Grandma's Light-as-a-Feather Doughnut Recipe (2024)

Grandma's Light-as-a-Feather Doughnut Recipe (1)

Firstof all… there are doughnuts, and then there are DOUGHNUTS!!! I mean seriously, most doughnutrecipes don’t stand a chance in comparison toGrandma’s Light-as-a-Feather Doughnut Recipe. These doughnuts are light, fluffy, and absolutely delicious (hence the name)!! I’ll give you fair warning in advance, it’s hard to eat just one!

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Along with Grandma’s Light-as-a-Feather Doughnut Recipe, we are delighted to share 5 other amazing recipes that feature beloved recipes from grandma. (Scroll to the very end to find them.)

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When I was growing up, it wasn’t unusual to find mom either in thegarden or in the kitchen busy whipping up a batch of her yummy doughnuts on a Saturday morning. And, as time went on, she also treated her grandchildren to her scrumptious doughnuts. To tell you just how impressive these doughnuts are, my adult children still remember a doughnut-making day in Grandma King’s kitchen!

Grandma's Light-as-a-Feather Doughnut Recipe (5)
Grandma's Light-as-a-Feather Doughnut Recipe (6)

You can see the majority of steps involved in making Grandma’s Light-as-a-Feather Doughnut Recipe in the picture collage above, however, I will also highlight them for you below.

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Grandma’s Light-as-a-Feather Doughnut Recipe:

Dissolve a packet of yeast in warm water until it doubles in size.

Warm milk + sugar + salt + butter in a saucepan over low heat until butter is melted; cool to room temperature.

Add activated yeast to milk mixture; gently stir together.

Next, add the liquid mixture to a slightly beaten egg and stir together. Add flour; mix together until well combined (dough will be slightly sticky). (I used my KitchenAidmixer with a KitchenAid dough hook attachment to mix my dough, although you can use a regular mixing bowl and mix the ingredients together by hand.)

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On a well-floured working surface, knead the dough until it is soft and smooth (like a baby’s bottom).

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Place dough in a large, lightly greased bowl. To the dough from drying out, give the top a light coating of melted butter and to help the dough rise quicker, cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and place it in a sunny warm spot in your home.

  • Grandma's Light-as-a-Feather Doughnut Recipe (10)

Allow the dough to double in size. This process usually takes at least one hour, depending on how warm (and humid) its environment is.

When the dough has risen, use your fist to gently punch the center of the dough. This step helps remove some of the gas bubbles formed by the yeast during the rising process. It also helps the fermenting process the second time the dough rises.

Now flip the dough out ontoa well-floured working surface and knead again until it’s soft and smooth.

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Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/2-inch thickness (see the picture at the beginning of this post). You may need to add a light dusting of flour from time to time to keep the dough from sticking to your rolling pin and/or working surface.

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Cut the dough into doughnut shapes using a doughnut cutter or two different sized (3-inch and 1 1/2-inch) biscuit cutters. Place doughnuts and holes onto two largebaking sheets lined with silicone baking mats or parchmentpaper.

Again, cover the dough with tea towels and allow it to rise until doubled in size.

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Fill half of a smallstockpotwith melted shortening or canola oil. Heat oil to approximately 375 degrees F. (I suggest you use a deep-fry thermometer to check the temperature.)

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Carefully drop doughnuts into the hot oil (I fry 3 at a time). When golden brown on the bottom, flip the doughnuts over. The frying process only takes approximately45 – 55 seconds on each side. Be careful not to over-fry them!

Using aslotted metal spoon, remove the doughnuts from the hot oil. In order to drain any excess oil, immediately place the doughnuts onto a stack of folded paper towels.

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Repeat the process for frying the doughnut holes (the holes fry even faster so be careful to not over fry them!)

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Place all of the ingredients for the glaze into a wide-mouth mixing bowl. Dip each doughnut into the glaze until it is submerged. Run an extra long handled stainless steel spoonor long-handledsilicone serving spoon through the center of the doughnut. Hold it up and allow any excess glaze to drain off for a few seconds. (If you’d like, go ahead anddip both sides of the doughnut into the glaze, although I personally only dip one side. To obtain thicker glaze, simply double-dip the doughnuts or drizzle any remaining glaze over the top of each doughnut.)

