Puff pastry donuts, made with a sheet of puff pastry from the freezer! You will love the hot pink berry glaze on these donuts, but they're also great dipped in cinnamon sugar!
My love for puff pastry just reached new heights. (The height of a stack of donuts, of course).
Puff pastry is the buttery rich little dough that bakes up shiny and golden brown, it fries up puffy and light, and it shatters at the touch of a fork when you devour it. If I had to live the rest of my life with only one dough, puff pastry would be my choice.
I am so very glad I always have a box of puff pastry in the freezer. Especially on Sunday mornings. I also have how to make puff pastry (also known as rough puff pastry) on my site. And plenty of other ways to use it in these puff pastry recipes.
Why Sunday morning? Well, in a word: DONUTS. Yes, we love beignets and Amish donuts. But these puff pastry donuts come together so fast!
Puffy, crispy, flaky fried little donuts! All for you! Or you and someone else in your life.
And so easy, too! Just 6 ingredients, including the glaze!
Actually, these puff pastry donuts so easy that I added them to the weeknight dinner rotation the last time I made breakfast for dinner. These easy fried donuts were our dessert that night!
We’ve long debated the proper donut serving size for two people on this site. I want to say that a half dozen donuts is slightly too much for two people, but we never have any leftovers!
I even let baby Camille have half of a donut. Her little eyes lit up at the sight of the hot pink frosting. She licked her little fingers and smiled.
If you’ve ever had a cronut, the texture to these donuts is similar. They shatter at first bite and the layers melt in your mouth. They’re not at all cake-y; they’re light and crisp. I rolled them in sugar when they came out of the fry oil, but it’s entirely optional.
The mixed berry glaze on top is made up of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Use your favorite berry, or a mix of all 3!
Once you try these puff pastry donuts, you’ll always keep a box of puff pastry in your freezer for your next donut craving. And for that, I should probably apologize to anyone preparing for bikini season.
But as for me, I’m just committing to wearing a one-piece this year right now.
And I’m also committed to getting every last drop of this glaze onto every corner and crevice of these donuts.
Puff Pastry Donuts
Cronuts or puff pastry donuts at home!
Ingredients
- 1 box Pepperidge Farm®s Puff Pastry
- 3 cups neutral frying oil (I use canola)
- 1 large egg, beaten
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup mixed berries (I used blueberries, blackberries and raspberries)
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Defrost puff pastry overnight in the fridge.
- Heat the fry oil in a deep sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add a temperature gauge to the pan, and bring the oil to 375-degrees F.
- Have the egg ready on the side in a small dish.
- Carefully unroll one sheet of the puff pastry dough on a lightly floured surface, and brush with half of the egg wash. Fold the pastry sheet back up along the seams, like it was in the box.
- Repeat with the remaining sheet of pastry dough.
- From each sheet of folded pastry dough, cut out 3 donuts using a donut cutter, for a total of 6 donuts. (Cut out the donuts while the dough is folded closed like it was in the box).
- Once the oil reaches the correct temperature, fry two donuts at a time in the oil. When you drop in the donuts, they will sink but float back up to the surface within 2 seconds. They should begin bubbling and sizzling immediately. If they don’t, the oil isn’t hot enough.
- Fry the remaining donuts in two batches, and then finally, fry the donut holes.
- Have ready a small shallow pan to collect the donuts after frying, and sprinkle the granulated sugar on top of them as they come out of the hot oil.
- Meanwhile, combine the berries with a splash of water in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, and cook for about 5 minutes, until the berries fall apart and reduce a bit. Mash the berries.
- Pour the mashed berry mixture into a shallow bowl, and whisk in the powdered sugar. If the glaze isn’t thick enough, add a splash of water or milk. If it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar.
- Finally, glaze each donut with the berry glaze, and serve immediately.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 595Total Fat: 57gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 51gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 12mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 1gSugar: 20gProtein: 1g
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
i love how gorgeous and flaky and just...delectable these puff pastry donuts look! and easy-which is key :P
nursermk says
NICE. I happen to have a package of Puff Pastry dough in my freezer and will make this tomorrow--even have frozen berries so looking forward to trying this; what a delicious looking treat!
DIANA MILLER says
what a fab idea from diana in toronto can you tell me why to buy peperidge farm puff pastry here?could you video or make a sketch o I am not sure of the folding process thanks so much for sharing, diana
Shawnna Griffin says
hey girl- this looks amazing! I think I may make these today!
Laurie says
I think I love you!
Hannah Afford says
Just made these for dessert and they were incredibly delicious! (And all gone already, of course.) Thanks for the great idea!
Christina Lane says
So glad you liked them, Hannah! Thanks for writing <3
EVL says
These look great! How would you use your 15-min Puff Pastry dough with this? I haven't used the store-bought kind so I don't know how it comes in the box.
Christina Lane says
Hi! I would roll it out in a sheet, and fold it in thirds and proceed with the recipe :)
Susan says
How long should it take once in the fry oil? I imagine just a few minutes. Also I recently moved to a higher elevation. Do donuts need different process at a higher elevation? Thank you. Love the recipe and am trying it soon. Made the dough waiting for it to chill.
Christina Lane says
Hi Susan,
Apologies if this isn't clear. Fry until golden brown on one side and flip, you'll be able to see it, about 1-3 minutes per side. I don't think frying is affected by elevation, but I could be wrong! let me know how it goes :)
Sasha says
Is it possible to bake these donuts in the oven? And is it still as pleasing in taste and texture if so?
Christina Lane says
Hi Sasha,
I haven't tried that, but I think you could? I would brush them with melted butter before baking at 400 to help with the crispness :)
Ellen says
confused...if you fold the dough back up as it comes from the box, that should make 3 layers, so if you cut each folded strip into 2 doughnuts, wouldn't that make 18, not 12? Do you separate each layer?