Donuts with Sugar are delicious treats, these donuts feature a soft and airy dough deep-fried and dusted with granulated sugar. They’re perfect with a hot cup of coffee or cocoa, making breakfast feel extra special. It’s surprisingly easy to pull off, and you'll be enjoying your morning in no time.

Donut Recipe
These rich homemade donuts with sugar are simple yet irresistible, they provide a delightful sweetness and a satisfying crunch with every bite.
These donuts have a perfect mix of flavors and textures, crispy on the outside and soft inside that simply melt in your mouth.
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⭐Why You'll Love This Donuts with Sugar Recipe
Here are a few reasons to fall in love with this recipe:
- Simple Ingredients: The recipe uses basic pantry ingredients that are easy to find and likely already in your kitchen.
- Soft and Fluffy Texture: These donuts have a soft and fluffy texture with a slight crispiness on the outside, making them irresistible to bite into.
- Perfect for Any Occasion: Whether you're craving a sweet breakfast treat, a snack for afternoon tea, or a dessert to satisfy your sweet tooth.
🧾Donut Ingredients
Here is a list of everything you need.

For Donuts:
- Yeast: This is a leavening agent that helps the dough rise by fermenting sugars in the dough.
- Warm Water: Is used to activate the yeast. It helps dissolve the yeast and sugar, creating an environment conducive to yeast fermentation.
- Sugar (in dough): Not only adds sweetness to the dough but also provides food for the yeast to feed on during fermentation.
- Butter: Adds richness and flavor to the dough, resulting in tender and flavorful donuts. It also helps to keep the dough moist and contributes to the dough's texture. You can use vegetable oil, melted coconut oil, or margarine as a substitute for butter.
- Eggs: Act as a binding agent and provide structure to the dough. They also add richness and tenderness to the texture of the donuts.
- Flour: Is the main ingredient in the dough and provides structure and texture to the donuts.
- Salt: Enhances the flavor of the donuts and balances the sweetness of the other ingredients.
For Coating:
- Sugar (for coating): Adds sweetness and a crunchy texture to the exterior of the donuts. A combination of sugar with spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg can be used as alternatives for coating the donuts.

See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
👩🏻🍳How to Make Donuts with Sugar
These step-by-step instructions and photos will help you to visualize how to make this recipe. See the recipe card for a printable version of this recipe.

- Mix yeast and sugar into warm water in a jug, stirring until both are fully dissolved.

2. In a spacious mixing bowl, blend together melted butter, sugar, and eggs until thoroughly incorporated.

3. Pour the activated yeast mixture and sift flour and salt into the mixture into the egg mixture, whisk until they blend fully.

4. Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface, then proceed to knead it for approximately 15 minutes until it attains a smooth and elastic consistency.

5. Position the dough in a bowl coated with oil, cover it with a clean kitchen towel, and allow it to rise in a warm location for roughly 2 hours, or until it doubles in volume.

6. Transfer the dough to a floured surface, and flatten the dough to a thickness of approximately 1.27 cm (½ inch) using a rolling pin.

7. Cookie cutter to shape the dough into donuts and arrange the cut-out donuts on a parchment paper ensuring there is ample space.

8. Fry the donuts until golden brown.

9. While the donuts are still warm, coat them entirely in sugar by rolling them gently until fully covered.

10. Serve the warm, sugar-coated donuts and savor every bite!
📖Variations
- Cinnamon Sugar Donuts: Mix granulated sugar with ground cinnamon to create a cinnamon sugar mixture. After frying the donuts, coat them generously in the cinnamon sugar mixture for a classic and flavorful twist.
- Citrus Zest Donuts: Add grated citrus zest (such as lemon, orange, or lime) to the sugar coating for a refreshing burst of flavor.
- Sprinkle Donuts: After coating the donuts in sugar, decorate them with colorful sprinkles for a fun and festive look. Kids especially love this variation!
- Chocolate Glazed Donuts: Dip the cooled donuts into a homemade chocolate glaze made with melted chocolate chips or cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and a little milk or cream. Allow the glaze to set before serving.
- Filled Donuts: Once the donuts have cooled, use a piping bag fitted with a small round tip to inject your favorite filling (jam, custard or chocolate ganache) into the center of each donut.

