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I just finished making these and they turned out amazing. I added cinnamon because I didn’t have nutmeg and they had a lovely flavor. I would have never thought to use sweet potatoes in doughnuts. They were fluffy and melted in my mouth. It makes a nice yeast dough which I used half of for doughnuts and half of to make dinner rolls. I rolled the dough into balls and baked them in the oven at 375. They reminded me of getting rolls at places like Texas Road House or Lonestar with the honey cinnamon butter except the cinnamon is baked inside the bread. Great recipe.
Alice
One of my favorite memories of growing up was Saturday Doughnuts. My dad (who is a doctor, ironically) always treated us to doughnuts on Saturdays. He would run and get them from the local bakery on Saturday morning, and by the time my sisters and I made our way upstairs for breakfast (around noon or so), our doughnuts would be waiting for us on the counter.
Not just any doughnuts, mind you. This tradition was so systematized that my dad would come to our rooms on Friday nights and take our “doughnut orders” for the following morning. We could choose between glazed, chocolate raised, cake, bismarck (blueberry or raspberry), apple fritter, and just about anything else that we might want from the bakery. I think I even ordered a bagel once. Emphasis on the once.
I have distinct memories of learning how to perfectly warm a chocolate raised donut in the microwave, so that the chocolate was just starting to run down the sides a little, and the dough was fluffy and soft and wonderful.
I also have memories of tears shed over stolen donuts. I still hold the belief that the early bird should get the worm, even if it was your sister’s bismarck.
Making doughnuts seems a bit intimidating, although I have made my own mini donuts before using this cute little Mini Donut Pan (affiliate link).
But I was bound and determined on this day to make my own real donuts. And when I saw this recipe for sweet potato doughnuts… well, let’s just say I’ve had it bookmarked for several months.
Making my own doughnuts (the real fried kind) was a bit more work than I was anticipating. There are essentially three phases to the process, and I am more of a one-phase kind of a girl. But I stuck with it and we ended up with a big mess in the kitchen and these beautiful, delicious doughnuts.
Nevermind that they weren’t done in time for breakfast, or lunch. A freshly fried, warm glazed doughtnut makes a perfect late-afternoon snack.
Or go for two and call it dinner. Not that we did that…
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Sweet Potato Doughnuts
- Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
Description
These sweet potato doughnuts are made completely from scratch – it’s the perfect way to sneak some sweet potatoes into your favorite sweet breakfast!
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp instant yeast
- 1 egg + 1 yolk
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 cup milk, lukewarm
- sweet potato puree (from about one medium sweet potato)
- 6 tbs. butter, melted
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 5 1/2 cups flour
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients except flour. Whisk until smooth.
- Add flour and knead for 10 minutes.
- Place in a greased, covered bowl and allow to rise for about an hour.
- Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thick and cut out doughnuts.
- Place cut doughnuts and doughnut holes on a greased plate. Cover and allow to rise in a semi-warm place until doubled in size (about 30 minutes).
- Heat oil to medium heat (about 350 degrees). Fry each doughnut a minute or two on each side until cooked. Place on a plate with paper towels to drain.
- Dip in glaze and allow to cool on a cooling rack.
Notes
For the glaze, I used 3/4 cup cream, 2 tbs. butter, and about 1 1/2 cups sugar melted together.
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: sweet potato doughnuts, homemade doughnuts, sweet potato puree doughnuts
Dad, thanks for all the Saturday Doughnuts growing up! I plan on keeping that delicious tradition alive… forever.
I was just wondering if you could up and through the first part of step 5 and instead of letting it rise a second time, put them covered in the fridge and then the next morning take them out and rise, and finish making them. That way you could have them for breakfast the next day?!
I just finished making these and they turned out amazing. I added cinnamon because I didn’t have nutmeg and they had a lovely flavor. I would have never thought to use sweet potatoes in doughnuts. They were fluffy and melted in my mouth. It makes a nice yeast dough which I used half of for doughnuts and half of to make dinner rolls. I rolled the dough into balls and baked them in the oven at 375. They reminded me of getting rolls at places like Texas Road House or Lonestar with the honey cinnamon butter except the cinnamon is baked inside the bread. Great recipe.
This is good to know, thanks for your idea of baking them!
First off, these sound amazing! We love most anything sweet potato in the recipe.
Secondly, I love the fact that the added sugar is so minimal.
Lastly, I was wondering if one could bake these instead of frying them.
Thank you for the awesome recipes. 🙂
what is the nutritional value of one doughnut?
Did you ever get an answer on this? Because if its 78g/12 doughnuts, so 6.5g per doughnut? Google estimates a regular doughnut is 23g of carbs.
The reason I’m stuck on carbs is because I made these and now I’m curious how this would affect people with variable blood sugar. Great recipe! I tried them fried, baked, and air fried! the dough worked pretty well in all cooking formats!
Since not a lot has commented on this recipe and actually tried it, I want to at least leave a message after trying this work of art. AMAZING. AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS. You’re a genius for just making this from scratch! My whole family loved these donuts and for sure will be doing this again!
My favourite part? The fact that it’s not sweet at all compared to any other donut shops in America that normally consists of corn syrup. Even the glaze wasn’t overly sweet!
Anyway, thank you SO much for this recipe. It’s delightful!
So glad to hear that, Roo!
Would love donut recipes that have alternative baked directions. I’m on
a low fat diet medically. Fried anything
makes me horridly ill. There are many
of us, plus those with lipid, triglycerides &
cholesterol, abnormalities, on cardiac & diabetic diets, & those who have had bariatric or intestinal surgery. Not saying that making normal goodies is wrong, just that there is a market audience requiring healthier options & an audience seeking healthier options. It is even harder to stay
on medically restricted diets, than worst crash diets of the last 50 years, to put it in
lay man’s terms. Urges to cheat are just as hard.. Talk to your blogger friends, just adding an alternative to frying, an alternative to frosting & sprinkles. Being a little leaner. More people than ever are needing to lose weight, & need healthy options that look good, taste even better & fill the need for something yummy that causes, cheating, Make 2019 the year of eating healthier, for those who need it &
those who prefer it. When putting up a new post, create a healthier prep or a tasty
healthy alternative item. Thanks, MA
How many doughnuts does this make? It says it serves 12 but how much is a portion?
We’d suggest 1 doughnut here.