The Original Krispy Kreme Glazed Doughnuts you know and love and now you can make them at home and eat them fresh!
If you’ve ever looked up doughnuts on Pinterest you’ve likely seen many Krispy Kreme copycat recipes. I tried 4 of them off Pinterest and was less than enthusiastic. The dough wasn’t fluffy enough, the glaze didn’t harden to a point where it was thin and shattered upon being bitten into. Those qualities are what make Krispy Kreme so special. So I ditched Pinterest and dug a whole lot further. I found a recipe from the Chicago Tribune that they tested and retested six times until it was the flavor we all know and love.
It works! With just a couple of adjustments, these Krispy Kreme Glazed Doughnuts are a GREAT copycat, not perfect mind you as part of the magic lies in their air pressurized extruders, but if you are looking to make this recipe at home, you need to go no further. These doughnuts are best right after the glaze dries!
To get ahead of the questions:
- Yes I totally made these in vegetable shortening (I use Spectrum), that is authentic to Krispy Kreme Glazed Doughnuts. You can absolutely substitute with canola oil if you prefer. Just know the more you change the less “authentic” to expect it to be.
- I used my trusty cast iron skillet with a frying thermometer to maintain the perfect temperature. If you eyeball it instead of using a thermometer you may end up with burnt/raw donuts or oily ones if your oil is too hot or too cold. If you are going through the process of making these definitely grab the tools to make it right.
- You can make any shape you need. I pictured the classic shape, but I also made bars and experimented with maple bars (I failed on that glaze. Don’t worry I will keep trying, purely for scientific reasons of course 😉 )
- These are glazed when warm and eaten within minutes of the glaze hardening. I am also sometimes guilty of eating them before the glaze even hardens. Messy but DELICIOUS.
Original Krispy Kreme Glazed Doughnuts
Ingredients
- Doughnuts:
- 2 packet yeast 1/4 ounce packets
- 1/4 cup warm water 105-115 degrees
- 1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk scalded, then cooled
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 cups vegetable shortening or vegetable oil if you would prefer for frying
- Glaze:
- 2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup I make my homemade corn syrup in my [url:2]Caramel Popcorn recipe[/url]
Instructions
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Add water and yeast together in a your stand mixer and set aside for 10 minutes.
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Add in the milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening and 2 cups of the flour.
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Turn the stand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, then add in the rest of the flour and mix until just combined.
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Take the bowl out of the stand mixer and cover with a clean towel to let it rise for 1 hour.
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When you can push down on the dough and your fingerprint stays you're ready to move on to the next step.
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Working with half the dough at a time, roll it to 1/2 inch thick on a floured surface.
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Dip your doughnut cutter in flour and cut out a dozen doughnuts with each half of the dough and out onto wax paper.
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Let rise, covered, in a warm spot for 30-45 mins (I did 45)
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In a cast iron pan or other deep saucepan, heat the vegetable shortening to 375 degrees.
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Please use a thermometer to measure the temperature as this is a critical step.
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Fry the doughnuts on each side for 90 seconds.
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Drain on a cooling rack until you finish cooking them all then dip into the glaze.
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To make the glaze, add the powdered sugar, milk and corn syrup to a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds.
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Most importantly, eat with reckless abandon.
I have made this recipe twice already! They turned out wonderful! You definitely have to be patient and let the dough rise appropriately. It took about 3 hours to get a good rose before cutting into donuts. Then once I rolled out the dough and cut out the donuts I put them in a warmed oven (turned in the oven to 200*F then shut it off , put the donuts in the oven on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and keep the oven door ajar slightly.) I kept them in there until they were nice and puffy. It took me about 2 hours to get to that point. I fried them in crisco shortening and kept the temp at 350*F. They turned out nice and fluffy and were delicious! The recipe made about 36 donuts. I made different glazes and also tried a savory donut by drizzling olive oil and sprinkling a little flaky sea salt and served it with burrata and prosciutto! It was to die for! Also tried it with Nutella and sprinkled sea salt over it. So yummy!!!
Can I use Spectrum Sunflower oil Or Spectrum Coconut Oil for this recipe?
I’ve only tried it using Spectrum vegetable shortening. If you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turned out.
Can you freeze 1/2 the dough?
Sure 🙂
This is no where near a Krispie Kreme. Disappointed.
Sorry they didn’t live up to your expectation.
Sadly disappointed. I’ve tried other recipes that were way better. This tastes like greasy homemade bread. Yuck!
URGENT- What’s the difference between shortening and vegetable shortening ?? I can’t find shortening but I found vegetable shortening
Those are the same. Crisco is hydrogenated vegetable oil shortening. Is that what you got?
Please adjust prep and cook times.
Dough rests for an hour then an additional 45 min.
Also should include time for scalding milk.
This 2+ hour recipe. Minimum.
The doughnuts I made from this, Original Krispy Kreme Glazed Doughnuts, recipe came out delicious. I added one tablespoon of vanilla extract to the dough and substituted the high fructose corn with Log Cabin Syrup and they still came out tasting like Original Krispy Kreme Glazed Doughnuts.
I do not eat eggs. Can i make it eggless?
I’ve not tested it without using them.
Hello looks yummy and promising!
Is there an alternative for corn syrup? Can’t wait to try this ?
I haven’t tried this recipe with a substitution. I do have instructions on how to make your own. You can find it by clicking the green link in the recipe card.
Thank you for the lovely recipe. We all love it. Crispy outside and soft inside. We change the icing sugar glaze with chocolate glaze. yummmm???
I only have Instant Dry yeast, can that work?
