Fall is by far my favorite season, by far. And of course, the best part about it is the food! Pumpkin picking, apple orchards, cider and of course doughnuts. These Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Holes are super fun to make at home, and allow you to indulge in the flavors of fall all year round.
Full disclosure, these are a yeasted doughnut. Most of the doughnuts you’ll get at cider mills (at least in Michigan), are cake doughnuts. Not the yeasty goodness you would find in a jelly donut or Pączki (I’m super polish). These fuse the cinnamon sugar flavor of a cidermill donut with the texture of a yeasted donut, and I have to say, it’s a damn good mashup.
When you look at this recipe, you’ll notice this is an enriched dough. Meaning, it contains eggs, milk, and butter. This high fat dough makes for a wonderful flakey texture and lots of flavor. However, it also means the dough requires a long slow rise to build all of that delicious flavor and texture. So plan accordingly. You’ll need a few hours to properly raise these, and fry them.
The cinnamon sugar coating on these doughnuts is the crowning jewel. It adds a hit of spice on the tongue and a subtle crunch from the granulated sugar. The perfect juxtaposition to the light, eggy interiors. To make sure the cinnamon sugar sticks to the dough optimally, I fill a ziplock bag full of the mixture, and throw the hot doughnuts into the bag, seal and give it a tumble. It’s so important to do this step with hot doughnuts, as the heat causes the sugar to melt slightly and adhere to the crispy exteriors.
Feel free to tweak the ratio of the cinnamon to sugar. I like my doughnuts pretty cinnamony, but if you don’t feel free to decrease the cinnamon, or you can even increase it. After all, they say that cinnamon helps moderate blood sugar, and I’m all for health benefits! 🙂
If you love these Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Holes , check out some of my other favorite recipes that use cinnamon:
Gluten Free Slice and Bake Chai Shortbread
Creamy Gluten Free Chai Rice Pudding
Almond Chai White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Holes
Equipment
- 1 inch round biscuit cutter
- Stand mixer
- Dutch Oven or Fryer
Ingredients
For the Doughnuts
- 1¼ cups Warm milk
- 2 ¼ tsp Dry Yeast equivalent to one envelope
- 2 Large Eggs
- 8 Tbsp Butter melted
- 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 tsp Salt
- 4½ cups All-purpose Flour
- 64 oz Neutral Oil Like Canola or Vegetable Oil
For the Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1.5 Tablespoons Ground Cinnamon
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together the yeast and warm milk.
- Let rest until frothy, about 5-10 minutes.
- While the yeast is resting, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together the eggs, melted butter, and sugar, until well incorporated.
- Add the frothy milk and yeast mixture to the mixer bowl, and mix until well incorporated.
- Add the flour to the bowl, and top with the salt. Mix until well incorporated. Then continue to let the mixer knead for an additional 5 minutes on low speed.
- Remove the dough from mixing bowl, and grease the mixing bowl with some of the oil. Return the dough to the bowl and cover. Allow the dough to rise in a warm area for an hour.
- After an hour has elapsed, remove the dough from the bowl and punch it down.
- Roll the dough out to a 1/4 inch thickness.
- Using the 1 inch cutter, cut as many circles from the initial roll of the dough as possible. The more you re-roll it the tougher the dough will become.
- Let the cut circles of dough rise again for another 50 minutes to an hour, covered in a warm place.
- The last twenty minutes that the dough is rising, heat the oil in a dutch oven or fryer until it reaches 375°F.
- Line plates or cooling racks with paper towel to absorb the grease of the fried doughnuts, and set aside.
- Mix together the cinnamon and sugar and put into a plastic or paper bag. Set aside.
- Fry the dough in batches, taking care not to overcrowd the frying oil. About 1 minute on one side, flip, and one minute on the other side.
- Move each cooked batch to the paper towels.
- When all doughnuts have been cooked. Place in the bag of cinnamon sugar in batches, and shake to coat.
- Remove the coated doughnuts from the bag and serve while warm.
