Best Homemade Lemon Doughnuts Recipes

LEMONY GLAZED YOGURT DOUGHNUTS

Steps:

• Whisk baking powder, 2 cups flour, and 1 tsp. salt in a medium bowl to combine. Whisk egg yolks, yogurt, granulated sugar, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture with a spoon or rubber spatula until dough comes together and is smooth with no spots of dry flour remaining.
• Turn out dough onto a well-floured large sheet of parchment or wax paper (you can be generous with the flour since you'll brush off the excess later). Dust dough with more flour, place another large sheet of parchment or waxed paper over, and roll to ½" thick. Remove top sheet of parchment and brush off any excess flour with a dry pastry brush.
• Punch out circles with a 3½"-diameter biscuit or cookie cutter, glass, or mug. Punch out centers of rounds with a 1"-diamter cutter or plastic twist-off bottle cap (or poke a hole with a chopstick, then gently pull hole open to widen the center). Reroll any scraps and punch out additional doughnuts and holes.
• Fit a large pot with thermometer; pour in oil to come 1½" up the sides of the pot. Heat over medium-high until thermometer registers 350°F. Fry doughnuts, turning halfway through, until puffy and a color somewhere between golden brown and mahogany, about 4 minutes total (time will be slightly less for doughnut holes). Using a spider or slotted spoon, transfer to a wire rack and let cool 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, whisk lemon zest, powdered sugar, a tiny pinch of salt, and ¼ cup water in a small bowl until a smooth glaze forms.
• Dip each side of doughnuts and holes into glaze, letting excess run off before returning to rack. Eat as soon as you can't stand the suspense anymore.

LEMON CAKE DONUTS

Steps:

• Lemon Confectioners'-Sugar Glaze: Whisk together confectioners' sugar and salt. Whisk in juice until mixture is smooth and thick, and has the texture of pourable honey. Glaze can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 3 days; stir until smooth before using. (Makes 1 1/2 cups.)
• Donuts: Dust a baking sheet with flour. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat butter, granulated sugar, and 1 tablespoon lemon zest on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in egg and yolk, then lemon juice. Scrape down bowl, then beat in dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Turn out dough onto baking sheet; use floured hands to flatten to a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle. Refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to overnight (if longer than 1 hour, cover with plastic wrap).
• Pour oil into a large, deep, heavy pot, such as a Dutch oven, until it reaches 2 inches up side, leaving about 2 1/2 inches headroom. Clip a deep-fry thermometer to pot and heat oil over medium to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, using a floured 2 1/2-inch round donut cutter, cut out donuts (or use a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, then cut out holes with a 1- to 1 1/2-inch round cutter). Pat together scraps; cut out more donuts (these will not be quite as tender). Working in batches of 3 so as not to crowd pot, carefully drop donuts into hot oil and cook, flipping a few times, until deep golden brown all over, 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 minutes (2 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes for holes), maintaining oil temperature between 340 degrees and 350 degrees at all times. Transfer donuts and holes to a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet; let cool 10 minutes.
• While still slightly warm, dip top of each donut in glaze until halfway submerged, turning as needed to evenly coat one side, then place, glaze-side up, on rack. Zest lemons directly over donuts. Let stand until glaze sets and donuts are cool, about 1 hour. Donuts are best eaten the day they are made.

HOMEMADE LEMON DOUGHNUTS

Steps:

• Preheat fryer to 375 degrees F. with canola oil.
• In a medium sized bowl, cream together shortening, mascarpone and sugar. In a measuring cup mix together buttermilk, egg, vanilla, lemon juice and zest. Slowly beat in egg mixture. Once well blended slowly add flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
• Roll dough out on a floured surface until 1/3-inch thick. Punch out doughnuts with a 1 1/2-inch biscuit cutter or donut cutter. Let stand 10 minutes. Fry until golden. Remove from fryer and dust with powdered sugar. Serve with fresh berries.

LEMON FILLED DOUGHNUTS

Steps:

• Pour warm milk into large bowl; stir in yeast until dissolved. Add 2 cups of the flour, granulated sugar, salt, and eggs; mix with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl occasionally. On medium speed, beat 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in enough remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, to form dough easy to handle.
• Place dough on lightly floured surface. Knead dough 2 minutes or until dough is smooth and springy. Grease large bowl with butter. Place dough in bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; let rise in warm place about 1 hour 45 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.
• Sprinkle 2 cookie sheets with flour; set aside. Place dough on generously floured surface. Roll dough in flour to coat. With floured rolling pin, roll dough into 16x8-inch rectangle. Using sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut dough into 8 rows by 4 rows, forming 32 squares (pieces may be slightly uneven in shape, especially corners, since dough stretches when cut). On lightly floured surface, dust both sides of each piece with flour; place on cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Loosely cover doughnuts with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray; let rise in warm place about 30 to 40 minutes or until slightly risen.
• In 4-quart Dutch oven or heavy 3-quart saucepan, heat 2 inches oil to 325°F over medium heat. Cover cooling rack with paper towels. Fry doughnuts in oil, 4 to 5 at a time, about 1 minute per side, until golden brown on both sides. Remove from oil with slotted spoon to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Fill decorating bag fitted with writing tip (1/4-inch opening) with lemon curd. To fill each doughnut, while holding doughnut in hand, insert tip into side of doughnut. Slowly squeeze about 1 tablespoon lemon curd into center until you feel the doughnut plump up, moving tip from one side to the other to completely fill doughnut. Sprinkle filled doughnuts with powdered sugar.