Alright everyone, gather ’round.
In honor of March arriving so suddenly and catching everyone by surprise (truth be told, I thought leap day was yesterday) (I mean leap year) (whatever), all that to say – I’d like you to meet someone.
This is the Donut Ball.
Before you lose consciousness, let me assure you that usually the donut coma only lasts for about an hour, possibly more if there’s a fire going in the fireplace and Michael Buble softly playing and the dishwasher whooshing you into a nap. Possibly even more if you dunked your donuts in a creamy latte. I promise you will wake up with warm fuzzies in your soul and sugar crumbs in your hair.
But let me REALLY tell you about this here beauty.
The Donut Ball. He has a golden brown fried exterior and a slightly spiced, warm, cakey interior. By the way, he is a he, don’t you think?
As if that fried wonderful cakiness wasn’t enough already. As if.
In addition, he’s obviously rolled in cinnamon sugar at least twice. He’s bigger and therefore wayyy yummier than his cousin Donut Hole which is why I reserve the right to call him a Donut Ball. Holla all my donut ballas!
And apparently I also reserve the right to be annoying.
I’m just going to tell you right now. If you make these cinnamon sugar donut calls, ok, realistically, WHEN you make these, like, tonight, you need to get a locked safe in your kitchen. Overnight it on Amazon or something. Because sometimes when you “sleepwalk”, you might find yourself in the kitchen eating one or five in the middle of the night. “Sleepwalking” can be really dangerous.
Cinnamon Sugar Donut Balls
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
These cinnamon sugar donut balls are easy to make and will make your whole house smell delicious! Fried perfectly golden brown and rolled in cinnamon sugar.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, beaten
- 3 tablespoons buttermilk
- 1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- Cinnamon sugar for dusting
- Vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until a sticky dough forms.
- Pour the oil into a large skillet or Dutch oven for frying, about 2 inches deep. Heat the oil to about 375 degrees or medium heat. You can test the oil by pouring a drop of water into the pan; if it sizzles across the top, it’s ready.
- With floured hands, roll the dough into small balls, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Drop the balls immediately into the oil (they start to lose their shape if you roll them ahead of time). The balls should start to puff out on the bottom and turn a golden brown color. If the tops of the donuts aren’t covered with oil, flip the donut balls and fry for another 1-2 minutes. When the donuts are cooked through, remove them from the frying pan and place them on a plate lined with paper towels.
- When the donuts are dry to the touch, roll them in cinnamon sugar. These are best served fresh and warm, but they will also last for a day or two in an airtight container. This recipe makes about 20 donut balls.
Notes
If your donuts are dark brown after just 1 minute in the pan, you probably have the oil too hot and you’ll end up with a crispy outside with an uncooked inside. Make sure you cook them for 3-4 minutes total to make sure the insides are fully cooked. I went back and forth between the medium-lo and medium heat settings on my range (because I don’t have an oil thermometer).
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: cinnamon sugar donuts, cinnamon sugar donut balls, donut balls
What are the symptoms of withdrawal again?
I think I need an intervention.
Mmm such a classic, tasty, treat. Delicious!
Hi,
I need to take it to the next level and fry baby, fry!
Thanks…
Ooh yum! Crunchy and soft and spicy and sweet and all things delicious. Also love that you didn’t use a thermometer either!
I’ve never been one for fancy kitchen tools. :). Although, if someone gave me an oil thermometer, I’m sure I could put it to good use! 🙂
Every time I try to deep fry something, I end up with a burnt mess but your post and pictures make me want to try again rightthisminute. They look so tender but crusty and perfect. Ouch.
I definitely burnt a few but once I got the oil just right… Wow. They were really good.
Could these be any more adorable and mouth watering?! I want a million for breakfast!
And lunch. And dinner.
I want a donut ball.
Here, catch.
They look wonderful…I love making donuts but I bake mine…I need to take it to the next level and fry baby, fry!
I usually bake, too. But now that this happened….
YUM!! This looks awesome. they remind me of munchkins at dunkin donuts and now that I can make these at home, I will probably eat the entire batch! No self control 😉
We hardly have ANY Dunkin Donuts around here! Sad story.
Saturday morning, here I come… and I’ll have three (or four) very happy kids along for the ride. 🙂
Weird… This wasn’t supposed to post as a reply…
And I’ll be eating Derby Pie for breakfast. 🙂
oh donuts…so delicious. is it bad i want to go buy a huge jug of oil right now? mmm 🙂
I was lucky that I had a bunch on hand when I made these.. otherwise these might have never been!
Deep frying things scares the bejeezus out of me, BUT…these look worth it. I will conquer my fears with donut balls! 😉
If I can fry something, you can too! Just keep the heat relatively low and you’ll be fine. 🙂
Oh wow, these are calling my name! And really loud, I might have to make these soon, like maybe before the kids get home from school, so I can eat them all and clean up any evidence! Pinned!
Good call. When I made these for my younger brothers, they were gone in about 15 seconds. 🙂
Holla!! OMG your so funny! These on the other hand look fab… a perfect accessory to my coffee!
So you must be a balla too then. 🙂
I want some!!! Did you get a snow day today so you can sit around and enjoy them???
Grrr. No. But I actually already took a 1/2 day today to take care of a few errands, so it kinda felt like one anyways. 🙂
Yes! Thanks for the fabulous recipe and for making me laugh :)) You rock!
Thank YOU for the nice comment. 🙂
Holy cow. I love love love cinnamon sugar donuts. These look incredible!
They remind me of the cinnamon sugar donuts from the State Fair! One of my all-time faves.
I made some mini muffins that were similar to these. I love how you add pumpkin to it! That automatically makes it delicious in my book. I will definitely try these. I love dounuts!
I remember seeing those cinnamon sugar mini muffins! They were so yummy looking! But I bet they didn’t have the added bonus of being fried…. 🙂
These look like homemade donut amazingness!
I’m one of those people that is totally scared of frying anything, but these are so tempting. They look sooooo good!
One taste of these donuts and you’ll be hooked on frying!
These look amazing!
Wow do those look terrific. I cannot wait to make these this weekend!
I love that these are deep-fried. Yeah, baking is obviously healthier but like Joey Tribbiani says, “If you’re going to do something wrong, do it right!”
I agree – I usually bake, but this time frying was necessary.
This brings back memories of working in a restaurant when I was a teenager. We used to take bits of bread dough and fry them up into crude little donut balls, which we rolled in cinnamon and sugar. It did the job, but these look vastly superior. 🙂
Sounds delicious!
Donuts in a creamy latte sounds like absolute perfection. So I’ll be there tomorrow for breakfast? This school thing can probably be put on hold for one day 🙂
Totally. I think my students would do fine without me. They know the routine.
Heaven. Absolute heaven. In a tiny little ball of yumminess.
Well, tiny might be a stretch. 🙂 But definitely right on about the heaven part!
Drooling! Gorgeous donut holes, and so much better than the ones with powdered sugar!
I agree. I could eat everything rolled in that cinnamon sugar!