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Place the doughnutson acooling rack(now is the time to add candy sprinkles, chopped nuts, mini chocolate chips, etc…), until the glaze hardens.

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Grandma’s Light-as-a-Feather Doughnuts are always best when served fresh, although they do freeze well up to 2 weeks. When ready to serve, thaw the doughnuts, then warm them in a microwave,toaster oven, or on the grill.Serve with a glass of milk or hot beverage.

Grandma’s Light-as-a-Feather Doughnut Recipe

Unknown

Yields 8 Large doughnuts + 8 doughnut holes

Grandma's homemade doughnuts that are delicious and truly, light-as-a-feather.

25 minPrep Time

5 minCook Time

30 minTotal Time

Grandma's Light-as-a-Feather Doughnut Recipe (19)Save Recipe

Print Recipe

Ingredients

    Doughnuts

  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 package yeast (1/4-ounce OR 2 1/4 teaspoons)
  • 3/4 cup milk (whole)
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
  • 1 large egg
  • 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • Glaze

  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Knox gelatin (To prevent clumping, stir gelatin into the powdered sugar before adding the wet ingredients. The Knox gelatin helps solidify the glaze and resembles the glaze on Krispy Kreme doughnuts.)
  • 1/2 teaspoon butter, melted
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup milk (or enough to make the glaze thin enough to drizzle)

Instructions

  1. Place water into a glass measuring cup and warm until it reaches the temperature of a baby's bottle. Add yeast and allow it to activate until it doubles in size. (You can add a pinch of sugar to help "kick start" and speed-up the activation process if you'd like.)
  2. In a medium saucepan heat milk, sugar, salt and butter over low heat just until butter is dissolved. Cool to room temperature.
  3. Gently stir yeast into cooled milk mixture. Add slightly beaten egg.
  4. Add flour (one cup at a time); incorporate well.
  5. Sprinkle a light dusting of flour onto dry, flat work surface. Knead dough until it resembles a soft baby's bottom.
  6. Place ball of dough into a large, lightly buttered mixing bowl and add a light coating of butter to the top of the dough. Cover with a clean tea towel and set in a sunny warm spot in your home.
  7. When dough has doubled in size, gently punch it in the center with your fist; roll it onto your floured working surface.
  8. Using a rolling pin, roll dough out to 1/2" thickness. (You may need to add additional sprinkles of flour to prevent sticking.) Cut doughnut shapes out using a doughnut cutter or two different sized biscuit cutters (3-inch and a 1 1/2-inch).
  9. Place doughnut on baking sheets lined with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Cover again with tea towel and place back in sunny warm spot.
  10. When doughnuts have doubled in size, remove tea towel.
  11. Fry in oil that has been preheated to 375 degrees F. approximately 45 - 55 seconds per side, or until golden brown. Remove doughnuts from oil and immediately place them onto folded paper towels.
  12. Repeat the frying process for the doughnut holes but shortening the frying time to approx. 30 - 40 seconds.
  13. In a separarte mixing bowl, combine all glaze ingredients; mix well. Dip each doughnut into the glaze, coating as evenly as possible (dip one, or both sides). Run a long handled spoon through the center of each doughnut, hold it up and allow excess glaze to drip for a couple seconds. Place doughnuts onto cooling rack. (Now is the time to add candy sprinkle, chopped nuts, mini chocolate chips, etc...)
  14. When the glaze has harden, the doughnuts are ready to serve.

Notes

Doughnuts are best served fresh, however, they also freeze well up to 2 weeks. When ready to serve, thaw and warm in microwave, toaster oven or on the grill.

7.8.1.2

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Grandma's Light-as-a-Feather Doughnut Recipe (20)

In the end, I believe that you’ll also love and cherish Grandma’s Light-as-a-Feather Doughnut Recipe as much as we do.

