Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Since the doughnuts themselves aren’t very sweet, the sugar coating balances everything out into a perfectly sweet bite.
Texture: Crunchy sugar coating on a golden brown doughnut, with a slightly crisp exterior and a fluffy, light interior. Heaven!
Ease: Super simple and ready in just 1 hour!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: Quick, homemade, delicious copycat recipe that will totally satisfy your craving.
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Homemade Chinese Doughnuts bring the nostalgic buffet classic straight to your kitchen – no takeout required!
Most recipes utilize store-bought refrigerated tubes of biscuit dough, but I wanted a from-scratch version. So, I went to work in the kitchen to perfect a homemade version.
This recipe is sort of a sweet biscuit dough variation, deep fried, and finished with a generous sugar coating – all made with simple pantry staples. The exterior crunch is marvelous, and the inside is soft and tender.
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These sweet treats are simple to make, ready in 1 hour, and they’re even egg-free! Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for the best dessert ever.
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Chinese Doughnuts
What are Chinese Donuts?
Chinese Doughnuts are the round Americanized versions of the traditional fried Chinese sweets known as youtiao. Common in most American Chinese restaurants (especially buffets), they are the perfect sweet treat after a big dinner.
Can I Substitute the Milk?
I recommend using whole milk in this recipe. Using 2% milk, 1% milk, or vegan milks may change the flavor and richness of the doughnuts, so it’s worth the extra trip to the store for whole milk.
Do I Really Need to FRY These Doughnuts?
Chinese Doughnuts are definitely best when fried in oil. If you want to experiment with air frying or baking, note that the texture and appearance of your doughnuts will be more biscuit-like.
Tips for Frying Doughnuts
- Use a thermometer for the oil. Always use a deep fry thermometer to ensure your oil is at the perfect temperature throughout the process.
- Be sure your oil is at 350°F to avoid greasy, over-browned, or undercooked doughnuts. I preheat mine 5–10°F hotter to offset the temperature drop upon adding the dough. Adjust your stove slightly as needed throughout the frying process to ensure your temperature is consistent. Note: never leave hot oil unattended.
- I recommend using a Dutch oven for frying. They’re heavy and sturdy, and the size and shape help avoid oil splatter.
Which Oil for Frying?
I recommend using canola oil here, but any neutral oil with a high smoke point (such as vegetable oil) should work just fine. Avoid flavored oils or oils with a low smoke point, such as olive oil.
How to Tell When Chinese Doughnuts are Cooked?
Use a cake tester or toothpick to check the middle of your doughnuts for doneness.
How to Store Chinese Doughnuts
As with any fried foods, Chinese Doughnuts don’t keep well. Once fried, these are best served the same day. Store leftovers inside an airtight container at room temperature for up to one day.
More Recipes You’ll Love:
- Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts
- Krispy Kreme Copycat Glazed Doughnuts
- Classic Cake Doughnuts
- Pumpkin Old Fashioned Doughnuts
Homemade Chinese Doughnuts
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Ingredients
- 2 cups (255 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea 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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Can you bake those? I am not big on frying 🙁
No, not traditional. Good lord are they yummy!, but not traditional. Chinese cuisine tends toward honey and fruit; white refined sugar is something adopted across the Asian map to appeal to western palates (as are most candy-sweet sauces you get on Chinese-American buffets).That said…I’m looking forward to trying the recipe!
Can these be made in an Air Fryer rather than fried in oil??? They sound scrumptious!
Thanks miss Tessa your recipe is good for chinese doughnut new innovation
bravo
Tessa, can i roll balls of the dough will that work because i dont have a roller or space in my small apartment kitchen to roll out dough…
Lula, I would use a pastry cutter or two forks and just mash it up real good. Make sure the fat is cold, though. On a side note, I noticed that this was pretty much a biscuit dough that gets deep fried so I tried using some of the ‘blue can’ biscuits from the grocery store and it worked pretty well! It wasn’t as good as from scratch but if you’re in a pinch or just feeling lazy it’s a good shortcut!
I don’t own a food processor, can I mix with a wooden spoon or with kitchen aid?
Should Nick the very sympathetic (read pathetic) commenter visit this page again, maybe it is because you cannot properly read or you are just plain dumb or probably both, a word of advice to spare yourself more embarrassment which could be handy in real live situations; before spewing such kind words on other people’s blogs, pause and check, than check again and use those little grey cells…than just keep your comments to yourself.
It says 350 F which means Fahrenheit which converts to about 180 C which means Celsius…duh…
Sorry couldn’t help myself people like Nick just piss me off.
Thanks to you Tessa for your great recipes.
can i use buttermilk instead of real milk?
You have to scroll through oh.. Idk, 15 paragraphs of nonsense to get to the actual recipe which in itself is just a good way to end up with hardened lumps of charred dough. If you fry these at 350 for 2 min you won’t end up with light fluffy sugar donuts. You won’t be able to bite into one without breaking your teeth. Keep the oil at 180, no higher than 195. For 2 min. If any of you had actually made these donuts instead of just stroking her ego pretending you actually made them you would have found out.
You have to scroll through oh.. Idk, 15 paragraphs of nonsense to get to the actual recipe which in itself is just a good way to end up with hardened lumps of charred dough. If you fry these at 350 for 2 min you won’t end up with light fluffy sugar donuts. You won’t be able to bite into one without breaking your teeth. Keep the oil at 180, no higher than 195. For 2 min.
What if I don’t own a food processor? I feel like soooo many recipes have this step, and a lot of people don’t own a food processor. Thanks!