These no-yeast donut holes are soft and fluffy donuts that take minutes to whip up together, and are the most delicious donuts with minimum effort and time invested!
These bite-sized treats are made without the need for yeast but are light as air just like regular yeast donuts.
The absence of yeast also means that they require no rise time, making them a quick and easy option for those craving a sweet treat.
No yeast donut holes can be flavored with various ingredients such as cinnamon or vanilla and can be coated in powdered sugar or glaze for an extra touch of sweetness.
Whether enjoyed plain or with added toppings, these delectable treats are sure to satisfy any donut lover's cravings.
If you like making donuts, check out our strawberry glazed donuts, and lotus biscoff donuts.
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Why this recipe works
- Ease- these donuts are the easiest donuts you will ever make and taste and have the texture of yeasted donuts!
- Time- this whole recipe comes together in under 30 minutes from start to finish. Making that batter takes 5 minutes, frying them takes about 20 minutes!
- No yeast- if you were ever intimidated by baking with yeast, this recipe is perfect for you! It uses baking powder and baking soda as leaveners and the best part is that you don't need to wait for the dough to rise!
- Texture- these donuts have a fluffy and tender texture on the inside and will melt in your mouth in every bite. You will not be able to stop at one!
- Versatile- these donuts are super versatile and can be dipped in different dippings like chocolate, caramel sauce, and can be covered in sugar, cinnamon sugar, glaze, etc.
Ingredients
Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
Flour– we use all-purpose flour for this recipe. Bread flour will work great as well for this recipe.
Granulated sugar– granulated sugar works best for this recipe, but caster sugar can work as well.
Kosher salt– use kosher salt or table salt for this recipe.
Sour cream- use your favorite sour cream brand for this recipe. Any fat percentage will work for this. You can swap the sour cream with greek yogurt if desired.
Baking soda and baking powder – baking soda and baking powder allow the donuts to rise and spread. Make sure that your leaveners aren't expired.
Eggs- you will need 2 large eggs, make sure that your eggs are at room temperature.
Vanilla extract- vanilla extract adds extra flavor. For extra vanilla flavor, use vanilla bean extract or an actual vanilla bean!
Vegetable oil- use either vegetable oil or canola oil for this recipe. You will need oil for frying the dough.
Instructions
In a large mixing bowl, add the sour cream, vanilla extract, eggs, granulated sugar, and kosher salt, and mix with a whisk until well combined.
Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix until just combined and there are no lumps of flour visible.
Heat canola oil in a Dutch oven, saucepan, or frying pan and allow it to get to 160c (320f).
Gently scoop 8 donuts at a time with a small cookie scooper into the hot oil and allow them to fry for about 2 minutes per side.
Remove the fried donuts to paper towels to drain any excess oil. Let the donuts cool for a few minutes or until they are cool enough to hold.
Roll the warm donuts in granulated sugar if desired and serve!
Expert Tips
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with the back of a knife.
- Use a small cookie scoop to scoop out the donuts, that way you will have even-sized donuts, plus it ensures that your donuts fry evenly.
- Use a candy thermometer to reach the proper heating oil temperature. This will prevent from your donuts from cooking too fast on the outside and being undercooked on the inside.
- Make sure that your baking leaveners isn’t expired. You can check if your baking powder and baking soda is expired by mixing a teaspoon of the powder with ¼ cup of room temperature water. The water should turn foamy with a lot of bubbles. This means your baking leaveners are not expired. If the water don’t react, you will need to buy new leaveners.
- Make sure that your ingredients are fresh! Make sure that your flour and baking powder, and baking soda are fresh and not expired. This step ensures that you will have great dough to work with.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan when frying the donuts, this step ensures that your donuts cook well.
- Remove the fried donuts to paper towels to drain any excess oil.
Faq's
Some donut holes recipes are made with the center of a donut, but this recipe uses a thick batter using baking powder and baking soda instead of yeast.
Baking soda and baking powder are a great alternative for yeast in some donut recipes. It is perfect for these donut holes recipe.
Yeast helps to create a light and fluffy texture in traditional raised donuts. However, these donuts are made with baking powder and baking soda for leavening instead and still create soft and fluffy donuts.
Yeast donuts, as the name suggests, are leavened with yeast, resulting in a light and fluffy texture. The yeast helps the dough rise and gives it a distinct flavor.
On the other hand, donuts made without yeast tend to be denser and have a different texture. They rely on baking powder or baking soda for leavening, which creates a slightly different taste profile.
One possibility is that the oil temperature is too low, causing the donuts to cook unevenly.