Grandma's Light-as-a-Feather Doughnut Recipe (21)

Check out all the delicious recipes from our Grandmas:

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Grandma's Light-as-a-Feather Doughnut Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why are my mini donuts not fluffy? ›

The most important things are: Correct mixing - kneading of the dough. It needs to be thoroughly kneaded but not over-kneaded or they will be tough. Under-kneaded dough will produce donuts that flatten out instead of get taller when they are proofed.

How do you get the old fashioned donut shape? ›

Old-fashioned cake doughnuts were called sometimes called "fry cakes" back then: Doughnuts are made of pieces of raised dough, cut into circular pieces and set to rise. After rising they are dropped into a kettle of hot fat, where they puff up into balls and become brown on the surface.

Why did my donuts come out dense? ›

Underproofed – leads to stiffer (denser) donuts that don't puff up well when fried.

What is the secret for soft doughnuts? ›

How to Make Super Soft and Fluffy Sugar Glazed Doughnuts | Fried or Baked. There's only one way to make doughnuts even softer and fluffier and that is by scalding some of the flour. Scalding is a technique used to not only make bread softer, but also to make it stay soft for longer.

Why are Krispy Kreme donuts so light and fluffy? ›

A batch of original glazed starts with Krispy Kreme doughnut mix, water and yeast, the same single-cell fungi used to make bread rise. The yeast is what makes the original glazed so light -- it puffs the dough up with air, so it's not dense like a cake doughnut (more on this later).

Which flour is best for doughnuts? ›

Use real cake flour – not DIY cake flour!

DIY substitutions don't really cut it, and AP flour will not create doughnuts with that same soft texture. Also, bleached cake flour will work best. Unbleached (like King Arthur Baking) won't absorb as much moisture, and you may end up with doughnuts that crumble while frying.

How long should I let donut dough rise? ›

Place the dough in a greased bowl, turn it over to coat the top, cover, and let it rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until doubled in bulk. To shape the doughnuts: Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently roll it 1/4" thick, and cut out doughnuts with a 2 1/2" to 3" round cutter.

How to keep homemade donuts soft? ›

Place your donuts in storage bags or airtight containers.

If you plan on eating your donuts within 1-2 days, you can just keep them at room temperature. Definitely put them in airtight bags or containers though so they stay fresh!

Why do Jews love jelly donuts? ›

Called sufganiyot in Hebrew, this confection is a Chanukah treat throughout the Jewish world. Deep-fried jelly doughnuts recall the oil that burned miraculously for eight days in the second-century BCE Temple in Jerusalem.

Should I refrigerate jelly filled donuts? ›

I don't recommend trying to store jelly donuts for later, though you can keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 24 hours if you really need to. They just won't be as good as if they were fresh, because the jelly will have absorbed into the dough, making them kind of soggy.

What is a German jelly donut called? ›

A Krapfen or Berliner is a German jam doughnut with no central hole, made from sweet yeast dough fried in lard or cooking oil, with a jam filling, and usually covered in powdered sugar.

Why didn't my donuts puff up? ›

The liquid was too hot, or not hot enough.

It will usually tell you to use “warm” water. The water temperature should be between 110 - 115 F degrees. If your liquid is too hot (i.e. boiling) it will kill the yeast and prevent the rise. If it's not hot enough, the yeast won't have the heat needed to bloom.

Why are my donuts flat? ›

and denser donut. On the other hand, if a small indent doesn't spring back at all, the dough is overproofed. When the dough hits the hot oil, it will deflate instead of puff up, leaving a thin and flat donut. Correctly proof dough will spring back slowly.

How do you make doughnuts soft again? ›

Instructions. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lay the donuts out on a cookie sheet. Put donuts into the oven to heat for 10 minutes, or until very warm.

How do you keep doughnuts soft? ›

You can refrigerate the doughnuts, but leaving them at room temperature for one to two days is safe as long as they don't have a creme filling. Most of the time, you can stash the container in your cupboard. You want to remove the doughnuts from direct sunlight to prevent them from drying or growing mold.

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