🍽 How to Serve
- Fresh and Warm: It is best to serve sugar-coated donuts fresh and warm, straight from the fryer or shortly after they've been fried.
- Presentation: Arrange the sugar-coated donuts on a serving platter or a decorative plate.
- Accompaniments: While sugar-coated donuts are delicious on their own, you can enhance the experience by serving them with coffee, milk, tea, hot chocolate, chocolate sauce or ice cream.
💭Tips for Recipe Success
Yeast Activation: Ensure your yeast is fresh and active. Use warm water (around 105-110°F or 40-43°C) to activate the yeast with a bit of sugar. Let it sit until it becomes frothy.
Proper Dough Consistency: It should be smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky. Avoid adding too much flour during kneading as it can result in dense donuts.
Consistent Size: Maintain consistent sizes for your donuts to ensure even frying.
Rising Time: Allow enough time for the dough to rise properly. The dough should double in size during the rising process.
Oil Quality: Use fresh oil with a high smoke point for frying, such as vegetable oil or canola oil.
Frying Technique: Fry the donuts in small batches to avoid overcrowding the oil, which can lower its temperature and lead to uneven cooking. Flip the donuts halfway through frying for even browning.
Storage: You can also keep any leftovers in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
❓FAQ
You can savor donuts fried for a shattering crust or baked for a lighter indulgence, depending on your taste preference!
Krispy Kreme donuts achieve their legendary light and fluffy texture with a time-tested method. They fry the donuts until golden brown, locking in air and creating that delightful pillowy texture. Then, they glaze them fresh and serve them hot to customers, for an unbeatable donut experience.
A donut without a hole is typically referred to as a "filled donut" or a "filled pastry," as it is typically filled with various types of sweet fillings such as custard, jelly, or cream. It is also known as beignet, fritter, and cake doughnut.
🍛More Dessert Recipes!
Here are more of my favorite dessert recipes! Try these:
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📖 Recipe

Donuts with Sugar

Ingredients
For Donuts:
- 7 g Yeast
- 140 ml Warm Water(40C to 43C or 105 to 110F)
- ¼ teaspoon Sugar
- 30 g Butter
- 70 g Sugar
- 2 Medium Eggs
- 525 g Flour
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
For Coating:
- 60 g Sugar
Instructions
- In a jug, combine warm water, yeast, and sugar. Stir until the sugar and yeast are dissolved. Let the yeast mixture sit for about 10 minutes until frothy.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine melted butter, sugar and eggs. Beat until well combined.
- Pour the activated yeast mixture into the egg mixture. Whisk until fully incorporated.
- Sift together the flour and salt to the mixture.
- Stir until well combined and a dough forms.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it for about 15 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic.
- In a large mix bowl, pour oil and grease.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover it with a clean kitchen towel, and let it rise in a warm place for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down to release the air.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about 1.27 cm (½ inch) thickness.
- Use a round cookie cutter to cut out donut shapes and a smaller cutter to make the donut holes.
- Place the cut-out donuts on a cutting board lined with parchment paper, leaving some space between each one.
- Cover them loosely with parchment paper and let them rise for another 1 hour, or until they have puffed up slightly.
- Heat vegetable oil in a deep pan to 175°C (350°F).
- Carefully place the risen donuts into the hot oil, frying them for about 2 minutes on each side, or until they turn golden brown.
- Use a strainer spoon to transfer the fried donuts to a plate lined with paper towels to drain any excess oil.
- While the donuts are still warm, roll them in sugar until they are fully coated.
- Serve the sugar-coated donuts warm and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
John says
Simple perfection – warm dough, sweet sugar. 👌