Mardi Gras Cinnamon Donuts

Homemade Donuts or doughnuts however you spell them are the perfect treat to make at home. These fluffy cinnamon donuts taste just like the ones you get at a bakery but made right in your own home! These homemade donuts are perfectly fluffy and make for a fun breakfast or brunch! These specific donuts are cinnamon flavored to be similar to a kings cake.

Homemade Glazed Donuts Recipe

I originally made these homemade cinnamon donuts to celebrate Mardi Gras, then time got in the way and I never got the recipe posted. But homemade donuts are perfect for anytime of the year so yes there is a baby on the donut and they are decorated for Mardi Gras so you will want to make these for Mardi Gras but you will also want to make them just because!

Homemade donuts are not hard to make at all. They seem like they will be but once you get making them they are easy to do. The kids love it when I get all fancy for breakfast and they love helping me make these homemade donuts. Normally I do the frying and let them cool just a bit and then I let the kids dip them in the glaze and put on the sanding sugar or sprinkles how they want them.

Tips for Making this recipe

Make sure your oil is hot enough. You want the oil to be between 360 and 375. If the temperature is not hot enough you will end up with mushy donuts.

Don’t over crowd the pan. I find it works best to fry 2 donuts at a time. If you are using a larger pan then you might be able to fit 3 or 4 donuts in the pan, but you want to be careful not to over crowd the pan with to many donuts.

Allow the oil to reheat after each batch of donuts made. When you add the uncooked donuts to the oil it will bring the temperature down a bit, before adding more donuts to the oil be sure that the oil is back up to the proper oil temperature before you put in the next batch of donuts.

Drain the donuts on a paper towel. After you fry the donuts place them on a paper towel lined plate. The paper towel will absorb the left over oil from frying.

Variations of this recipe

The great thing about this Homemade Donuts Recipe is that you can change things up as you want to when it comes to decorating. If you want to make them fancy for a special holiday you totally can! When you are making homemade donuts you can change up how you finish them.

Personally we make these king cake donuts as a fun twist on the traditional king cake, but you can change them up if you want to.

I like to dip them in glaze and then top them with sanding sugar, you can use store bought or homemade sanding sugar.

You can skip the sanding sugar and dip both sides of the doughnut in glaze if you prefer.

If you prefer to use sprinkles you can do that too.

You can also dip the donuts in chocolate, strawberry or vanilla frosting and then top them with sprinkles.

What is the Best Oil to Fry donuts in?

When you are frying doughnuts you can use vegetable oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, palm oil and some canola oils. Just check the packaging of your oil and it will tell you if it is suitable for frying. The important thing with the oil is to make sure you are not putting more then 2 inches of oil in your pan. The oil will bubble up as you are frying the donuts and you do not want the oil to come out of the pan. It is also important that the oil is the right temperature.

How do you know when donuts are done?

When you are frying donuts in oil, they will only need about 2 minutes per side. Once enough moisture has left the dough and enough hair pockets formed the donut will rise to the top of the oil. Using tongs you can check and see if the side in the oil is golden brown, once it is golden brown it is time to flip the donut to fry the other side.

Cinnamon Donuts Recipe Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons (one package) instant dry yeast
• 1 and 1/8 cup milk, warmed
• 2 whole large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons shortening
• Shortening/oil for frying

Cinnamon Donuts Recipe Glaze Ingredients

• 4 cups powder sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons milk
• Green, purple, and yellow sanding sugar or sanding sugar colors of your choice.

How to Make Homemade Cinnamon Donuts

In the bowl of your mixer whisk together the flour and yeast. Mix in the milk, eggs, sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Using the dough hook of your mixer mix on low speed for about two minutes or until the mixture has combined.

Using a rubber spatula scrape down the bowl then add the shortening and turn the mixer speed up to medium speed for 8 minutes.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and turn the speed up to high for 3 minutes or until the dough pulls away from the sides.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a towel. Allow the dough to proof for 30 minutes.

Gently fold the dough three times, cover and allow it to rest again for an additional 30 minutes.

Sprinkle flour down onto your countertop. Place the dough on the counter and roll to 1/2 inch thick. Cover the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes.

With a 3 inch round cookie cutter cut the dough into the donuts. Using a round 1-inch cookie cutter to cut the centers out of each donut.

Allow the donuts to proof for 15 minutes.

While the dough is proofing heat oil of choice for frying in a deep fryer or Dutch oven to 350 degrees. If you are using a pan or a dutch oven for frying then you wan to have 2 inches of oil in the pan.

Carefully transfer two donuts at a time into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown on the first side then flip and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.

Remove the donuts from the oil and place onto a plate lined with a paper towel.

Repeat this until all the donuts are cooked. You can also fry the little dough holes that were made from making the large donuts.

How to Make Glaze for Donuts

In a medium mixing bowl combine the powder sugar, milk and vanilla until the mixture is smooth.

How to Decorate donuts

Dip the top of one donut into the icing and sprinkle the yellow, purple and green sprinkles in 1/4 to 1/2 inch strips alternating the colors until the whole top is covered.

Repeat this with every donut making sure to only do one at a time.

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