Hot Glazed Doughnuts, Inspired by Krispy Kreme
Light, fluffy yeast rings made with shortening, fried in shortening and dipped while warm in a thin, warm glaze of powdered sugar, milk and corn syrup, a home take on the famous hot glazed doughnut. Inspired by, not official.
Inspired by Krispy Kreme. Not an official Krispy Kreme recipe: the company keeps its recipe private, and nothing here claims to reproduce it. Wikipedia tells the history: in 1933 an 18-year-old Vernon Rudolph went to work for his uncle Ishmael Armstrong, whose general store in Paducah, Kentucky, sold popular doughnuts; they moved to Nashville in 1934, and in 1937 Rudolph opened his own shop at 534 South Main Street in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; the company dates itself to July 13, 1937. Where the yeast-raised recipe came from is DISPUTED even within that article: it says Rudolph bought it from a New Orleans chef, and also that Armstrong was likely inspired by Joseph LeBeouf, an Ohio River barge cook known for potato-based doughnuts. Taste of Home's Lauren Habermehl built this copycat by working backward from the original.
🇺🇸 This one is American
Light, fluffy yeast rings made with shortening, fried in shortening and dipped while warm in a thin, warm glaze of powdered sugar, milk and corn syrup, a home take on the famous hot glazed doughnut. Inspired by, not official.
🇳🇱 The original
The ancestor is Dutch: oliebollen, balls of yeast dough studded with currants and raisins, fried in oil and dusted with powdered sugar, which settlers brought to New Amsterdam as olykoeks. See the Dutch Oliebollen (New Year's Eve Doughnuts) recipe.
📖 Origin story: Why Do Doughnuts Have Holes? The Sea Captain Story, Checked →
Why it works the kitchen science
Shortening, in the dough and the pot
Taste of Home chose it for its neutral flavor and because it gives the lightest inside and a crisp, dry outside.
A warm, cooked glaze
Dissolving the sugar with milk and a spoon of corn syrup makes a thin, shiny glaze that sets into a sheer, crackly shell on a warm doughnut.
Step by step
- Step 1
In a stand mixer bowl, combine the yeast, warm milk, vanilla, sugar, egg, shortening and half the flour. Mix on the lowest speed until combined.
- Step 2
Slowly add the remaining flour and the salt and mix on the second speed only until the flour disappears. The dough should be loose and sticky.
- Step 3
Cover and let rise in a warm place 1 hour.
- Step 4
On a floured counter, shape the dough into a smooth ball and roll it 1/2 inch thick. Cut rounds with a 3 1/2-inch cutter and the centers with a 1-inch cutter, rerolling the scraps, for up to 12. Set them on parchment-lined sheet pans, cover with a towel and let rise 45 to 60 minutes, until puffy.
- Step 5
Heat the shortening in a deep Dutch oven to 375°F. Just before frying, warm the glaze ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, whisking until the sugar dissolves and the glaze steams; take it off the heat (thin it with milk if needed).
- Step 6
Fry 1 or 2 doughnuts at a time, 1 to 2 minutes per side, until lightly golden, keeping the shortening between 350°F and 375°F.
- Step 7
Move to a wire rack, cool just until you can handle them, dip each in the warm glaze and eat right away.
Hot Glazed Doughnuts, Inspired by Krispy Kreme
Serves 12 (one doughnut each) · 10 to 12 doughnuts · 2 hr 45 min total
Dough
- 2 1/4 tsp (one 7 g packet) instant yeast
- 1 cup whole milk, warmed to 105°F to 112°F
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups (315 g) all-purpose flour, divided
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Frying
- About 4 cups vegetable shortening
Glaze
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tbsp light corn syrup
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp kosher salt
Method
- In a stand mixer bowl, combine the yeast, warm milk, vanilla, sugar, egg, shortening and half the flour. Mix on the lowest speed until combined.
- Slowly add the remaining flour and the salt and mix on the second speed only until the flour disappears. The dough should be loose and sticky.
- Cover and let rise in a warm place 1 hour.
- On a floured counter, shape the dough into a smooth ball and roll it 1/2 inch thick. Cut rounds with a 3 1/2-inch cutter and the centers with a 1-inch cutter, rerolling the scraps, for up to 12. Set them on parchment-lined sheet pans, cover with a towel and let rise 45 to 60 minutes, until puffy.
- Heat the shortening in a deep Dutch oven to 375°F. Just before frying, warm the glaze ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, whisking until the sugar dissolves and the glaze steams; take it off the heat (thin it with milk if needed).
- Fry 1 or 2 doughnuts at a time, 1 to 2 minutes per side, until lightly golden, keeping the shortening between 350°F and 375°F.
- Move to a wire rack, cool just until you can handle them, dip each in the warm glaze and eat right away.
Adapted from Taste of Home, "Our Best Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Copycat Recipe" by Lauren Habermehl (updated May 20, 2024), as written (8 to 12 doughnuts; we cut 12). Taste of Home gives 2 cups of confectioners' sugar as 150 g; we count 2 cups at King Arthur's 113 g per cup (226 g). Inspired by, not official. Taste of Home. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- Fry only 1 or 2 at a time; crowding drops the temperature and makes them greasy.
