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These donuts have a golden outside with a delicious sugary glaze to coat it. The inside is very fluffy and soft, just like how a proper donut should be. These donuts are worth the time and effort.

When I asked my dad what he wanted me to make him, he would always reply with donuts and waffles. I already made him waffles (check out that recipe here), so I knew I had to make him donuts.

My favorite memories were going to Krispy Kreme and ordering a box of a dozen freshly made glazed donuts. The donuts would come to the front on a little conveyor belt and they would pour that thick glaze right in front of me. Yummy!

Their donuts were always the best, but unfortunately they’re not vegan. They use lots of milk and eggs in the dough and in the glaze.

I saw this recipe made by Domestic Goddess, where she made donuts using Tangzhong or a cooked roux method and I thought that was genius. I had already used this technique to make Japanese milk bread with great results. This recipe is adapted from hers.

Important note: This post contains affiliate links, but it does not affect my opinion of the products. I used all of these and love these products. You can read my full disclosure here.

What exactly is Tangzhong?

Popular in Asia, Tangzhong is when you cook a little bit of flour in hot water or milk. Sounds simple, right? That’s because it is. This cooked roux is the key to making the fluffiest bread, or this case donuts, you can imagine.

How does it work? Well…that takes a bit of looking to find out.

To put it simply, this technique allows the starches in the flour to absorb more water via gelatinization. This thick pudding-like paste is added back to the flour mixture. Once it cooks, the water steams inside the bread to create a more springy and fluffy crumb.

It is because of this process, that makes a fluffier, almost melt-in-the-mouth, donut. This recipe is ONLY for standard glazed donuts with holes in the middle. You cannot use this recipe to make a Boston cream donut or add any filling inside. It won’t be able to hold the weight.

But don’t worry, I’ll have a recipe for that as well (;

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour. I use organic all-purpose wheat flour, but you can also use half bread flour and half all-purpose.
• Vital wheat gluten. This is the pure gluten from wheat. This is usually used to make seitan (a meat replacement) because it makes food chewier. Note: if using bread flour, this is not needed.
• Non-dairy milk. I use soy milk because of the high protein content. If soy-free, try to use a non-dairy milk that has a lot of protein, like pea milk or oat milk. You can even add 1-2 tbsp of aquafaba (bean water) to make up for the lack of protein.
• Sugar. This will be to no one’s surprise, but donuts have a lot of sugar. Granulated sugar will be used for the dough and powdered sugar for the glaze.
• Instant yeast. This is a yeasted donut, so instant yeast will be needed. You can use active dry, but you have to add it to warm milk and let sit for 10 minutes before adding it to the dough.
• Vegan butter. To add richness to the dough.
• Cornstarch. Cornstarch has the wonderful ability to weaken gluten strands, thus creating a fluffier donut.
• Vanilla extract. For flavoring the glaze.

Procedure

Prepare the Wet and Dry Ingredients

First, we make the tangzhong. In a saucepot, whisk together the milk and the flour to cook it. With a whisk, make sure there are no lumps and it doesn’t burn on the bottom. You will notice it become thicker and if you taste it, it won’t taste like uncooked flour.

Once it is ready, scoop it out of the pan and let it cool in the fridge.

Now onto the dough. Measure out the flour (I highly recommend measuring with a kitchen scale to get the exact grams), vital wheat gluten, sugar, salt, and 1 envelope of instant yeast. These will be your dry ingredients.

I add it to the bowl of my stand mixer. If you have to mix by hand, use very little flour, so the dough is not dried out, and a bench scraper to prevent the dough to stick to your hands. This dough is very soft, so it is important to knead it to develop gluten strands which will give it a “chew”.

Mix together your dry ingredients and prepare your wet ingredients. Take out your vegan butter of choice out of the fridge. I use Earth Balance because it doesn’t melt at room temperature and taste most like butter. You do want it to be relatively soft so it easier to scoop.

In a small saucepan, heat your milk until it is warm, but not hot. A little heat will activate your yeast, but too much and you will kill them. Don’t kill your yeast!

Lastly, mix your cornstarch and water together. Cornstarch tends to clump up when you heat it, so it is best to mix it beforehand.

