Easy Baked or Fried Yeast Zebra Donuts

a fried yeast donut with one bite taken out

Easy Baked or Fried Yeast Zebra Donuts

This is the best yeast donut recipe ever! You will get perfect doughnuts every time with this easy step by step recipe. Includes instructions for how to make baked donuts and donuts that are fried in oil.

5 from 7 votes

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 30

Proofing (rising) time 3

Total Time 3 45

Course Dessert

Servings donuts

Calories 223 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

For the donuts

4 cups all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoons instant dry yeast
3 tablespoons butter
1 large egg
10 tablespoons milk or non-dairy milk as desired (This is ½ cup + 2 tablespoons.)
½ cup water
½ teaspoon salt

For the chocolate glaze

14 ounces dark chocolate
3 ounces white chocolate

Instructions

For the donuts

Add the flour, sugar, and dry yeast to a medium bowl and whisk together by hand.
Add the butter, egg, milk, water, and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer and combine using the paddle attachment.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well with the paddle.
Using the dough hook attachment, knead the dough for 10 minutes.
If you don't have a stand mixer with a dough hook, knead by hand until the dough is firm and no longer sticky. This will take at least 10 minutes, possibly longer. To knead by hand, you should flour the surface, your hands, and the dough, then push the dough down and away from you then fold it in half. Repeat this process over and over, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking, until the dough is firm and no longer needs flour to prevent stickiness.
As soon as the dough is ready, shape it into a ball and place it in a bowl at least twice its size (it will double in size during the next two hours). Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp, clean kitchen towel. (Covering is very important so that the dough doesn't dry out.)
After the dough has doubled in size, turn it out on a floured surface and roll with a rolling pin until it is ½-inch thick.
Use a 3-inch round biscuit cutter to cut as many donuts as possible from the dough. Use a 1-inch cutter to remove the center hole from the middle of each donut.
Smash the remaining dough and donut holes together and re-roll to a ½-inch thickness. Continue cutting donuts from the scraps until all the dough has been used.
Once you have cut all the donuts, lay them on parchment paper and cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel. Leave them to rise for 30 minutes to an hour. After they have doubled in size again, they are ready to cook. Don't let them sit for longer than an hour because they will start to dry out and won't rise during cooking.

To fry the donuts

Heat 2 cups of oil over medium-low heat in a medium skillet. There should be enough room in the skillet for 2 donuts to fry at the same time, taking into account that the donuts will grow in the oil.
Test the oil by dropping a pea-sized bit of dough in. If it immediately bubbles, the oil is ready.
Fry the donuts for 1-2 minutes on each side or until evenly golden brown.

To bake the donuts

For a healthier version of the donut, bake in the oven instead of frying.
Pre-heat the oven to 400ºF.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the donuts in rows, remembering that they will double in size while baking.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, turning halfway through, until they are golden brown.

For the chocolate glaze

If using a block of chocolate, break it up into 1-inch pieces. Place the dark chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl larger than the donuts. Heat in the microwave in 20-second increments, stirring for at least 30 seconds after each time. When the chocolate is completely smooth, you are ready to move on to the next step.
Dip each donut in the melted chocolate. Place donut on parchment paper to cool and harden. If desired, you can line a wire rack or baking sheet with parchment and then transfer the donuts to the fridge to harden the chocolate faster.
If desired, after the chocolate on the tops has hardened, you can dip the bottoms of the donut in the chocolate glaze as well. If the chocolate in the bowl has become too thick, you may need to reheat it in 20 second increments to get it liquid again. Don't forget to stir very well in between heating bursts.
Melt the white chocolate in the same way you melted the dark chocolate. Add melted white chocolate to a piping bag, cut off the tip, and drizzle over the hardened dark chocolate donuts. Allow to cool and harden before serving. (Again, this can be done on the counter or in the refrigerator.)

Notes

The proofing step (where you let the dough rest and double in size) will take longer in the winter because it depends on the room temperature. The higher the room temperature, the less time the dough will need to double in size. If it is cold in the room, you may need to put it close to a heat source (such as on top of the refrigerator) to accelerate the process. Alternately, if your oven has a proofing setting, you can put the dough in the oven to rise. If your oven does not have this setting, you can do the same thing by setting the oven to 120ºF and allowing the dough to rise inside for the allotted period of time or until it has doubled in size.

The reason you cut a hole out of each donut is to help in cooking evenly. Donuts without a hole tend to cook unevenly, with the center being somewhat raw when the outside is fully cooked.

In order to achieve the consistency of a commercially prepared donut, you will need to fry them in oil. Baked donuts are equally delicious but do taste different and have a different consistency. They are more like a sweet roll than the puffy donuts you are used to.

Nutrition

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