This old fashioned homemade yeast Potato Doughnuts recipe yield the most amazingly soft and fluffy doughnuts that are not only delicious but super easy to make too.
These Potato Doughnuts remind me of the good old times. You could find them sold everywhere when I was a child. But the existence of these old fashioned snack stores has increasingly gotten rare since they were gradually replaced with modern snacks.
Ever since I made them, I have been craving for them every single morning. I usually bought and ate two at a time for breakfast during my school routine. My favorite doughnut flavor is the ones coated with a lot of margarine and covered with chocolate sprinkles. And my second favorite is the ones that are gloriously coated with powdered sugar.
I also experimented with this recipe by substituting the potatoes with purple sweet potatoes. It works! You can find the result at Purple Sweet Potato Doughnuts post.
Tips for Making Potato Doughnuts
Fortunately, these affordable treats are very easy to make. The ingredients for making these doughnuts are pretty basic just like most other doughnut recipes. What makes this recipe different is the addition of mashed potatoes inside. You are probably thinking, why on earth there are mashed potatoes in them. The mashed potatoes add moisture to the dough, which contributes to the amazingly soft, light, and fluffy texture.
1. Use warm milk and mashed potatoes
Since yeast is an active ingredient, it is important that all the rest of the ingredients are warm for an optimum result. The milk and mashed potatoes should be warm. Not too hold or cold, so they reactivate the yeast well. In addition, make sure that the yeast is fresh and not past the expiry date.
2. Shaping the doughnuts
I love to shape my doughnuts the old fashioned way. I do not use a doughnut cutter at all because the Potatoes Doughnuts in my childhood memories are fully made with hands. Hence, there is no dough discard and everything is fully made into nice doughnuts with holes. They are very easy to make though.
Firstly, you need to divide the dough into 24 even small balls. Mine is about 50 grams each. Then, make a hole in the center of the dough with your thumb. Widen the hole with your hands until they fit 2 fingers width.
3. Use a chopstick to keep the doughnut hole during frying
During frying, the doughnuts will puff up a lot that sometimes the cooked dough covers the hole fully. To prevent this, simply put a chopstick in the doughnut hole when the doughnuts touch the oil. Then, spin the doughnuts during the deep-frying occasionally, just to make sure the hole is perforated.
4. The best doughnut frying temperature
The optimum temperature for frying your doughnuts should be between 360-375°F / 180-190°C. If your oil temperature is too low, you will end up with very oily doughnuts, since the oil gets trapped and absorbed by the dough. Conversely, if the oil is too hot, this results in your doughnuts browning too fast and leaving a raw center.
5. Flip the doughnuts only once when deep-frying
Flipping the doughnuts back and forth causes the temperatures to drop unnecessarily, and not allowing them enough time to cook evenly. This also causes the doughnuts to be oily at the end result. Fry one side for about 2 minutes, flip them only once and fry the other side for another 2 minutes.
6. Glaze, sugar-coat, or put the toppings on the doughnuts
You often see doughnuts coated in sugar or glazed to perfection. In my place, we love to add chocolate sprinkles or shredded cheese for topping. You do not really need this since the doughnut itself is already tasty and sweet. But if you still want to do it anyway, please feel free to do it but there are a few things you need to remember first.
- Glaze – First and foremost, glaze the doughnuts when they are still warm for the best result. Warmer doughnuts are easier to glaze than cold doughnuts and it results in a thinner, more even glaze.
- Cinnamon Sugar – There are often doughnuts covered in cinnamon sugar. For the best result, apply the cinnamon sugar coating twice. The cinnamon sugar is best applied when the doughnuts are still warm so the sugar melts and glues onto the second coating applied a few minutes later.
- Powdered Sugar –For the powdered sugar option, wait until the doughnuts are room temperature before sifting it over them. The sugar tends to melt easily when it touches warm surfaces.
- Toppings – In Indonesia, the old fashion doughnuts are either dusted with powdered sugar or sprinkled with toppings. The toppings are usually chocolate sprinkles and shredded cheddar cheese. When the doughnuts are cooled completely, spread a thin layer of margarine or butter on top and sprinkle the topping.
More Potato and Sweet Potato Recipes
While you are here, don’t forget to check these delicious recipes too!
- Korean Potato Cheese Pancakes
- Biji Salak (Sweet Potato Balls with Palm Sugar Porridge and Coconut Milk)
- Pan-Fried Chicken with Mashed Potatoes
Yield: 24 servings
Potato Doughnuts
This old fashioned homemade yeast Potato Doughnuts recipe yield the most amazingly soft and fluffy doughnuts that are not only delicious but super easy to make too.
Prep Time35 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Additional Time2 hours
Total Time3 hours
Ingredients
- 2 cups bread flour (250 gr)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (250 gr)
- 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 gr)
- 4 egg yolks
- 200 gr warm mashed potatoes (from 2 medium potatoes)
- 3/4 cups warm milk (180 ml)
- 1/3 cup margarine/butter (75 gr)
- oil, for frying
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Then, knead the dough with your hands until smooth. It takes about 10-12 minutes by hand or 8-10 minutes in a stand mixer. Form dough into a ball.
- Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise and double for 60-90 minutes at a warm temperature.
- After the dough has doubled, punch down the dough. Transfer it to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough to release the gas.
- Measure the weight of the dough and filling with a kitchen scale and divide it into 24 (mine is 50 gr each). Cut the dough into 24 and roll them into balls.
- Make a hole in the center of the dough with your thumb. Widen the hole with your hands until they fit 2 fingers width.
- Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rest and double for 20-30 minutes at warm temperature until they puff up a bit.
- When the oil is heated to 375°F/190°C, carefully drop in the doughnuts in several batches into the oil. Put a chopstick in the doughnut hole and then spin the doughnuts during the deep-frying occasionally to prevent the hole from closing. Cook until golden brown for about 1-2 minutes each side, flipping them once only.
- Transfer the doughnuts to a paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain and cool. Eat them immediately or glaze, sugar-coat, or put toppings on them.
Notes
To make mashed potatoes, peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks. Steam the chunks for 15-20 minutes until tender. Test by poking them with a fork. Mash the potatoes immediately while still hot.
