dough (more of a thick batter) is formed.
- Work the reserved 1 cup of flour into the dough a little bit at a time until a soft dough is formed.
- Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead for about 5 minutes but don’t add too much flour while kneading. The resulting dough should be soft and moist but not sticky.
- Place the dough in a large greased bowl and grease the surface of the dough as well to prevent it from drying out. Then leave to rise for 1hr or till almost tripled in size.
- After it’s well risen, punch down the dough to remove the trapped air and transfer it to the work surface. Roll it out and cut out the Donut circles and the holes if you choose to have holes in them.
- cover it up again and leave to rise for about 10 to 20 minutes or till it’s almost doubled in size.
- Fry in a preheated Oil of about 375 degrees Fahrenheit till golden brown turning halfway between.
- Once both sides are golden brown, remove from the oil and drain on a paper towel or a cooling rack.
- Eat as is, fill or Coat the Donuts with whatever suits your taste. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Let’s connect!
You can find me on Facebook, and Instagram. I love keeping in touch with all of you!
If you make this Yeast raised Donuts recipe, I’d love to see pictures of your creations on Instagram and Facebook. #cheflolaskitchen
Ekundayo Keren wemimo
Tuesday 4th of October 2022
Thank you madam
Toni
Tuesday 13th of September 2022
Made this yesterday. Thank you for the recipe
Chef Lola's Kitchen
Sunday 16th of October 2022
You are welcome, Toni.
Jennifer Mark
Wednesday 26th of January 2022
Thanks
Ajuma
Saturday 11th of December 2021
Got 20 doughnuts from this recipe plus holes. Delicious! Thanks Lola!
Lola Osinkolu
Thursday 16th of December 2021
Great!!!!
Virginia
Friday 1st of October 2021
WOW lola this is a very yummy doughnuts. Thanks for your recipe.
Lola Osinkolu
Wednesday 27th of October 2021
You are welcome Virginia, glad you liked it!