Maple Frosted Donuts

Maple frosted donuts are the perfect November breakfast item. Topped with a delicious maple icing, this recipe will suit your late-fall cravings. The dough is made with buttermilk and cake flour, both of which make the inside of these donuts tender and soft. At the same time, the butter-flavored shortening gives them a nice crispy outside. With a touch of vanilla extract and nutmeg, they have a slightly sweet flavor even before you top them with the maple glaze.

The shorter, printable version of this recipe can be found below, but read on if you want more detailed step-by-step instructions. This recipe consists of two parts: the donut dough and the maple frosting. For the dough, you will need a 3 ½ inch donut cutter.

The Donut Dough

For this delicious donut dough, you will need the following ingredients:

• 2 packages of instant dry yeast
• ¼ cup warm water
• 1 ½ cups of lukewarm buttermilk
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp of nutmeg
• ¼ tsp of vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• ⅓ cup of butter-flavored shortening (like Crisco) at room temperature
• 6 cups of cake flour, plus more for dusting
• Vegetable oil for frying

In your Kitchen Aid mixer bowl, dissolve the instant yeast in the ¼ cup of warm water for 5 minutes. Be sure that you are using active dry instant yeast and not another type of yeast. We often use Fleischmann’s RapidRise. When it comes to making dough, you want to be sure that the water you dissolve it in is not too hot, or else you will kill the yeast. Be sure that it’s only slightly warm to the touch.

The same philosophy goes for the buttermilk. You want it to only be lukewarm. You can heat it up in the microwave for about 1 minute to achieve the correct temperature. When you remove it from the microwave, you will see that its components have begun to separate. Simply take a spoon and stir the buttermilk for a few seconds before adding it to the yeast and water. The mixture should be bubbly before the buttermilk is added.

Next, add the sugar, salt, nutmeg, vanilla extract, eggs, shortening, and just three cups of the cake flour. Cake flour works great in this recipe because it makes the donuts nice and soft. Using your paddle attachment, beat the ingredients on low, working up to medium. As the dough forms, add the additional three cups of flour one at a time, letting each fully incorporate before adding the next. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the dough off of the attachment as needed to ensure that all ingredients can fully be mixed in.

Remove the dough from the KitchenAid and place it on a floured surface (flouring the surface with the cake flour is best.) Using your hands, knead the dough—it should feel very soft. Sprinkle the dough with more cake flour as needed until it is no longer sticky. Then, form the dough into a ball on your counter and cover it with a cloth. Let rise for one hour.

After an hour, the dough should have about doubled in size. Lightly flour a rolling pin and roll out the dough to be about a ½ thick. The dough should roll out very smoothly. Sprinkle it with flour as needed so that it doesn’t stick to the surface of the counter.

Then, dip your donut cutter in flour and begin cutting the dough—gathering the donut holes off to the side as you go. Put the cut donuts on a plate. When you’ve run out of room to cut, roll the dough and the donut holes back up, knead, roll the dough back out, and cut some more. Do this a few times as needed until there is barely any dough left. You should be able to cut 2 dozen (or 24 total) donuts. Cover the cut donuts with a cloth napkin and let rise for 45 minutes.

When the donuts are almost done rising, fill a dutch oven with 3 inches of vegetable oil in and put over medium-high heat. When it comes to making fried donuts, the temperature of the oil is everything. That’s why you need to use a cooking thermometer to ensure that the oil stays at the right temperature—360 degrees.

Once the oil is heated up and the donuts are done rising, gently place about three donuts at a time into your dutch oven. A good rule of thumb is to dip the donuts into the oil until it is submerged up to the hole and then release. This will help ensure that hot oil does not splash up and burn you. Fry the donuts on each side for about 1 ½ minutes, using frying tongs to flip them. When they’re done frying, place them on a paper-towel lined plate so that the excess oil can be absorbed, and start frying the next batch.

Once all of the donuts are done cooling, you can sneak a tasting of them plain and then begin making the maple frosting.

The Maple Donut Frosting

For the maple frosting, you will need the following ingredients:

• 3 cups of powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp of butter melted, salted
• 2 Tbsp of real maple syrup
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 6 Tbsp of Half and Half
• Fall sprinkles to garnish

In a medium mixing bowl, melt the butter in the microwave for about 45 seconds. Then, add the powdered sugar, real maple syrup, vanilla extract, and half and half. Whisk all ingredients together until there are no clumps left. Pop the glaze in the microwave for 15 seconds right before you plan to frost the donuts.

Then, dip each donut one by one facedown in the bowl of frosting. Spin each donut around to fully get it coated with the frosting. Then, gently lift the donut up and let the excess icing drip back into the bowl. Place aside on a platter.

Once all donuts are frosted, pour the sprinkles into a small mixing bowl. Same as you did with the frosting, place the donuts facedown into the bowl and spin them around to get them coated with the sprinkles.

Serve and enjoy!

Maple Frosted Donuts

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: maple frosted donuts

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Resting time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

Servings: 2 dozen

Maple frosted donuts are the perfect November breakfast item. Topped with a delicious maple icing, this recipe will suit your late-fall cravings. 

Print

Ingredients

The Donut Dough

• 2 packages instant dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk lukewarm
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup butter-flavored shortening at room temperature like Crisco
• 6 cups cake flour plus more for dusting
• Vegetable oil for frying

The Maple Donut Frosting

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp melted butter salted
• 2 Tbsp real maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 Tbsp half and half
• Fall sprinkles to garnish

Instructions

The Donut Dough

1. In KitchenAid mixer bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let sit for 5 minutes.

2. Add lukewarm buttermilk, sugar, salt, nutmeg, vanilla extract, eggs, shortening, and 3 cups of cake flour and beat with paddle attachment on low to begin, working up to medium.

3. Add remainder of flour in one cup at a time, letting each cup fully incorporate before adding the next. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the paddle attachment as needed.

4. Remove dough from KitchenAid mixer and place on a lightly-floured surface. Sprinkle the dough with more cake flour and knead with your hands until the dough is no longer sticky. Cover with a cloth and let rise for one hour.

5. Roll dough out to ½ inch thick and cut using a doughnut cutter. When no space is left in the dough to cut more, roll it back up, knead again, then roll back out and begin cutting again. Repeat until there is barely any dough left. You should end up with about 24 donuts.

6. Cover cut doughnuts and let rise for 45 minutes.

7. Heat up 3 inches of vegetable oil in a dutch oven to 360 degrees, then gently place about three donuts at a time into your dutch oven. Fry the donuts on each side for about 1 ½ minutes, using frying tongs to flip them. When they’re done frying, place them on a paper-towel lined plate so that the excess oil can be absorbed and start frying the next batch.

8. Once all of the donuts are done frying and are cooling, you can begin making the maple frosting.

The Maple Donut Frosting

1. In a medium mixing bowl, melt the butter in the microwave for about 45 seconds. 

2. Then, add the powdered sugar, real maple syrup, vanilla extract, and half and half. Whisk all ingredients together until there are no clumps left. 

3. Pop the glaze in the microwave for 15 seconds right before you plan to frost the donuts.

4. Then, dip each donut one by one facedown in the bowl of frosting. Spin each donut around to fully get it coated with the frosting. Then, gently lift the donut up and let the excess icing drip back into the bowl. Place aside on a platter.

5. Serve and enjoy!

If you like this recipe, be sure to pin it!