Strawberry Donuts Recipe

These Strawberry Donuts are an old-fashioned style doughnut with a bright strawberry flavor and a natural pretty pink color!

Ingredients for Strawberry Donuts

• Unsalted Butter — melted and cooled
• White Sugar
• Egg Yolks–the extra
• Vanilla Extract
• Sour Cream — Use full-fat sour cream rather than a reduced or fat free option to get the best texture in your donuts.
• Cake Flour — If you don’t have any on hand, you can make your own cake flour with just all-purpose flour and cornstarch!
• Strawberry Powder — See the note below about where to find it and how to make your own natural freeze-dried strawberry flavoring
• Baking Powder — Make sure you have double-acting baking powder so that you get a nice rise when you fry your donuts.
• Salt
• Neutral-flavored oil — use an oil without a strong flavor that also has a high smoke point. Vegetable, canola, or peanut oil are all good options.

Where to Find Freeze-Dried Strawberries or Strawberry Powder

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The strawberry flavor and color in these donuts come from freeze-dried strawberries. You can buy them whole and either grind them into powder with a food processor or coffee grinder. Alternatively, you can buy them already powderized.

Sliced freeze-dried strawberries can be found in nearly all grocery stores-I purchase mine at Target. Place about 1 cup (18 grams) in a heavy-duty zippered bag and use a rolling pin to smash them until they are all powdered. You can also use a small food processor or coffee grinder for this process. You should end up with a scant 1/2 cup of powdered freeze-dried strawberries.

Powdered freeze-dried strawberries can be purchased here on Amazon.

How to Make Strawberry Donuts

Making the Donut Dough

• In a large mixing bowl, mix the melted butter and sugar until well combined. You can do this by hand or with a hand mixer.
• Stir in the egg yolks and vanilla and continue mixing until they are well combined and the mixture is smooth.
• Put the sour cream in the bowl and again mix until it is smooth and cohesive.
• In a separate, smaller bowl, mix together the dry ingredients- cake flour, powdered freeze-dried strawberries, baking powder, and salt.
• Put the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet. Stir until the dry ingredients are completely mixed in. The dough should be fairly stiff, but still sticky and soft.
• Place the donut batter on a sheet of plastic wrap and flatten it into a disc about 2″ thick. Wrap it well and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 2 days.
• Remove the strawberry donut dough from the refrigerator and place it on a floured surface. Roll it out to between 1/4″-3/8″ thick, then cut as many donuts as possible from the dough. Set the cut donuts aside.
• Brush any excess flour off of the remaining dough and press it into a ball.
• Repeat the rolling and cutting process until you’ve used all of the dough.

How to Fry Strawberry Donuts

Before you begin heating the oil, set out all of the tools you’ll need. Have a slotted or holed metal spoon, a frying thermometer, a 6 quart pot, and a cooling rack with a baking sheet underneath it to set the fried donuts on.

• Pour about 2 quarts of oil in a 5 or 6 quart pot–it should be at least 2-3 inches deep.
• Monitor the oil temperature with a frying thermometer and heat it to between 350° and 375°.
• When oil is the correct temperature, turn it down to medium-low to make sure it doesn’t over-heat. You will need to adjust and figure out the best setting for your burners to maintain the best temperature.
• Adding 2-3 donuts at a time, fry them for 1 minute and 30 seconds.
• Flip each donut and fry the other side for another minute and a half. Remove them from the oil to the cooling rack.
• Repeat the frying process with the rest of the donuts, making sure to keep the oil between 350° and 375°.
• Allow the donuts to cool, then glaze them.

Glazing the Strawberry Donuts

• To glaze the strawberry donuts, heat 1/4 cup of whole milk in a small saucepan until it’s steaming.
• Sift 2 cups of powdered sugar and 1 tsp. of vanilla extract into the milk. Whisk them together until you have a smooth, runny glaze.
• Dip one side of a donut in the glaze. Use a fork to turn it over, coating the other side.
• Lift the donuts out of the glaze. Hold it over the pan to let the excess drip back into the pan.
• Put the donuts back on the cooling rack.
• Sprinkle the top of each donut with a bit of powdered freeze-dried strawberry
• Continue doing this until all of the strawberry donuts are glazed and allow them to sit until the glaze has hardened.

Tools for Making Strawberry Donuts

• Donut Cutter— It makes cutting your donuts super quick and easy! However, you can also use something like a wide-mouth jar lid and frosting couplers (or something a similar size).
• Frying Thermometer— Controlling your oil temperature is really important for perfectly fried donuts. Frying thermometers (like this one from Taylor) are inexpensive and make it easier to monitor the temperature of your oil.
• Rolling Pin–Any old rolling pin will do! I really love my French rolling pin though.
• Ruler– To make your dough a uniform thickness (and help your donuts cook evenly!), I recommend using a ruler to check before cutting your donuts.

Other Donut Recipes You May Enjoy:

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