Another reason could be that you are frying too many donuts at once, which lowers the temperature of the oil and results in undercooked centers.
Another reason could be that your oil is too hot, and is cooking the outside of your donuts quickly but not cooking the inside of the donuts.
To ensure perfectly cooked donuts, make sure to maintain the correct oil temperature and fry them in smaller batches if needed.
Storing
I highly recommend frying these and eating them on the same day. If you have leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
Freezing
After frying them, let them cool completely and freeze them in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
When ready to use, defrost at room temperature for 30 minutes and reheat in a toaster oven for 2-3 minutes.
Substitutions
Dairy-free- to make these donuts dairy-free, swap the sour cream with vegan sour cream or vegan greek yogurt. Use the unflavored kind.
Gluten-free - if you want to make this recipe gluten-free, simply replace the flour with gluten-free flour. I haven’t tried this recipe with gluten-free flour, but it should work very well.
Serving tips
You can serve these donuts next to a cup of coffee or tea for a dessert, sweet breakfast, quick snack, etc.
My favorite way to serve these is dipping them in granulated sugar or cinnamon sugar and dipping them in Nutella, melted chocolate, or chocolate ganache! The options are endless.
Variations
Filling- you can fill these donuts with your favorite filling like vanilla pastry cream, dulce de leche, Nutella, chocolate spread, jam, vanilla or chocolate pudding, etc.
Glaze- make a simple glaze which is made with milk and powdered sugar and dip each warm donut hole in the glaze and allow it to set. This will result in a delicious sugary coating that will melt in your mouth.
Coating- instead of rolling these donuts in granulated sugar, roll them in cinnamon sugar, or powdered sugar.
Extract- swap the vanilla extract with your favorite extracts like almond extract, peppermint extract, or lemon extract!
Zest- add lemon or orange zest to the batter for a delicious flavor and aroma.
Chocolate- make these into chocolate donuts by swapping ¼ cup of flour with cocoa powder.
Equipment
- Mixing bowl (set of 3)
- Whisk Set (pack of 3) to whisk the ingredients together
- Cookies scoop set of 3 (the best cookie scoop we used)
- Rubber spatula
- Donut piping tip for filling the donuts with your favorite filling.
- Wire spider to remove the fried donuts from the oil!
More donut recipes
Boston cream donuts- These Boston cream donuts are made with fluffy yeast dough, filled with creamy vanilla custard, and topped with chocolate ganache.
Bavarian cream donuts- These Bavarian cream donuts are made with soft and fluffy donut dough, rolled with sugar, and filled with decadent vanilla pastry cream.
Mini donuts- These mini donuts are made with a simple vanilla cinnamon cake-like batter and tossed in a cinnamon-sugar mixture. These are so cute and so fun to make!
If you tried this recipe, don’t forget to leave a rating and a comment below. We love hearing from you.
If you liked this recipe
📖 Recipe
Fried Donut Holes (No Yeast)
Ingredients
- 14.11 oz Sour cream
- 2 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 3 tablespoon Granulated sugar
- 2 cups Flour
- ⅓ teaspoon Baking soda
- 2 teaspoon Baking powder
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add the sour cream, vanilla extract, eggs, granulated sugar, and kosher salt, and mix with a whisk until well combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix until just combined and there are no lumps of flour visible.
- Heat canola oil in a Dutch oven, saucepan, or frying pan and allow it to get to 160c (320f).
- Gently scoop 8 donuts at a time with a small cookie scooper into the hot oil and allow them to fry for about 2 minutes per side.
- Remove the fried donuts to paper towels to drain any excess oil. Let the donuts cool for a few minutes or until they are cool enough to hold.
- Roll the warm donuts in granulated sugar if desired and serve!
Notes
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with the back of a knife.
- Use a small cookie scoop to scoop out the donuts, that way you will have even-sized donuts, plus it ensures that your donuts fry evenly.
- Use a candy thermometer to reach the proper heating oil temperature. This will prevent from your donuts from cooking too fast on the outside and being undercooked on the inside.
- Make sure that your baking leaveners isn’t expired. You can check if your baking powder and baking soda is expired by mixing a teaspoon of the powder with ¼ cup of room temperature water. The water should turn foamy with a lot of bubbles. This means your baking leaveners are not expired. If the water don’t react, you will need to buy new leaveners.
- Make sure that your ingredients are fresh! Make sure that your flour and baking powder, and baking soda are fresh and not expired. This step ensures that you will have great dough to work with.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan when frying the donuts, this step ensures that your donuts cook well.
- Remove the fried donuts to paper towels to drain any excess oil.
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