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.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
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.
Free Baking Science Mini-Course!
From cookies that spread to undercooked brownies, this FREE 5-day Baking Science course helps you conquer common baking challenges and make bakery-worthy treats every time.
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
Email This Recipe
Enter your email, and we’ll send it to your inbox.
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.
I followed directions perfectly and it did not work. It is impossible to cook all the way through without burning the outside. I am also pretty sure they use a different type of batter, as this tends to flake and crack, donuts you get in a Chinese restaurant are different texture then this, like more spongy. I have no clue why I am trying to make these at 4:00 AM but did not turn out, same thing with shrimp fried rice, tried it 100s of times nothing like Chinese restaurants, it really makes you want to hold a Chinese restaurant hostage to force there cooks to cook in front of you, literally the hardest thing on planet earth is making shrimp fried rice, and trying to make it taste like Chinese restaurant. I TRULY BELIEVE IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO COOK LIKE CHINESE RESTAURANTS BEING A WHITE CAUCASIAN MALE, IT JUST DOES NOT RUN IN ARE DNA, I WILL LEAVE IT TO CHINESE RESTAURANTS…
It ain’t impossible. Just gotta get with an Asian. I couldn’t cook a lick of asain food before I got married to a Korean lol I don’t know how it helps but it does
Would it be possible to mix it by hand with a fork. I’m a broke college student with absolutely no kitchen supplies.
Can i have this receipe translated in to chinese
looks great. but. what about baking instead of frying. wha temp and time would be used.
Hi I know this is an old recipe but I just made these and they were great. Something I noticed was when the pieces of dough were less floured from rolling out they raise better in the oil.
The hubby and I had a late night craving for something sweet and it was a toss up between these and funnel cakes but we decided to try these donuts! And ohhh my god we’re they great. I cut the recipe in half since it was just the two of us and added 1/2 tsp of vanilla. I used a shot glass to cut the dough and they came out as little bite sized donuts. These are absolutely to die for and such an easy recipe, thanks!
I love that this recipe uses no eggs!!! My 6 year old loves to help. I let the butter soften for a few mintues after cubing it, then she was able to mix the dough by hand. We didnt have biscuit cutters, and we also wanted to make them smaller, so we rolled small amounts into balls and then flattened them to the descibed thickness. Thiss also left no waste!!!
Amazing recipe. Definitely became an instant family favorite!!!
My mom used to make a donut that had a marshmallow in the center. None of my sisters have a recipe for it & I was wondering if you might.
These turned out absolutely perfect! They came out a bit heavier but they were crispy on the outside, and fluffy on the inside! I made them a bit bigger, used carnation milk, used a nutribullet instead of a food processor and a profryer instead of a pot and they came out just as good as you said they would! 10/10 would make again
could I use water instead of milk and could I use salted instead of unsalted butter?
Tried to make this recipe not once but twice both times the dough didn’t cook in the center. Additionally, they looked nothing like the picture. The dough cooks too fast on the outside. I did gauge the oil temperature and still didn’t work.This recipe was a huge bust for me. Sadly now I am out double the ingredients.
followed instructions to get the free download for your top 5 donut glazes, but I haven’t received it. Shame, I was looking forward to experimenting.