Add the warm milk and cornstarch slurry to the dry ingredients and mix in. You should immediately see bubbles form on the surface. This means your yeast is activated and not dead. This is good news.

Lastly add the cooled tangzhong mixture to the flour. This is the secret ingredient to fluffy donuts, so don’t forget it.

Let’s mix it up

Using your dough hook, mix your dough on high for about 8-10. You will see the dough seem dry and tough in the beginning, but after kneading it, it begins to soften and stick to the dough hook.

It is at this point you can lower the speed to a medium and add tiny spoonfuls of vegan butter until all of it is gone. You don’t want to add too much or it won’t mix into the dough. This step requires some patience, but it is worth it in the end.

You know the dough is perfect when you take a small piece of dough and can stretch it between 4 fingers without breaking. This is called the windowpane test.

If it is too sticky, then you can add tiny bits of flour and mix to incorporate. The dough should be soft, but not make it impossible to work with.

After the dough is ready, cover and let sit in the fridge overnight or for at least 8 hours. This slowly proofs the dough and cold dough will be easier to roll out and cut into donut circles.

Shaping and Frying

Take the dough out of the fridge and punch it down. All the gases will be released and you will be left with a dough that is cold and able to roll out pretty easily.

On a gently floured surface, roll out the dough to 1 cm thick. Flour the top as well Use a 7 cm cutter (I didn’t have a cutter, but I had a cup about that size, so I used that as a guide and cut around it with a sharp knife) to cut the circles and 3.5 cm (about the size of a bottle cap) to cut the holes. As I mentioned before, you HAVE to cut the holes out for this recipe.

Place the donuts on a parchment paper box that leaves room for the donut to expand in size. This also makes it easier to transfer the donuts to the fryer oil without deflating it.

Speaking of oil, prepare a tall pot and place your frying oil in it. I went with canola because it can go to high heats and will not go rancid.

Let the donuts proof for 30-45 minutes in a warm place. They will double in size. About 15 minutes to go, heat your oil so it doesn’t overproof.

A good trick to tell if your oil is ready without using a kitchen thermometer is using a bamboo chopstick. Bamboo naturally has water in the wood, even after drying, so when you put it in the hot oil, tiny air bubbles will form around the stick. This is the water in the bamboo boiling.

Prepare your glaze at this time, too. Melt the vegan butter in a microwave or in a saucepot. Sift the powdered sugar and mix it in. Add the flavoring of choice (I went with vanilla extract) and add your non-dairy milk. The milk will make it not as thick, but you only need a tiny bit.

Now you are ready to fry. Carefully place your parchment paper on a metal spoon. Don’t touch your donut or if will deflate. Place the spoon in the hot oil, parchment paper and all. It will start to peel away and you can grab it with some tongs.

After 1-2 minutes it will turn a golden brown and you can flip to cook the other side for 1 minute. Repeat this process with all your donuts.

While still hot, dip into the glaze and place on a metal rack to let the excess oil and glaze drip off.

After the donuts cool, it will be ready to eat. Congratulations on making it this far!

What about Donut Holes?

You can absolutely make donut holes with the leftover dough. I use a bottle cap to cut all the holes and shape them with my hand. I proof them for about 30 minutes and fry them after the donuts.

They are harder to fry because they don’t like to flip. Try your best to evenly brown them on all sides. Same as the donuts, dip them in the glaze and let rest of a metal rack to cool down and dry out.

What about leftovers?

Donuts are really enjoyed as quickly as possible. They will be the best quality and best tasting directly after frying and glazing. You can store leftovers in an airtight container for 1 day at room temperature. They will be noticeably more chewier, but not horrible.

After that I don’t recommend keeping it for anything other than bread pudding, but to be honest, these donuts are so good they won’t last long anyway. I only had two donuts and my family took the rest of them.

If you are really determined to make them last, you can put it in the fridge and heat it up in a microwave. It won’t be the same, but it will be a close second.

If you tried this recipe, let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear from you! Krispy Kreme has a special place in my heart and their donuts are absolutely delicious. No argument there. I am really happy to make these and enjoy delicious plant-based donuts. In my opinion, they are worth all the effort.

I hope you enjoy it too. Happy Cooking!