The first time I made these I used Veg oil and they were really great, but the second time I used Spectrum shortening to fry in. Through the roof great! These truly are Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Thank you Thank you Thank you.
Thanks for the suggestion, Jack.
What can i substitute for the shortening? Thanks
You can use either margarine or butter but the moisture might be different.
Can I use active dry yeast instead of yeast packets? If so, how much do I use? Thanks!
Yes, you’ll need 1/2 ounce of active dry yeast. Enjoy!
Hi! How did you measure out flour? Spoon into the cup?
Yes, spoon in and level off at the top. Enjoy!
Does it matter whether it’s active dry yeast or unactivated?
active dry yeast
Hi Sabrina
Im about tho let my dough rise for the hour
But I have a doubt because my dough is really sticky …… is that normal
Can you please help
-Michelle
I have the same question! Is the dough supposed to be really sticky before rising? Or does it need more flour?
This is totally normal! Don’t worry, your dough should be sticky before it rises. Just toss some flour on top and let it rise, and then after an hour knead it with flour and it should be much less sticky and held together.?
What kind of yeast did you use? For example, Active Dry Yeast.
Yes, active dry yeast
Wow I made doughnuts yesterday and they were amazing!!! Thank you for this recipe!!!
Made these today. The dough is AMAZING, you have to follow the recipe perfectly though. I’ve tried a few others with butter or oil instead of shortening and they come out very dense and bread-like. Shortening did the trick and the dough was nice and fluffy! The icing was very confectioners sugar heavy and honestly not my favorite but wasn’t bad overall. I did some of the donuts in cinnamon sugar instead and those were really good! The cooking temp and time were too high for my donuts but I adjusted and ended up around 325 for 50 seconds on each side, so as always, cooking times vary. Will definitely use the dough recipe again!
This recipe is wayyyy better than Krispy Kreme. .. Thank you so much! My family loved every bite.
Im confused by the yeast measurement for your Krispy cream donuts. 2 packet yeast 1/4 oz. Packet? Is that 2 packets that are 1/4 oz each for a total of 1/2 oz or what?
It’s 2 packets of yeast. Each packet is 1/4 ounce. Hope this helps clear up any confusion. Enjoy!
Hey Sabrina.
I just want to ask you something.
What makes the doughnut soft, is it the shortening?
Yes, it definitely makes them tender.
these are so good!
I made them carefully and precisely, and it turned out great!
Yay!! So glad you decided to give them a try.
I was really hoping for these to turn out something like Krispy Kreme but I was highly disappointed. The donuts tasted more like bread and the glaze tasted like watered down confectioners sugar.
Hello ?
Greetings from the UK. Can these doughnuts be made in an air fryer?
I’ve not tried it before. If you decide to give it a shot, I’d love to know how they turn out. Thanks!
I don’t have corn syrup, what can I use instead? Thanks!
You can make your own by dissolving 1 cup sugar in 1/4 cup of water. You can also use honey or light molasses as a substitute. Hope this helps!
Haven’t tried yet. Looks great. Do you have a video making this recipe?
No, I don’t. Sorry
Wow! I can not believe how well they turned out. They are amazing! I followed the recipie very carefully. I’m not sure what the point of scalding the milk then cooling it off does. But I did it and the donuts are fantastic. I’ve never made anything like this and they are a hit. Thank you for this recipie. It’s a keeper for life.
I followed exactly. Except used butter and not shortening. And it tasted like bread. Not light like Krispy Kreme. More like Dunkin’ Donuts
“I followed exactly. Except used butter and not shortening.”
Not meaning too sound literal here but “I did this exactly, except I did this…” is not following exactly; believe it or not, a small change such as butter vs shortening makes a texture difference.
Go off Mike D!
First of all, this is my 19th time making this recipe. Secondly, I can 100% assure you the doughnuts tasted very much like Krispy Kreme. (I did adjust the recipe quite a bit)
Adjustments:
17 grams (1 + 1/2 tbsp) of potato starch should add a little chewiness and more lightness to the doughnuts.
Use 12g of yeast to ensure the same lightness as Krispy Kreme when you let the covered dough rise for 1 hour at room temp, then deflate the dough and retard it in the fridge for 1 + 1/2 hours at 3 degrees Celsius. (You will have to wake up at 5 or 6!) Take it out and let it rise until the yeast is active again. (It will ‘proof’ in the process) Then roll it out and cut out the doughnuts.
Use high protein/enriched protein/bread flour and stick to the amount of flour (625g) used in the recipe. (More will be needed for kneading and rolling)
The dough will be sticky but that is how Krispy Kreme make their doughnuts so light. They start with a sticky dough and let the yeast proof, with the dough becoming more dry as the moisture evaporates.
The doughnuts rise the best when they are on wax paper/baking paper during the final stage of rising a.k.a cutting them out and letting them rise for 45 mins. If your doughnuts deflate, it will be because either you left it to rise in a heated oven, or the doughnuts make sudden contact with colder air. So I suggest letting the cut out doughnuts rise at room temp, uncovered, for 45 mins to 1 hour. (1 hour is always better) When cooking, slide the donuts in or flip the wax paper at a low height, let the doughnuts hit the oil and use a lid to avoid oil splashing.
The doughnuts at Krispy Kreme are fried at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. This ensures the golden band (the sexy midriff, I call it) in the middle of the doughnut always form. The doughnuts, after cooking, should be 1/3 of the cooking temp before dipping them in a 120 degrees Fahrenheit glaze. This is how traditional Krispy Kremes have been made since the arrival of their doughnut machines.
