In case you don’t already know, I’m completely in love with doughnuts. 🍩🍩🍩 But not just any old doughnuts will do… deep-fried vegan yeast doughnuts have my heart and they are a hard thing to come by, at least within a 250 mile radius of me. 😩 Sigh. There’s this one amazing bakery in Orlando, Fl. (a three and a half hour car ride away from me and yes I may have driven up just for some doughnuts a couple of times 😳) that makes the most delicious square, deep-fried, vegan, yeast doughnuts. Unfortunately for me, I’m not the only one aware of just how amazingly delicious these doughnuts are. Nowadays there’s usually a line out the door before this small-batch bakeshop even opens up shop for the day. So the last couple times I’ve been up there I haven’t been able to get my hands on any of their coveted goodies. 😩😩 Double sigh. Given my insatiable cravings for their doughnuts and the lack of availability anywhere near me, I decided to take matters into my own hands (despite my complete disdain for deep-frying) and make some at home.

So I searched the trusty old internet for some deep-fried vegan doughnut recipes and found one that sounded easy enough and that I had all the ingredients for. I ended up giving it a try and actually thought I had done something wrong because when I went to lift my shaped dough into the deep fryer, it all started stretching out of shape and for some I ended up just rolling a quick misshapen ball between my palms and gently tossing them into the oil. Aesthetics aside, these doughnuts completely blew me away! They were literally everything I could have asked for in a doughnut. So amazing that I just had to share this recipe with you all.

I used the recipe for Krispy Dream Donuts from Vegan Heartland and made just a couple of changes. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did! But beware, because once you start making these, you just might not be able to stop!

Servings	Prep Time	Cook Time	Total Time
12	10 mins.	15 mins.	25 mins. + rest time

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
¾ cup room temperature almond milk (plain, unsweetened)
½ cup cane sugar
3 tablespoons Earth Balance buttery spread
¼ cup applesauce
2 ½ cups All Purpose flour
Vegetable oil (amount will vary depending on what you fry in)
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

In a large bowl to a stand mixer, combine yeast and warm water. Stir together until yeast begins to dissolve.
Add almond milk, sugar, Earth Balance spread, applesauce and 1 cup of flour. Beat on low for 30 seconds, then increase the speed to medium and beat for another 2 minutes.
Add the remaining flour and beat on low until flour is incorporated and a ball of dough is formed. Cover the bowl with a towel or paper towel and let rest for about an hour.
Cover a portion of your counter in parchment paper and dust generously with flour. Pour dough onto flour coated parchment paper and roll out using a rolling pin, adding flour when needed (if dough is sticking to paper or pin). Roll until the dough is between ¼ inch and ½ inch thickness.
Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into 12 squares. Use an empty beer bottle, or other empty glass bottle, to cut out a hole in the center by pressing the neck of the glass into the center of each square and giving the bottle a quick twist. Gently separate the squares of dough (so they don’t stick together when they rise). Cover dough with a paper towel and let rise for another 45 minutes.
Heat vegetable oil in a deep pot (I used a wok), over medium heat, until it reaches 350 degrees.
Gently slide donuts, in batches (I did two at a time), into the oil. Fry for about 45 seconds to 1 minute on each side or until golden brown.
Transfer donuts to a cooling rack lined with paper towels.
Once donuts are cool brush with glaze or top with toppings of choice.
To make the glaze, combine powdered sugar, vanilla, and water (a little bit at a time). Whisk together, adding water slowly as needed, until a consistency similar to Elmer’s glue is achieved.