- Fry the holes too and glaze them the same way.
- Taste of Home: to reheat frozen unglazed doughnuts, thaw overnight in the fridge, microwave 5 to 10 seconds and dip in fresh glaze.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Krispy Kreme's recipe came from a New Orleans chef. Disputed: Wikipedia says Rudolph bought a yeast-raised recipe from a New Orleans chef, and also that his uncle was probably inspired by Ohio River barge cook Joseph LeBeouf.
- The original glazed recipe has not changed since 1937. Folklore: Taste of Home repeats it, but it is the company's story and we could not verify it.
- Krispy Kreme fries in shortening. Folklore: Taste of Home calls it "word on the street".
- This is the real recipe. Folklore: it is a copycat, inspired by, not official.
Every other doughnut
Dutch Oliebollen (New Year's Eve Doughnuts)
Scoops of soft yeast batter studded with raisins and currants, fried round and golden and buried in powdered sugar, the Dutch New Year's Eve treat and a cousin of the olykoeks the Dutch made in old New York.
German Berliner (Jam-Filled Krapfen)
Soft balls of butter-and-egg yeast dough fried with their pale "collar", rolled in sugar and piped full of jam: the German jelly doughnut, called Berliner, Pfannkuchen, Krapfen or Kreppel depending on where you buy it.
Polish Pączki (Fat Thursday Doughnuts)
Extra-rich jelly doughnuts made with egg yolks, butter and vanilla, fried deep mahogany, tossed in powdered sugar and filled with plum, rose petal or raspberry jam for Fat Thursday.
Israeli Sufganiyot (Hanukkah Jelly Doughnuts)
Small yeast doughnuts scented with cinnamon, fried hot and fast for Hanukkah, filled with a spoonful of berry or plum preserves and rolled in sugar, from Joan Nathan's 1979 holiday cookbook.
Portuguese Malasadas (and Hawaii's Malasada Day)
Hole-less yeast doughnuts made with bread flour, milk and eggs, patted into disks, fried golden and tossed in sugar while hot: the Portuguese Shrove Tuesday treat that became Hawaii's Malasada Day.
Tuscan Bomboloni alla Crema (Custard Doughnuts)
Big, cloud-soft Italian doughnuts made from a folded yeast dough, fried slow and pale gold, filled with lemon-and-vanilla pastry cream and dusted with powdered sugar, the way Tuscan bakeries and beach carts sell them.
Greek Loukoumades (Honey Doughnut Puffs)
Spoonfuls of a bubbly yeast batter fried into crisp golden puffs, dropped into cold honey syrup and showered with walnuts, cinnamon and sesame, Greece's favorite street-food sweet.
New Orleans Beignets
Squares of a very wet, eggy yeast dough fried until they balloon, then buried in powdered sugar, the French Quarter coffee-stand doughnut, made at home.
Classic Yeast-Raised Glazed Doughnuts
Tall, airy ring doughnuts from a buttery dough that rests overnight in the fridge, proofed in a steamy oven, fried golden and dipped in a sheer vanilla glaze that sets matte and crackly.
Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts
Tangy sour cream and buttermilk cake doughnuts, chilled, cut and fried until craggy and crisp at the edges, then dipped in a thin vanilla glaze that settles into every crack.
Apple Cider Doughnuts
Tender cake doughnuts flavored with apple, buttermilk, cinnamon and nutmeg, fried in two minutes and tossed in cinnamon sugar, the fall orchard and cider-mill classic made at home.
Baked Weeknight Doughnuts (Cinnamon Sugar)
Tender nutmeg cake doughnuts baked in a doughnut pan in 10 minutes and shaken in cinnamon sugar while warm: no yeast, no frying, about half an hour start to finish.
Meatballs of the World
Italian-American Meatballs
Big, tender meatballs braised for an hour in red sauce over spaghetti. The one most Americans grew up with.
Pallottine (Abruzzo Meatballs)
Tiny meatballs, smaller than a marble, tossed right through square spaghetti alla chitarra. No bread at all.
Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)
Small, soft meatballs browned in butter, in a cream sauce made from the same pan, with lingonberry jam on the plate.
Danish Frikadeller
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Königsberger Klopse
German meatballs that are never fried: poached, then served in a creamy white sauce with capers.
Spanish Albóndigas in Almond Saffron Sauce
The tapas bar classic: small meatballs in a golden sauce thickened with fried almonds and bread.
Mexican Albóndigas with Chipotle and Mint
Soft meatballs with rice and fresh mint inside, simmered in a smoky tomato and chipotle broth.
Izgara Köfte (Turkish Grilled Meatballs)
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Lion's Head Meatballs
Big, soft pork meatballs, stirred into a sticky paste, fried to set, then braised in a savory sauce.
Chicken Tsukune
Japan's chicken meatball: kneaded sticky, grilled on skewers, glazed with sweet soy tare, dipped in egg yolk.