The glaze actually consists of confectioner’s sugar, water, vegetable shortening, stabilizers(agar and locust bean gum)*, wheat/soy starch, flavoring.^
Thank you for this recipe, given a few adjustments, I plan to sell these to relatives!
*Replaceable with normal corn syrup but do not use gelatin or other substitutes. I tried multiple different substitutes and wasted like 1/2 of the batches, so only corn syrup works. (Karo is recommended, but then again, corn starch makes an excellent and healthier corn syrup)
^ I used vanilla extract. I have no idea what Krispy Kreme uses. They have not made it public.
And also use cut out squared wax paper for each doughnut during the final rising stage.
Thanks for this, Anonymous! How much wheat or soy starch did you use in the glaze?
Hi there,
Thanks so much for the adjustments that you made, i’m yet to try it but for the 17g of potato starch, is that adding an EXTRA 17g to the 625g or flour? Or did you only use 612g of flour and added 17g of potato starch to make the 625g.
Thanks
I too would like to know and clarify a few things from your post!
I’m a bit of a nitpicky baker who weighs every single ingredient out to the tenth of a gram.
I’m intrigued because I think your recipe is different enough that it actually isn’t the recipe posted on this site. This of course would yield vastly different results.
To piggy back off of Emily’s question: is the 17g of potato starch added in addition to the flour or do you not use the full amount of flour suggested?
The recipe calls for using 14g yeast (that is the weight of two 1/4oz packages of yeast). You say using to use 12g instead?
Jury’s out on the bread flour for me! However the theory is that more protein structure leads to a lighter donut. My previous experiments with bread flour in donuts resulted in tough, crunchy exterior, dry “treats”. Bakers error perhaps. Some say don’t use bread flour for the aforementioned reasons, others say that can’t tell a difference.
Opposed to the recipe posted, your recipe essentially calls for 3 rises:
1. 1 hour first rise
2. 1 1/2 hour refrigerated + unspecified second rise time out of refrigerator
3. 45 minute to an hour of proofing stage/final rise
Well, anyway, I’ll await your response. In the meantime, happy donut experimentation to everyone!
I added 17g of cornstarch (as an alternative to potato starch) to the amount of flour it says on the recipe and used strong white flour (high protein flour).
I then made a simple glaze with 150g icing sugar + 45g milk + 8.4g vanilla extract and the results were incredible!!
At final rise, make sure to start frying as soon as it hits 45mins as the others will still be proofing in the meanwhile. Past experience with other recipes led to the doughnuts over-proofing and soaking up oil…
… normally the doughnuts would go in a proof box set to around 33-37C, 70% humidity for 30mins then would sit out at room temp for another 10mins to dry but I appreciate that this is a home-made recipe and it can’t always be perfect.
Hi ,
I have noticed for the measurement of the recipe you have used cups and ot actual how much the ingredient weigh. is there any chance you could advise the weights of the ingredients. or if not advise which cup size u used.
Thank You
I don’t have the measurements but I use a standard measuring cup (8 oz) for baking.
Do these freeze?
I don’t recommend freezing them or freezing the dough beforehand. They are an in the moment indulgence 🙂
Although not truly representative of Krispy Kreme in taste nor texture, a great home-made donut nonetheless. Great job.
The light, airiness of original K.K. donuts would be hard to duplicate unless all ingredients used were identical.
Your donut glaze will remain wet and tacky in cities with high humidity and that is why bakers use “Donut Glaze Stabilizer” to help it set up and give it a harden finish.
The mix manufactures for the donuts test the flour used and has to pass certain test for the melt in your mouth texture. If you use just any flour you may get dough that is more bread texture like.
Never use beet sugar for the glaze, only use cane sugar. Beet sugar will turn gray and get gritty.
In all my years I have never known of any donut maker that used a microwave or heat to make the glaze.
Everything went well but after reading comments I only fried the doughnuts in the shortening at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. They fried really well and had a good texture. But, as others mentioned in the comments, the glaze never hardened and remained sticky. I looked up some information about it and I found that corn syrup is the best inhibitor of sugar crystallization which I’m assuming is why the glaze never set up. Next time I think I’ll only use powdered sugar and milk, but otherwise the doughnuts still tasted really good.
Does this make 12 or 24 doughnuts? Just wondered because it says to cut out 12 donuts with each half of dough? Also, I have never made donuts – what size donut cutter do I use? Thank you! Can’t wait to make these!
It makes 24 doughnuts using a 3.5 inch donut cutter. If you don’t want to buy one, you can also use a 2 cookie cutters about one 1-inch and one 3 or 4-inch to cut them out. Good luck!
Shalom! I made this recipe. It was not like krispy kreme at all. Just a very great donut. Krispy kreme has a more doughy texture. I added 1 tbls potato starch for it to hold some gluten and make is lighter and a bit chewy, added more flour because it was way too wet (used weight in grams), a pinch of nutmeg, and fresh bakers yeast for that aroma. The donuts were so good! Amazing! Your timing and rising was on point, and the donuts were super fluffy. Made a chocolate glaze for them. Family loved them. I will be making this recipe only. Thank you.
I tried the recipe and this also happened to me, it was a very sticky dough, i wasnt able to even roll and cut it. I ended up making balls out of the dough, then let it rose. But when it was time to lift them for frying, they instantly deflated. Any luck on finding out what could have been wrong?
It’s tricky to try and figure out what have possibly been the issue. Here’s the link to the original post from the Chicago Tribune: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2001-10-17-0110170040-story.html
That might be helpful!
My granny is amazing at dougnuts she says if we let the dough raise for too long then will flap down once touched. Maybe adjust the time you let them rise. That helped in my case. Lots depends on where you are located I’m in Ireland and as yo u all well know it’s pretty humid here. So just check your weather and adjust the timing. Yeast dough is pretty temperamental at the best of times. Patience is a real virtue once it comes to this stuff. A lot of try and error also comes in the package. Good luck
These worked pretty well, my only issue was the temperature for vegetable shortening. It was smoking a lot at just over 350 and very brown in about 2 seconds while being doughy inside. I had to lower the temperature, which was then too low, so I went up a little bit and then had to let them sit in the oil longer, about 2 minutes per side. Some of them ended up really delicious, but I went through several trying to get the temp and the timing since it was way off from the recipe.
I was googling later and the internet says the smoke point of shortening is around 325. Are you doing something special to get the shortening to 375? And how is it not burning them?
It seems since posting this there are differences in the smoke point so to be safe, I would just use vegetable oil. Thanks for pointing that out.
Can i use instant dry yeast ?? It is not specified if to use active dry or instant. Thanks!
The Chicago Tribune article states to use active dry yeast. Enjoy!
Can I use quick rise yeast?
I haven’t tested it so I’m not sure if it would give the same results for this copycat recipe. If you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out. Thanks!
I used instant rise yeast and it worked great for me. Delicious-ness!!
Hi. Can you give by grams and ml for frenchs? Thanks
I’ve updated the recipe card to allow for you to adjust to grams and ml. 🙂 I’m actually in the process of doing that for each recipe.
Had to try this recipe because I LOVE Krispy Kreme!! Although, mine didn’t come close to the original (most likely something I did wrongly), they were still delicious and fluffy and delicious. Did I mention they were delicious?!? I may have messed up the glaze somehow because it never really set. It just kind of hung onto the bottoms of the donuts with a creamy consistency. Also, 90 seconds on each side would’ve toasted mine. They were perfect with about 25 seconds on each side. Yes, I kept the oil temp at 375°. I will definitely make these again as my family went nuts for them!!! Thank you for posting this recipe!!!
Love this recipe…. if you double it does it still work as well… can you freeze these
I haven’t tested it so I’m not sure, sorry.
Hello Sabrina, I want to use your Original Krispy Kreme Glazed Doughnuts recipe to make braided donuts. Do I need to fry them or could I bake them in the oven
Definitely fry. That recipe is not meant to be baked at all and it hasn’t been tested as a baked recipe.
Just tried this recipe today. It turned out pretty well for my first batch of doughnuts ever!
A few notes on my experience:
I only had quick rise yeast, but it seemed to work well!
After I cut out all my circles I had trimmings of dough left and so I kneaded them a bit to form a ball and then rolled and cut that into wedges (no doughnut left behind) I was afraid that the extra kneading might make them tough, but honestly these turned out best of all! They rose well durring the second rise and then they cooked beautifully! They were the fluffiest of the lot!
I reccomend flouring the wax paper when you lay out your cut doughnuts, mine stuck a little and became mishapen as I removed them to fry. They also got knocked down a little in the process. I think they would lift better with a little flour underneath.
The frying was a little tough. On the stovetop maintaining an exact 375 was difficult. I also found they cooked faster than 90sec/side. I got the best results by just eyeballing for colour.
The glaze gave me a little trouble. It never hardened. It came out a little too sticky. Not sure what went wrong there.
As for taste: Great overall!!! I did find they taste a little more yeasty than Krispy Kreme but that might be the quick rise.
The glaze while still sticky tasted exactly liek theirs!!!!
Overall opinion: good easy to follow instructions, great tasting results! Family all gave these the seal of approval! Will make again!
I made this recipe today and LOVED it!!! I even used yeast I had in the fridge for a while and it still worked awesome. I did use butter in the actual donut instead of shortening and it still worked great. And I only had two cups of veg shortening to fry them so I added veg oil to top up the pot. They turned a beautiful golden colour. I will 100% make this my go-to from now on. Thank you!!
Turned out so yummy! Recipe worked great!
Do you think you could freeze this dough? And thaw it/fry it at a later date?
No, you really need to make these immediately.
I’m dying to try this! Although I have a very big pack of active dry yeast. How many tablespoons should I put in?
4 1/2 teaspoons of yeast is the same equivilent of 2 (1/4 oz) packets of yeast.
Thanks! I already made them. My kids loved it!
Do you think I could I use this recipe to make the Krispy Kreme raspberry filled doughnuts? How long would I cook them for? My fiance loves the raspberry filled ones but I can’t find a good recipe for them and the closest Krispy Kreme is like 2+ hours away.
I’ve never tested it before so I’m not really comfortable giving a recommendation, sorry.
This copycat Krispy Kreme recipe is to dye for thank you so much Sabrina for sharing – Easy to make – Easy to cook and the glaze just tops it off YUMMO DELISH can’t stop munchin these. So air light soft doughnut just devine. Thank you so much….
So glad you enjoyed it!
Mine came out perfectly. Followed the recipe, i had no shortening so I used butter, and i fried in canola oil. Had no thermometer so i burnt the first 4 and even those were delicious. Thank yiu for such a great recipe.
Do the doughnuts melt in your mouth? Will they still be good the next day, like Krispy Kreme’s?
They really are best eaten immediately. 🙂
Thanks Sabrina! Awesome recipe!!!
You’re welcome!
I concur with Gwen! I made these donuts for the first time last night. The dough was soft and silky. It was very sticky; I just floured my surface and hands, turned dough out on to same, shaped into a ball and place in oiled bowl to rise. They came out picture perfect!!! Note: I fried donuts in 325- 330 degree oil, not 375 degree as stated. Practice and patience makes Perfect!!! Thank you for this fantastic recipe!!!
I made these for my family, they loved them. I used the thermometer to heat my oil in cast iron pan. So easy to make and stayed soft until the last one was gone next day.
I so glad everyone loved them!
Best recipe ever. First time and it was fantastic. I think the yeast quality makes a huge difference. It’s a keeper.
Yay!!! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
These were delicious! I Made these vegan by subbing the milk with soy milk and the egg with flax seed egg white (boiled flax seeds until gelatinous, then strained). They were a hit. Definitely worth making again as a treat, once my waistline recovers.
Thanks for all the substitution recommendations! So glad you enjoyed them!
Hi I absolutely love this recipe! It’s a definite crowd pleaser! I’m just wondering if there’s any way to make the dough in advance to be able to fry the donuts the next day? Ultimately I’d love to be able to wake up and fry the donuts before midday without having to start the recipe extremely early. Is there any way they can be refrigerated overnight? 🙂
I’m so sorry but this recipe isn’t able to be made in advance. 🙁 I know it’s a labor of love and not exactly fun to wake up extra early for but it’s really the only way it works.
Hi just wondering if you are able to make the donuts in advance the day before frying them? Will they keep in the fridge? I’d like to fry them first thing in the morning but don’t want to have to wake up at 3am to start the recipe! Any tips or suggestions would be great as I love this recipe. They taste sooooo good!!
No, I’m sorry but that won’t work 🙁
I made these, though I fried mine in a deep fryer and cheated by using a bread machine to help me mix them and used it through the first rising. I then rolled them out and cut about 1/2 size because I wound up with 24 doughnuts. They are wonderful !! Thank you so much !
Thank you so much for the 5 star rating Anna! So glad you enjoyed them!! Thanks for the tips to make it easier as well.
I’m a cook & pastry baker. I have made this recipe over & over again. Lost count. People at work & home always requesting them. Some say better than Krispy Kreme & some say best they ever had. Tried others but this is my favorite. After my favorite Krispy Kreme donut store went out of business I went on the copy cat Krispy Kreme donut hunt…. Tried a few including this one but your recipe is the by far the best. I never post comments but after reading all the negative comments…It was a must!!!! Thank you soooo much for this recipe.
Thank you so much Gwen!
Can I use butter flavored shortening instead of original?
The butter flavoring is artificial so you may have a weird aftertaste if you use that. I haven’t tested it with that flavor though.
Awesome recipe Sabrina!
I have a question. How you make the donut so round. Mine after cutting with donut cutter and proofing turn out to be more squarish on sides :(.
Hmmm, it sounds like maybe they were crowded and that’s why they took on a more squarish shape. I made sure to give mine plenty of room.
Great recipe even though I can’t follow instructions. Frying without a thermometer, I ended up with raw dough inside the donuts. Put them back and fried until they were dark brown, making the outside too crispy. In spite of this, they were great.
Half the dough I shaped as flattened, round balls and filled them with jelly. The recipe is so good that I bought a frying thermometer and will making them again tonight. And following instructions.
I made a batch of these and they were so easy and tasted amazing!!
I only had to cook the doughnuts for 60 seconds each side.
I didn’t have a doughnut cutter either so I used a cup and then poked and pulled
a hole into the middle.
Best cooked up fresh, as soon as the dough is ready.
I put half the dough in the fridge and fried some more the next day, not so good.
Thank you for sharing this recipe, it’s a keeper! 😀
I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Hello
I would like to first thank you for posting your recipe. I did use it and was happy as it tasted great but the only problem was my donuts didnt come out like yours did. My donuts seemed a lil wrinkley the best i can describe them, they were not so plump as yours were or as all donuts normally are i dont know why that would of happened i would like to give em another try but am worried the same thing will happen which made the donuts look a lil dull. If you could help would be very appriciated.
Hope to hear from you soon.
I’m so sorry they turned out a bit different. If you’d like, I’d be happy to trouble shoot with you. Email me at [email protected] and we’ll try and figure out what might have happened.
Can’t locate your recipe for homemade corn syrup! I have all ingredients here at home except for the syrup! Can you help me find your recipe??? Would love to make these today without going to the store! Thanks so much Joanie
So sorry I’m just now seeing this. I use a homemade thick simple syrup by mixing 8 tablespoons of sugar with 2 tablespoons of hot water. This makes a half a cup of homemade corn syrup.
ok you added the link and it show’s using butter here on yours you didn’t state butter at all???
I’m so sorry, it looks like your question was caught in my spam filter. I used 1/2 cup shortening instead of butter. Hope this helps clear up any confusion.
Hi,
I tried your recipe today and while I needed to add about an extra cup of flour, allow the dough to rise for around 3 hours and didn’t find the outcome anywhere near the class of Krispy Kreme, it will be a recipe I’ll hold on to as a fabulous home-made doughnut, perhaps with a simple cinnamon & castor sugar coating.
I just wanted to bring to your attention, that in the instructions, point 7 says to cut out a dozen doughnuts from EACH half of the dough, implying 24 doughnuts in total, but right at the beginning of your recipe, it states 12 servings. I managed to get 27 doughnuts from the mixture, but as I said, i added extra flour and my cutters were smaller than yours.
Thank you for sharing.
🙂 Always
M.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the doughnuts and thank you for your suggestion but to clarify, I am assuming that most people will eat 2 doughnuts in one serving…or more if you’re me 🙂 So 12 servings would be around 24 doughnuts. Hopefully this helps with any confusion.
Can I prepare ahead of time and leave it in the fridge ?
No, unfortunately this recipe requires it to be made immediately. Sorry
I’m a little nervous here. ? I currently have the dough rising (45 minutes left, and it seems to be rising nicely!). However, my dough was *very* wet/sticky. It’s almost more like a thick batter than a yeast dough. Is this normal? I’m an experienced baker, and I’ve never worked with such a wet dough. My concern at this point is that when I go to roll them out, I’ll have a gooey, sticky mess on my hands (literally, lol). I plan on flouring the counter heavily, so I’m hoping that will help. The only substitution I made was to use softened butter instead of shortening. Help!!
Forgot to add that I ended up adding one additional cup of flour to the dough. It helped somewhat, but it’s still very sticky. I’ve just read through the comments and it seems that others have had this problem as well. I was hesitant to add more for fear that the dough would be tough. That’s the beauty of Krispy Kreme’s–they’re like a mouthful of air. 🙂 I know when baking bread, a wetter dough gives a fluffier loaf of bread, so I’ll just flour the counter heavily and hope for the best, lol
Your question was stuck in my spam file 🙁 So sorry about that. My suggestion would be to add more flour. The dough shouldn’t have been wet or sticky. Hopefully they turned out well for you.
Hi Sabrina, I would like to make these doughnuts but first, I would like to know if you used oil or solid shortening for the recipe. Can’t wait to try them.
Thanks
I used vegetable shortening but you can absolutely substitute with canola oil if you prefer. Just know that it will be less “authentic”. Can’t wait to hear what you think!
Lol, I Was Making The Dough And Left It To Cool Overnight… The Next Day The Recipe Changed, Wish Me Luck!
So sorry, this was caught in my spam filter. Hope it turned out ok!
If you don’t have a stand mixer with a dough paddle can you use a regular hand mixer
No I would probably hand knead it, I don’t think a hand mixer would build the gluten the same way.
Tried this recipe for a superbowl party. Not good results. Can’t figure out what went wrong. New yeast, new flour. The dough was thick and sticky and never really got a good rise. The instructions could be a little more clear on what the dough consistency should be. I might try these again to see what went wrong. It won’t be for a while…I need to get my blood pressure down.
I’m so sorry you had issues with it 🙁 If you would like to troubleshoot I would be happy to discuss it further. Email me at contact @ dev.dinnerthendessert.com
Making the now
Getting ready to put them in fridge overnight
Well I had the same problem with it not rising everything was just bought. But it takes s little more flour then it says and it was alright then.
Making the now
Getting ready to put them in fridge overnight
Awesome! Come back and let me know what you think!
I believe your recipe may be short 1 cup of flour. If everyone is commenting that it’s a sticky mess then we’re all having the same problem. I added exactly 1 more cup of flour before it finally stuck to the paddle and came out clean when pressing with a finger.
I’m so sorry it took me so long to respond, it went into a spam folder. After some testing, I was able to update the recipe. I realize this doesn’t help you at this point but unfortunately this post isn’t allowing me to update. If you’d like to try again, the edited version is in the above comments.
Hi,
I am trying yo make the donuts. Upon the second rise (after adding the foamy yeast + flour to eggs, sugar, butter), it is not rising hardly at all. I regularly make bread dough and pizza dough from scratch (weekly), so I am not unfamiliar with yeast and rising. Is is just not supposed to rise much?? I even activated more yeast and also added some gluten (1 tsp), in case that was the issue.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!
Thank you!
I’ve been working on this recipe since the posting. Some people find it works well while others have had issues with rising. Because of that I did more testing with alternate recipes and have updated this one. I am so sorry, I realize that does not help you given the fact you’ve already made the dough, but I can assure you that if you try the newly updated version it works quite well and with no issue rising.
I’ve updated the recipe in the recipe card. The updated recipe has been tested by 5 friends who have never made doughnuts before with success!
Where is your updated recipe? I can’t find it. I would like to give it a try!!
I was finally able to update the recipe card so the way it is written is the update 🙂
Can substitute butter for shortening?
I haven’t tried it because I was wanting to keep it more authentic to the original. If you do try, I’d love to hear how it worked out for you.
Hi
I live in the UK and we do not have corn syrup here. What can I substitute for it?
From what I’ve found, Golden Syrup seems to be a good substitution or others have suggested boiling 2 parts sugar and 1 part water to a syrupy consistency. Once you try, come back and let me know how they turned out!
Tgank goodness they tasted great, because they looked horrible. They totally stuck to the pan and was too loose to pick up after the last rise. What a bummer. So much work.
I’m glad they at least tasted great! I would be happy to trouble shoot more with you and try and figure out what happened. You can contact @ dinnerthendessert . com ?
We do not have Krispy Kreme nearby..AND I’m eating gluten free. Can I use Bobs Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free baking flour to make these? Any way to make theses gluten free?
Hi Christine, I’m so sorry I can’t comment on making them GF and knowing if they are still delicious/will work well. I don’t want you to try them and feel let down. I do love a GF blog called dishingdelish.com I would highly recommend though.
So does this dough not require kneading? Just wanted to double check before making. Thanks!
The stand mixer will do all the work for you 😉
Just to clarify. What type of flour did you use? All purpose, Bread etc. Thanks.
All Purpose Flour 🙂
My donuts were delicious! A little more cakey than Krispy Kreme, but still very good. I will second the comment related to color- my donuts were very dark and I can only attribute that to the oil temperature- next time I will fry at 350. It’s also very tricky to get the donuts off of the parchment/wax paper before frying. Thanks for a great recipe!
