Fluffy & Sweet Glazed Whole Wheat Donuts

As I sit and enjoy my homemade donuts this morning, I can’t resist sharing the recipe with you all. They’re perfect.

The recipe came from Enola at Paratus Familia. She gives a nice photo tutorial you should check out! I added vital wheat gluten to the mix since I was using 100% whole wheat. Not sure what kind of wheat Enola uses, but I was hoping to make mine fluffier this way. They sure were good!!

Delicious Homemade Donuts Recipe (Whole Wheat Version)

  • 1 T Yeast
  • 1 3/4 c. lukewarm water
  • 1/2 c. sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 c. shortening
  • 5 c. flour (I used freshly ground hard white wheat; you could use all-purpose)
  • 4 tsp vital wheat gluten (omit if using all-purpose flour)
  • oil for frying- I used vegetable oil

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Stir in sugar, salt, eggs, shortening and 2 cups of flour. Beat on low for about 30 seconds, scraping the bowl as necessary. Stir in the remaining flour until well mixed. It will be sticky still.

Cover and let rise until double, about an hour.

Dump dough onto floured surface. Lightly coat both sides with flour. Gently roll dough 1/2″ thick with a floured rolling pin, or use hands to flatten.

Cut with floured doughnut cutter. Or you can use a glass to cut your donuts out, and the top of a lipstick tube to cut the holes.

Cover and let rise 30-40 more minutes.

Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan. I poured enough to make it about 1/2″ deep. On our flat top I used the setting between med. low – medium heat. Use a thermometer to get the oil to 350*.

Use a spatula to slide the donuts into the hot oil. Let fry for a couple minutes, checking the bottoms of the donuts to see if they are nicely browned. When ready, flip and cook the other side. Use a fork or something to help you turn the donuts without splashing hot grease.

Remove from oil and place on a towel on a plate. When donuts are done, dip them in the glaze, or spread with frosting.

Doughnut Glaze

  • 1/3 c. butter
  • 2 c. powdered sugar (plus more for thickening)
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • about 4 T hot water

Heat the butter in a med. saucepan until melted. Remove from heat and add sugar and vanilla, stirring well. Whisk in hot water, one Tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency. I used about 5 T hot water and mine came out way too runny, so I added more powdered sugar until the glaze was thick. Then it was perfect. So, go easy on the water.

Maple Frosting

  • 1/2 c. butter
  • 3 c. powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp maple flavoring

Cream butter and powdered sugar. Add maple flavoring. Beat until good spreading consistency.

Thanks again, Enola, for sharing this recipe! It’s definitely the best I’ve tried!

15 thoughts on “Fluffy & Sweet Glazed Whole Wheat Donuts”

  1. I haven’t had a good glazed whole wheat donut since the A&P Bakery made them when I was a
    young girl. I have also been missing their Spanish Bar Cake. I can’t wait to try your recipe!

    Reply
  2. I googled a whole wheat donut recipe and came upon yours. Wow!!! My husband, 4 children, and myself were all very happy with the recipe.
    They are so delicious. I don’t have any hard white wheat on hand, so I just used hard red, and they turned out so well! Adding the gluten definitely makes a huge difference- I’ve tried whole wheat donuts without it, and they’re like bricks. I can’t believe how fluffy they are!
    Thanks so much for sharing! I’m bookmarking the recipe and will make this my go-to donut recipe.

    Reply
  3. The donuts look delicious! I just bought a Wilton donut pan that you use for baking cake donuts–you know, that kind of donut that you can buy that is either covered in chocolate icing, rolled in powdered sugar, or coated with cinnamon and sugar? Anyway, although you can also buy mixes to use with the pan, they are EXPENSIVE, but not to worry–the packaging on the pan includes the recipe for making your own from scratch, including the various toppings. Can’t wait to try it. It is a good alternative to the deep fried ones, too, for those people who may want to stay away from that. I got mine from our local Meijer store, but you can also order online:

    http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=95C582A0-1E0B-C910-EA77273CAA507790&killnav=1

    Reply
  4. I have never succeeded in donut making. But I have to admit that after I looked at this post the first time, I did go to the Donut shop for the second time this year.

    Reply
  5. Is the dough hard to roll out after rising? I seem to never be able to roll out dough after it has risen. It just shrinks right back to a ball. Any suggestions? These look delicious though!

    Reply
    • Jen,

      This time I didn’t have my rolling pin on me, so I used my hands to flatten the dough. It did fine. I know what you mean, I’ve had that problem too. But with this dough, it spread well. 🙂 When I do have trouble with the dough not wanting to stretch, I usually have to put more weight behind it before it will do what it’s supposed to!

      Reply
  6. I hadn’t even read the article yet, I just had it open and my son was sitting in my lap and saw the pictures of the donuts and said, “I want some of those!” I think I might have to make this today! 🙂

    Reply

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