Donut Recipes & Ideas

So you might’ve heard that there’s a wedding this weekend. Despite the fact that America legit fought a war to escape the British monarchy, seemingly every television channel that isn’t SyFy is breathlessly counting the minutes until Prince Charles walks Meghan Markle down the aisle and straight into the Royal Family.

Latkes get all the attention this time of year — as they should, latkes are awesome — but another Hanukkah treat has been gaining in popularity stateside in recent years. Put your hands together for the jelly doughnut. What the two have in common symbolically is also the ingredient that makes both so delicious: oil.

Whether it’s the hot oil or the cleanup, there’s certainly some work involved with frying at home, but if the freshest yeasted doughnuts are what you’re after, then making them at home — even if you only do it once a year — is worth the effort. To make frying doughnuts an experience you want to repeat, there are a few key mistakes to avoid. Here’s what you need to steer clear of for success.

Mandazi [mahn-dahz-ee] noun: Fried doughnut or roll served as dessert or a warm teatime snack all over Kenya and East Africa. We came home one evening to our guest house in Kenya to find our very kind housekeeper, Helen, making a big basket of mandazi. They smelled delicious, like fried dough and warm flour. We asked Helen how they are made — read on for a super-quick video of frying mandazi! We ate these so quickly that we forgot to take a photo!

No one needs a doughnut pan the same way that no one needs doughnuts in the first place. But do I want one? After seeing those Apple Cider Doughnuts that Leela baked up earlier this month, you bet I do!The advantages of a doughnut pan are clear. Baking them in a pan is infinitely easier and less messy than deep-frying. Baking instead of deep-frying is also healthier, though the amount of butter and sugar that still goes into these recipes hardly qualifies them as a healthy food (sadly!).

Growing up in Metro Detroit, Mardi Gras (or more often called Fat Tuesday) meant one thing: paczki! If you’re from a Polish-American area you’ll know exactly how to pronounce this sought-after yearly treat. They’re like jelly doughnuts but, well, better!The secret behind paczki (pronounced punch-key) is a very rich dough, which results in a treat that weighs about twice what you’d expect it to by looks alone. In Metro Detroit and other Polish-American regions of the U.S.