Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Sweet goodness. Since the doughnuts themselves aren’t very sweet, the sugar coating isn’t too cloying, promise!
Texture: Perfect crunchy sugar coating and golden brown doughnut crust outside plus the tender and delicate inside is pure texture heaven.
Ease: Homemade doughnuts in less than 1 hour?! You will make a bit of a mess but this recipe is otherwise super simple.
Appearance: I love anything coated in sugar, it just sparkles and screams “eat me!”
Pros: Quick, homemade, and delicious copycat recipe. Will totally satisfy your craving for those Chinese buffet-style doughnuts without actually having to step foot into a buffet.
Cons: Very rich and indulgent.
Would I make this again? Mmmhmm.
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My grandpa, my dad’s dad, LOVED Chinese buffets. I could never understand why whenever we tried to organize a family dinner his first choice, and subsequently the place we ended up at, was almost always a Chinese buffet. Even for special occasions! Whether it was the food or the senior citizen discount he received, I will never know. Sadly he lost his battle to leukemia January 1st 2015, which was a rough start to the year for us. Those little things about him, like the fact that he loved Chinese buffets or that he was the only person to still call me “young lady” seem to stand out the most to me still.
Randomly last week I had a strong craving for Chinese doughnuts, the ones that seem to be in the dessert section of every Chinese-American buffet. I have no idea just how traditional or authentic these are to actual Chinese culture, but it was the only reason my brother and I were willing to make so many family trips to Chinese buffets as kids. We LOVED those damn doughnuts. Who wouldn’t? Fried balls of dough coated in sugar? It’s a kid’s dream, and apparently still my dream dessert to this day. So I decided to make them at home.

These doughnuts are ridiculously good. I mean, it’s just pure decadence so how could they not be incredible? Jared and I discovered a way to make them even more indulgent in the best possible fashion – they happen to taste fabulous with ice cream! This recipe basically takes a biscuit dough variation and deep fries them, finishing with a generous sugar coating. All the recipes I found online for homemade Chinese doughnuts used those premade refrigerated tubes of biscuit dough, but I wanted a homemade from scratch version and I’m thrilled with what I was able to come up with! The exterior crunch is marvelous, and the inside is soft, tender, and fluffy like a cross between a biscuit and a doughnut. I will say that the inside isn’t quite as light and fluffy like the buffet-style biscuits I remember, but it absolutely satisfies the craving nonetheless.

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A quick recipe note, be sure the doughnuts are cooked all the way through before coating with the sugar. You can use a cake tester or toothpick to check. During my last little batch of frying doughnuts the oil had dropped in temperature without my noticing and those ones ended up a little doughy in the middle.


Homemade Chinese Doughnuts
Ingredients
- 2 cups (255 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 3/4 cup (170 grams) whole milk
- Canola oil for frying
- Granulated sugar for coating
Instructions
- Pour 2 inches of canola oil into a heavy bottomed pot with a deep-fry thermometer attached. Heat to 350°F.
- Meanwhile, in the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Add the butter and pulse several times to cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal. You can also do this by hand with a pastry blender. Stir in the milk until combined.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and dust the dough with flour. Gently pat the dough out until it’s a 1/2-inch in thickness. Use a 2-inch round biscuit cutter to cut out circles.
- Fry the doughnuts a few at a time, being careful not to overcrowd the pot. Fry until golden brown and cooked through, about 2 minutes per side, being careful not to let them burn. Let drain on a paper bag (or paper towels) to soak up the excess grease.
- While still hot, generously coat each doughnut in granulated sugar. Serve. Doughnuts are best served the day they are made.
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Hello, thanks for the amazing recipe! Tried it at home. I do have a slight problem though, my doughnuts were pretty doughy on the inside.. how do I rectify that?
Ours too..so we flattened them out more and they fried extremely puffy and completely hollow. Very Disappointed
Hi I just tried the recipe and for some reason when I added the milk it was too doughy. it’s very humid which many think messes up exact recipes. I did add about a tablespoon more flour which helped. these are amazing and soo GOOOD,. I did sorta burn a couple but that was because I was running low on oil at the end and didn’t add more or was playing with the setting on the stove.
I ran across your recipe today while scrolling through Pinterest. I thought you’d be interested to know that yes – this style of food is authentically asian. I have a Chinese cook book that is written in traditional Mandarin and sold in Taiwan. They just refer to them as sugar coated puffs. Their recipe only uses flour, water, salt, and eggs for the batter. They serve them w/ just sugar, or with jam/jelly. I look forward to trying your recipe, to see how it compares.
My grandpa loved chinese buffets too! My dad, grandpa, and I would always go together. Such good memories. Love these donuts! I’m excited to make them for my dad. Thanks!
I have just found your blog and your work is amazing! I love the sound of these doughnuts; so much quicker than regular yeasted ones. P.s the recipe rundown is such a clever idea. Pinned! x
Hmm, you said these weren’t quite as light and fluffy as the restaurant version, do you think increasing the baking powder would help that?
I’m excited to try these, they were always my favorite part of chinese buffets as a kid.
I meant that they’re not as quite as light as a yeast raised doughnut, which is what many people think of when they think of a doughnut. These are more more rich. I would be cautious about using any more baking powder as you might start to develop a bitter, metallic taste.
So sorry for the loss of your grandfather. He sounds like a special man.
(Gonna try these donuts!)
Thank you! He definitely was, no one else like him! Hope you enjoy the doughnuts 🙂
I’m so sorry for your loss, Tessa. But, on a happier note, these doughnuts look divine. I wish I could eat that whole stack by myself. (Don’t judge!)
Thank you Olivia! And believe me, there were quite a few gone before the rest were even fried 😉
Hi Tessa, deepest sympathy to you and your family for your loss.
I love these donuts, tried to get one through the monitor! That’s how great they look.
Pinned these and your Old Fashioned Sour Cream donuts, which are one of my favorites. Thanks so much!
Hi Tessa,
Thanks for your excellent blog! I’m very sorry for the loss of your grandfather. I LOVE chinese buffets too (good ones!) even for special occasions…. 🙂 I have never thought of making chinese donuts before. Thanks for the recipe and the great step-by-step guide!
Hi – your recipes made me a hero at Christmas Time! On the Chinese Donuts recipe, you say to put the flour, sugar, saly, etc. in the food processor. I assume you mean salt?
Yep, just a typo.