So glad you liked them! Yes, the darkness will be temp of oil 🙂
good recipe doughnuts came out well, i found that 375 was to hot for the oil as although cooked it left the doughnuts very dark on the outside but i could play about with the temp in the future. thanks
I’ve had pretty successful frying at 375 but I’ll give it a shot at 350 and report back! Thanks for the feedback. 🙂
Hi, may I ask how heavy are ur eggs? We have weight from 35g to 65g eggs with shell. Thanks
A normal large egg that I use is about 60g.
Is the dough supposed to be sticky? I just wrapped my first attempt in plastic and put it in the fridge, but it seemed very sticky?
It can be a little sticky but if it’s really sticky, I would add a little more flour.
I love copycat!!! I think this recipe was beyond them all! I’m so glad I no longer have to buy expensive donuts as often (no offense Krispy Kreme)
Hello.. Please do not try this recipe. It IS an waste of resources.. I always make donuts using my moms homemade recipe and though they come out nice they never taste like krispy kreme..
These donuts did not rise at all. They were heavy and dense and very much raw after frying at the specified temperature.. Sadly i will have to keep searching for a copycat krispy kreme donut recipe.
Hi Katherine,
First, I am so sorry the recipe did not pan out for you. Speaking from personal experience we have not encountered the same issues you did and the recipe was adapted from http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-10-17/entertainment/0110170040_1_krispy-kreme-doughnuts-glazed the Chicago Tribune who did extensive testing to ensure it was as close a copy as promised. I would be happy to try troubleshooting with you if you are interested. With yeast dough sometimes it can be one little thing that can cause the recipe to fail. Would love to help you end your search here. 🙂
The recipe on Instructables worked a lot better for me. I followed this recipe to the T and it was, as some have indicated, heavy dough. I refrigerated over night cut them out and waited for them to rise. They only came up a little so I waited longer, about 80 minutes. My family still enjoyed them but to me they were much more like cake donuts than glazed donuts. I’ll not be spending time with this recipe again. The recipe on Instructables is a lot lighter and takes much less time to complete.
I’m sorry the recipe didn’t work for you. If you’d like, I’d be happy to troubleshoot with you, just send me an email at [email protected].
Hiya, I am a Krispy Kreme fanatic. I think my problem was the yeast. I had fresh yeast but i think the water I used was way too hot. The donuts rose and were very tasty but were not the actual Krispy Kreme taste and consistency. The outside of the donut was not as light as the originals. Mine were more crispy and had a thicker crust on the outside, so the meltiness of the actual Krispy Kreme was lost. I used canola oil which could’ve been a problem with the frying.
Still my family Loooooed them. I was the critical one lol but they also eat anything. . I’ll try them again with the right temperature water with the yeast, different oil and a cast iron pan.
I’m sure your family won’t mind you experimenting as long as they get to eat yummy donuts, lol!
I am going to try this recipe tonight. Scott, what recipe did you use on Instructables?
my wife and I just made these in africa.there’s no krispy kreme here. They came out great even though we didn’t have a thermometer, a mixer or a rolling pin, we just use the beer bottle to roll it out and used the donut holes to test to get the temperature right and of course a wooden spoon and a tired arm. thanks for the excellent recipe.
Fantastic! And I love that all it took was a beer bottle! Thank you for coming back and letting me know you enjoyed it 🙂
I don’t have a stand mixer. Can I still make these?
Yes, you can, it may wear your arm out a bit though. Do you have a hand mixer?
In the steps you said to add cream. But, you did not list cream as an ingredient. Did you mean shortening?
My apologies, I need to change that as it is confusing since cream is a food product. I meant it like cream the ingredients together. I changed it to reflect that. The shortening is actually melted for frying…but you can also substitute vegetable oil for that if you would like.
Im so ready to try this? Would these stay fresh if i made them a day in advanced?
I have kept them for a couple of days. They are never as good as the morning of, but a 7 second zap in the microwave gets them almost back to fresh 🙂 (PS the 7 second thing was a tested exact time. You can tell I have made these too many times! Haha).
How long do you mix dough for? I have an electric kitchenaid stand mixer, I mixed for 6 minutes..dough never really “hugged” paddle, but gluten was definitely activated. I allowed dough to rise for 1 1/2 hours, and it didn’t seem very risen like bread dough does, but more elastic in texture. Any suggestions on how long approximately to mix dough?
Hi Rachel! My first thought is perhaps the flour was a little light if it didn’t quite stick to the paddle. You added the one cup of flour in earlier and the remaining 3 1/2 cups before mixing correct? My gut is saying it probably needed a bit more flour, but I am happy to do some more troubleshooting with you via email. I have a couple of questions about how it went up to that point to be able to give you my best ideas to correct it. 🙂
Isn’t 1 1/4 c. sugar too sweet? And what type of flour did you use, bread flour or AP flour?
Tested it with less sugar and it wasn’t as authentically krispy kreme. Wish I could’ve ditched some sugar though, it is a lot. Also, regular all purpose flour 🙂
will try
I have never had one of these doughnuts but they look great! I would love to also win this money which would be especially helpful this time of year!
I know, I want to enter, haha!
omggg these are one of my down falls! i loveee donuts and these look and sound so amazing.
Thanks so much Dawn!
hey sabrina im wondering if u can still make the donuts wihtout a stand mixer i cant find one anywhere
Sorry this totally got snagged in my spam filter and I just saw it. Yes, you could or you could knead it by hand too. It would just be more elbow grease.
What delish photos. Not sure which I’m more excited about making your Krispy Kreme copycat recipe or entering to win that $135 prize.
I’d like to have a doughnut while perusing Amazon 😉
I am getting hungry just reading this. I love Krispy Kreme donuts!
I love dughnuts and I love Amazon. I need to enter to win!
Good luck!
