Potato Donut Recipe with Vanilla Glaze
Mashed potatoes make these delicious donuts extra soft and tender, and nutmeg adds an amazing flavor. Finished off with a simple glaze, they are irresistible, especially warm!
Ingredients
Donuts:
- 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
- ½ cup warm water
- ½ cup sugar, divided
- ½ cup vegetable oil (or canola oil)
- 1 cup mashed potatoes
- 1 ¼ cups milk
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 6 ½ cups all purpose flour (more or less as needed)
Vanilla Glaze:
- ¼ cup salted butter, melted
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 6 Tbsp milk, more or less
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- If you don't have leftover plain mashed potatoes, you will need to make them. I like to use fresh russet potatoes, but you can use instant potato flakes. I recommend pressing them through a potato ricer to remove all lumps.
- In a large bowl, combine the yeast, warm water, and about a tablespoon of the sugar. Let sit for about 10 minutes until bubbly.
- Add the remaining sugar, oil, mashed potatoes, milk, eggs, salt, nutmeg, and about two cups of the flour. Beat until smooth with an electric hand mixer.
- Stir in enough flour to make a soft dough that is slightly sticky but doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl.
- Dump the dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead for a couple minutes or until the dough is smooth.
- Spray the bowl with cooking spray and place the dough in the bottom. Let sit in a warm place until the dough doubles in size, about an hour.
- Spray the counter with cooking spray and use a rolling pin to roll the dough to about 1/2" thick. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter. Place on cookie sheets lined with silicone liners or parchment paper. Continue
- Let the donuts rise until doubled, 30-45 minutes. Heat oil to 360° in a pot or skillet. It needs to be at least 2 inches deep. (I use the T-Fal fryer and love it!)
- Cook donuts for about 45-60 seconds on each side, or until the outside is golden brown and the inside is cooked. Use a chopstick to flip and remove the donuts from the hot oil. Don't overcrowd the pan, just cook a few donuts at a time to maintain oil temperature. (If your donuts are thicker, you may need to increase the fry time.)
- Place the cooked donuts on paper towels and allow to cool slightly before glazing.
- For glaze: Combine all ingredients in a shallow bowl. Whisk together until smooth, adding enough milk to make a thin glaze.
- Place a wire rack inside a baking sheet. Let the donuts cool sightly before dipping them in the glaze. I dip both sides of the donuts, but you can just dip the top if you prefer. After dipping, place them on the cooling rack to allow excess glaze to drip off.
Notes
- If you don't have leftover mashed potatoes, peel and slice 1 large russet potato. Boil for 10-15 minutes in salted water until tender; mash, then press through a potato ricer. Measure one cup.
- For maple glaze, replace the vanilla with maple flavoring. I usually do half the donuts vanilla and the other half maple.
- I re-roll the donut holes to make more full-sized donuts. If you cook the donut holes, you will end up with about 2 dozen donuts and donut holes.
- If you don't have a donut cutter, you can use a biscuit cutter, cookie cutter, or mason jar lid. For the holes, a soda bottle lid works great.
- Donuts are definitely best eaten fresh, but they will last for a day or two at room temperature in an airtight container.
- Calories are just an estimate based on the donuts absorbing about 10% of the oil. Yours may absorb more or less depending on your oil temperature and fry time.
- Chopsticks work perfectly for flipping and removing donuts from the oil, but you can use tongs instead if you don't have a chopstick.
Nutrition
Serving: 1donutCalories: 273kcalCarbohydrates: 40gProtein: 4gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 144mgPotassium: 79mgFiber: 1gSugar: 18gVitamin A: 93IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 24mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!