Merry Everything: How to Make Alphabet Doughnuts At Home

how to make alphabet donuts

Name something better than a doughnut on a Saturday morning… You can’t! Okay, unless it’s paired with a coffee. Because almost everything’s better with a coffee. Ya feel me?!

Ever since I can remember, I’ve always had a love affair with doughnuts. When I was a child (before we knew how bad sugar and all of these things are for us) my parents would treat us to Dunkin Donuts almost every Saturday morning (oopsies). Then when I was in high school, the Dunkin Donuts was conveniently on the way to school, and if you were one of the cool kids, you had Dunkin Donuts in your first class. I hated coffee back then (who am I) so I would get a Coolatta or a hot chocolate that probably had 60 grams of sugar (but who’s counting), paired with a doughnut and would tell myself I was cool… Despite drinking COOLattas, I wasn’t cool… LOL couldn’t resist.

Many of my ideas for blog posts come to me completely on a whim, either when I’m in the shower or falling asleep at night. I recently came up with the idea to make these doughnuts for a holiday party. They would also be great for a birthday, or literally any type of party you can think of, because everyone likes doughnuts. It’s a nice way to switch it up from candy, cookies, and cake, while still getting that sweet tooth fix. Plus, when you bring these to party, people will either 1. Say, “Oh my gosh, where did you get these?!” or 2. Say, “I can’t believe you made these!!!” Two reactions that automatically makes it seem like you slaved away for hours over these (they aren’t hard to make). Just make sure you make the dough a day ahead so that it chills in the refrigerator overnight.

merry everything alphabet donuts tutorial

If you aren’t familiar with the Instagram account, Vicky’s Donuts, you need to be! This is partly where I got the inspiration to try making these at home. Vicky’s Donuts is a doughnut shop located in East London, that makes custom made donuts, often times spelling out words or messages. But unfortunately, since I won’t be heading to London any time soon, I wondered how difficult it might be to make these at home.

Let me just start by saying that these look a lot more difficult than they really are to make. It might seem intimidating, but I promise it’s easy! I slightly modified a recipe that Pink Wings suggested, and is adapted from The Pioneer Woman’s recipe. The number one thing you need to know before going through the recipe is that the dough has to chill in the refrigerator overnight before cooking. So if you come across this recipe on a whim and need them the same day, I’m sorry, but for best results they really do need to chill in the fridge overnight. Also, these cookie cutters from Target are what I used, and are a pretty good deal for an entire set of every single letter.

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ALPHABET DOUGHNUTS

Doughnuts:

  • 1-1/8 cup whole milk
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 pkg instant yeast (2-1/4 tsp)
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 1-1/4 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • canola oil (I used an entire bottle)

Glaze:

  • 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 2-3 Tbsp water
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • food coloring (optional)
  • sprinkles (optional)
Directions:

 

Heat milk until it is warm, not too hot. Pour the sugar into the milk and stir to dissolve. Place yeast in a small bowl and pour the warm milk over it. Let rest for 10 minutes.

 

In a separate small bowl, beat your eggs, then add your butter while mixing continuously. Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Turn to medium speed and pour in the yeast mixture. Mix for a couple of minutes until well combined.

 

While still mixing, gradually add the flour about 1/2 cup at a time. Once it’s all combined, mix for another 5 minutes. Scrape if needed, then mix for 30 seconds more. Let rest for 10 minutes.

 

Spray a large mixing bowl with oil. Transfer your dough to the oiled bowl, then cover and refrigerate overnight.

 

Prep a few cookie sheets with silicon mats or parchment paper dusted with flour.

 

Lightly flour a clean surface and roll out your dough to around 1/4 inch thick. Use your alphabet cookie cutters to make letters and place them on your prepped cookie sheets. Roll together leftover scraps, let the dough rest a few minutes, then repeat until done. Cover with tea towels and let rise in a warm, dry place for at least an hour until they look fluffy.

 

Before the dough is quite risen, fill a heavy-bottomed pot almost halfway with oil on your stove top and bring the temperature to 375F. You want it to level off perfectly at 375F, so start this long before you plan on frying, and monitor the temperature well. Prep some pans or plates with paper towels for your fried doughnuts.

 

Once the temperature has leveled off at 375F, place a few doughnuts into the hot oil and fry for about 30 seconds. Turn them over and fry for another 30 seconds. Remove from oil and let rest on paper towels. Let the temperature rise back to 375 degrees F if needed, and repeat until done.

 

For the glaze:

 

In a small mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients until smooth. Divide into three separate shallow bowls. Add food coloring as desired to each bowl. