The Fluffiest Yeast Donut Recipe (2024)

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Recently, we’ve been on the hunt for the best donuts in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). We’ve tried numerous local donut shops but the one that stood out to us the most was Donut Monster and Daddy O’s Donuts. When we went to Daddy O’s Donuts, we tried their Cardamom Sugar donuts and instantly fell in love. In addition to having our donut phase, we’ve also been having a Chai phase. We felt these Cardamom Sugar Donuts would be the perfect accompaniment to the Chai that we made at home. This is the fluffiest yeast donut recipe we’ve tried to date.

We love to watch the videos by Brad and Claire on the Bon Appetit Youtube Channel and the latest Gourmet Makes episode that Claire made on Donuts got us intrigued. We decided to give her recipe a try after seeing how they got rave reviews and boy did they turn out great!

Since the video did not give us a link to their recipe and we couldn’t figure out how many donuts this yield, we decided to half the recipe just to be safe as the two of us can’t possible eat that many donuts in one sitting. The results? Super fluffy donuts right out of the fryer.

How to Make Yeast Donuts

Activating the Yeast

We made a little bit of a modification to the original recipe. For example, we activated the yeast in the warm milk first instead of incorporating it directly in the dry ingredients. This is because if we just incorporated the yeast directly into dry ingredients first, we may not have an opportunity to activate the yeast to make sure it’s still good to use. The ideal temperature for the milk is between 110-115F. Anything higher than that and you are at risk of killing the yeast.

Kneading the Dough

Once the yeast is activated, you can start preparing the dough. You’ll know the dough kneaded enough once it no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl and it appears soft, supple, and slightly glossy. It also will be slightly tacky to the touch. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to proof for about an hour and a half somewhere warm.

Shaping the Dough

Once the dough has doubled in size, place in the fridge to chill for at least an hour so that it will be easier to work with (can also chill overnight). After the dough has chilled, take it out of the bowl and punch out the air from the dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about half an inch thick. Then, using a round 3 inch round cookie cutter (or any sized round cookie cutter of your choice), start cutting out your donuts. To make a donut hole, use a 1 inch cookie cutter. If you don’t have one, you can also use the back of a large piping tip to cut out the centres to make donut holes.

After you cut out all your donuts, place each of them on squares of parchment paper and cover with plastic wrap. Allow them to rise for another 20 minutes until they poof up a bit.

Frying the Yeast Donuts

While your donuts are going through their second proof, preheat your frying oil to 325F using your instant read thermometer. Once it reaches this temperature and your donuts are risen, you can start frying them. Fry until they achieve a golden color on both sides. Remove from frying oil and allow to chill for a minute on a wire rack covered with paper towel to ensure excess oil has been absorbed. Then, while it is still hot, toss the donuts in the cardamom sugar mixture. Serve immediately!

If you want a more detailed step-by-step instruction on how to make yeast donuts, check out our other post. It also provides instructions on how to make the following donuts:

Maple Bacon Donut
Matcha Glaze with White Chocolate Drizzle

Bon Appetit!

The Fluffiest Yeast Donuts – Cardamom Sugar Donut Recipe

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Ingredients

Donut dough

15 oz all purpose flour
1/4 oz kosher salt (a generous pinch of salt)
2 oz honey (separated, 1 oz each)
2 oz unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
half a packet of dry active yeast (1 1/4 tsp)
2 oz egg (1 large egg), room temperature
1/2 oz vegetable oil
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
8 oz whole milk, warmed to 110F

Cardamom Sugar

1/4 cup sugar
11 cardamom pods, ground to a fine powder

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Prep Time

1 hour, 30 minutes

Cook Time

15 minutes

Total Time

1 hour, 45 minutes

Instructions

1.In a large stand mixing bowl with a dough hook attachment, combine flour, salt, 1 oz honey and butter. Mix until combined and it looks a bit shaggy.
2.In a separate bowl, combine the warm milk (110F) with the dry active yeast to activate the yeast.
3.In another mixing bowl, combine egg, 1 oz honey, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Once the yeast has foamed/activated, whisk into the egg mixture.
4.On low mixing speed, slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until ingredients incorporated with no dry ingredients left.
5.Increase the mixer to a medium speed and allow the dough hook to knead the dough until the dough no longer sticks to the side/bottom of the bowl and it has a smooth glossy texture. The dough shouldn’t be sticky and should be tacky to the touch. For us, this took approximately 5 minutes. Your dough should be soft and supple at this point.
6.Turn your dough into a lightly floured bowl and cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise/proof at room temperature for about an hour or until dough has doubled in size. Then, transfer the dough to the refrigerator for at least an hour as this will make the dough a lot easier to handle after.
7.In the meantime, prepare your Cardamom Sugar mixture by combining the two ingredient and pouring it onto a plate so that it can be easy to coat the donuts later. Set aside for now.
8.When ready to form the donuts, turn your dough onto a lightly flour surface and with a rolling pin, beat out the air in the dough and roll until it’s about 1/2 inch thick. Using a 3 inch round cookie cutter, cut out your donuts. To make the donut holes, use a 1 inch cookie cutter (or the back of a large piping tip) to remove the centre of the donuts. Place these cut out donuts on a squares of parchment paper so that it’ll be easier to drop into the oil after.
9.Once all your donut holes and donuts have been cut out, place onto a baking tray and cover with plastic wrap and allow to proof for another 20 minutes or so or until they look a a bit puffier.
10.In a dutch oven (or large pot), heat your vegetable/canola oil to 325F. Drop your donuts into the oil. Once the edges start to appear golden brown, flip them to ensure even frying. Remove when both sides are an even golden color and allow to dry temporarily on a wire drying rack. Once all the oil has dripped off, roll the donuts in the cardamom sugar mixture while it is still hot. Then transfer onto another cooling rack to allow to cool before eating. Enjoy these while they’re fresh!