Sabrina, please I need help!! I made the dough and it didn’t rise, I made all the steps , left it for 2 hours and in the refrigerator overnight but it isn’t rising!! In the making the yeast was bubbly as you said! Please help me
I’d be happy to help you troubleshoot! I’m out of town at a conference, but send me an email at [email protected] and we’ll figure this out together!
We always get Krispy Kreme donuts on vacation because we don’t have any near us. But now that I know I can make them at home…. well this is a whole new world. Hehe!
Awesome! I hope you enjoy them!
These sound like great donuts. We love Krispy Kreme donuts this is a fun option to have them more often!
Thanks Vera!
Ugh, I tell you, I just love, love, love donuts. HA! Thanks so much for the recipe and the change to win
My pleasure 🙂
Krispy Kreme doughnuts are so delicious. I am excited to try this recipe. It is always fun trying copycat recipes.
Oh my family would be excited for this on Christmas morning! I’d be excited that I didn’t have to leave bright an early to enjoy them! 😀
Oh my gosh these sound perfect! We would definitely have to eat some warm. I do love them when they’re flaky too though!
There’s no wrong way to eat a doughnut!
This is my go-to donut and all-time fav! Since I no longer have a Krispy Kreme nearby I will definitely be making use of this recipe.
I’m glad I could bring back some warm memories for you!
My kids just love the Krispy Kreme glazed donuts. I need to get my cast iron skillet out and make some of these.
They’re amazing – you and your kids will love them!
I am totally in your debt for this recipe! This is my favorite donut ever! It would be dangerous for me to make them because I would eat them all myself.
I definitely have to send them away or I eat too many of them too. 🙂
Donuts are a serious weakness of mine. We don’t have krispy kreme here in Canada but we do get prepackaged ones in our stores.. These are the type we have here and they are SO good.
I used to get the packaged ones, but when you try it fresh it is a whole different ballgame.
You know, I really fell like even if I don’t win the giveaway, I still won. I have this fantastic Krispy Kreme copycat recipe to try!
Aww you’re so sweet! I hope you win! 😉
These look incredible! You did an amazing job!
Aww thanks Paige! You’re so sweet!
I love Krispy Kremes and I love copy cat recipes. This is getting printed and put in the ‘must make’ book for sure!
Yay! I hope you love it!
OMG! Krispy Kremes are the best! I can’t wait to give this a try. I can only imagine making “Krispy Kremes” any time I want.
oh yes! I love Krispy Kremes!
Love! We don’t have Krispy Kremes here, so I have no choice but to make my own.
Krispy Kremes are a recent addition to the West Coast too, so it is still a huge novelty to me still.
This recipe did not come out for me at all. The result brought me to tears. The dough did not rise even after sitting for 3 hours trying to fry them was a disaster they never cooked all the way through I’m beyond upset at the horrible recipe
Wow, I am so sorry to hear that. Could you email me so we can troubleshoot? The recipe is based on a heavily tested recipe and I’ve made it many times without fail. Would love to see if we can figure out where it went wrong together. Maybe the yeast wasn’t active? Let’s work on it. contact @ dev.dinnerthendessert.com
No need to add sugar to warm water to dissolve yeast?
No, I’ve never added sugar to my yeast and in the testing the Chicago Tribune did they didn’t either. I referenced my source in the recipe card, but perhaps reading their version can be of help too? http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-10-17/entertainment/0110170040_1_krispy-kreme-doughnuts-glazed.
I hope you make them and love them!
I would say she used the wrong type of flour…usually..that is what happens or the yeast is old.
I think your yeast didn’t activate. Either your water was too cold and didn’t activate the yeast or it was too hot and killed it. Heat the water in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds. Don’t add the yeast to the water until you dip your pinky nuckle into the water and it feels warm to the touch. If its too hot for your finger then it’s too hot for the yeast. When you combine the warm water and yeast also add a tablespoon of sugar for the yeast to feed on. Don’t add salt yet as it tends to hinder yeast’s development. I suggest leaving out the step of adding the cup of flour and letting it sit for an hour before adding everything else. Just do this to activate the yeast (make sure the yeast/water mixture looks foamy and/or bubbly, if you can see all the yeast granules floating or it all sunk and there’s no foam then it didn’t activate and try again, altering the temp of the water). Then just add all the rest of the ingredients at once and mix. I personally melt the butter. Make sure all the liquids you add are not cold and aren’t too hot. You want them to be warm too for the yeast to flourish. I hope that extremely long reply helped somehow 🙂
Your awesome. I never baked with yeast. I wish there was a way to pin your reply. You taught me how to work with something i feared.
Happy Holidays
when letting the yeast rise add a tbsp of sugar so that the yeast will have something to feed into.
Possibly your yeast was too old….or….you killed the yeast by adding TOO WARM (hot) water to the yeast in the first step of dissolving the yeast. I always make sure the yeast is ‘alive’ by….adding warm water to dry yeast, waiting about 5 mins to see if yeast becomes bubbly…if so its alive, if not…its dead.
This happened to us the first time round too – however, we came back to the recipe the next day with more patience and freshly bought yeast – and this time the result was out of this world.
Amazing Recipe 🙂
My guess is that your yeast was bad also HOWEVER you all who hated this recipe may have interpreted the yeast amount wrong it is TWO 1/4 oz pkgs yeast (standard size packets) NOT 2 1/4 ounces which would have been 9 packages of yeast! Obviously not that amount if you are even a basic baker…
Yes, it is definitely 2 (1/4 ounce) packets. I feel awful if the wording of it was confusing for people, I will edit the recipe to make it perfectly clear. Thanks Cindy!