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Simple cinnamon sugar heart doughnuts are so easy and fun to make! A simple homemade dough gets shaped into hearts, fried, and then rolled in cinnamon sugar for a truly sweet treat. These heart doughnuts are perfect for the month of February!
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Interrupting your Monday with a simple doughnut recipe that you are definitely going to love….
Because Monday’s need doughnuts, right?! YES. Especially homemade doughnuts that are super cute and heart shaped.
With Valentines Day approaching, these sweet and simple cinnamon sugar heart doughnuts are the perfect fun treat to make. So basically, your February needs these heart doughnuts! If you missed our Vanilla Bean Strawberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies last week, be sure to add those to your February baking line up also!
Have you ever made homemade doughnuts before? Growing up, my family would make doughnuts with a can of biscuits. It may sound odd, but those cans of biscuits actually make pretty delicious doughnuts; especially when rolled in cinnamon sugar. The concept here is similar, expect we’re going to use a simple homemade doughnut dough that is SO easy and produces the most delicious and pretty homemade doughnuts.
How to make Simple Cinnamon Sugar Heart Doughnuts:
Lets start by making a simple doughnut dough.
No need to be intimidated-this homemade doughnut dough is so easy and definitely worth the effort to make! Say goodbye to canned biscuit dough forever…
lets get started.
Like with any yeasted bread, you’re going to start by proofing the yeast.
In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the active dry yeast, warm milk (heated between 95-110 degrees F, but no hotter or else it will kill the yeast!) and honey. Allow the the mixture to sit for 10 minutes, or until the yeast begins to get foamy.
What if I have instant yeast?
If you’re using instant yeast instead of active dry yeast, you can go ahead and skip the proofing step and just move onto the next step, which is adding all the ingredients together.
With bread making I have found active dry yeast seems to produce the best results, but instant yeast works well, too.
Once the yeast has proofed, add the flour, salt, eggs, vanilla and melted butter. With a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, or by hand, knead the dough until it comes together, about 5 minutes. The dough should feel slightly sticky to the touch, but should also pull away from the bowl. If the dough is too sticky, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time until it comes together.
Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to rise, about 1 hour. Need a warm spot during these colder winter months? Turn on your oven to warm and place the bowl on top of your stove!
How to make heart shaped doughnuts:
Once the dough has risen, empty the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.
Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out so that it is about ½ inch thick. Be careful not to roll the dough too thin. If the dough is too thin, it will be hard to cut out the dough with the cookie cutters.
Using medium and large heart shaped cookie cutters, cut out the dough into hearts until all the dough has been cut out. Roll the remaining dough back into a ball, roll out with the rolling pin into the same ½ inch thickness, and repeat until all the dough has been used.
Place the heart doughnuts onto two parchment lined cookie sheets and cover with plastic wrap while you’re done cutting out the remaining dough. When all the heart doughnuts are ready, its time to fry them up!
How to fry heart doughnuts:
Frying the dough is simple, as long as you follow a few basic steps for success.
For this step, your going to want to use a deep fry thermometer (or a good meat thermometer), to make sure the oil is hot enough but not too hot. If the oil is too hot, the dough will brown too fast and the dough will be uncooked and doughy in the middle.
In a large pot add 3 inches of oil. I used canola oil. Heat the oil over medium heat until it reached 350 degrees F with a thermometer. You will have to continually keep an eye on the temperature, turning down the heat if necessary to maintain a temperature of around 350 F degrees.
Working in batches of about 4 doughnuts at a time, carefully place the doughnuts in the hot oil. Fry the doughnuts about 2 minutes per side. Using a slotted metal spoon, transfer the doughnuts to a wire rack to cool while you fry the remaining doughnuts.
Doughnut coatings and fillings:
For this recipe I rolled our doughnuts in cinnamon sugar to keep it simple. But you could also roll them in powdered sugar, or even fill them with jam or custard using a piping tube!
For the cinnamon sugar coating:
Measure 1 cup granulated white sugar with 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon. Roll the doughnuts in the cinnamon sugar until evenly coated. Repeat.
And thats it!
Now you have the most delicious, homemade heart doughnuts that are the perfect treat for the month of February!
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I hope you love this recipe as much as we did! Here’s to an extra sweet, love filled month!
Recipe
Simple Cinnamon Sugar Heart Doughnuts
Equipment
- deep fry thermometer
Ingredients
- 2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast *see notes for instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 ¼ cups whole milk (warmed between 95-110 degrees F)
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons melted butter
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- canola oil, for frying
For the Cinnamon Sugar Coating:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions
For the Dough:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl, add the active dry yeast, warm milk (heated between 95-110 degrees F, but no hotter or else it will kill the yeast!) and honey. Allow the the mixture to sit for 10 minutes, or until the yeast begins to get foamy.
- Once the yeast has proofed, add the flour, salt, eggs, vanilla and cooled melted butter. With a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, or by hand, knead the dough until it comes together, about 5 minutes. The dough should feel slightly sticky to the touch, but should also pull away from the bowl. If the dough is too sticky, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time until it comes together.
- Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to rise, about 1 hour.
Shaping the Doughnuts:
- Once the dough has risen, empty the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out so that it is about ½ inch thick. Be careful not to roll the dough too thin. If the dough is too thin, it will be hard to cut out the hearts with the cookie cutters.
- Using medium and large heart shaped cookie cutters, cut out the dough. Roll the remaining dough back into a ball, roll out again with the rolling pin and repeat until all the dough has been used, placing the doughnuts onto two parchment lined cookie sheets covered with plastic wrap until all the dough has been formed.
Frying the Doughnuts:
- In a large pot add 3 inches of oil. Heat the oil over medium heat until it reaches 350 degrees F with a thermometer. You will have to continually keep an eye on the temperature, turning down the heat if necessary to maintain a temperature of around 350 F degrees. If the oil is too hot, the dough will brown too fast and be doughy in the middle.
- Working in batches of about 4 doughnuts at a time, carefully place the doughnuts in the hot oil. Fry the doughnuts about 2 minutes per side. Using a slotted metal spoon, transfer the doughnuts to a wire rack to cool while you fry the remaining doughnuts.
- After all the doughnuts are fried, roll in the cinnamon sugar and EAT!
Notes
- these doughnuts are best eaten the same day, but can also be kept in an airtight container for 5 days.
- If you use instant yeast rather than active dry yeast, you can skip the proofing step and just add the instant yeast to the dry ingredients and proceed onto the next step.
Loved this recipe? You may also like….
- Cinnamon Honey Pull Apart Bread
- Cranberry Orange Bliss Scones
- Overnight Orange Brioche Cinnamon Rolls
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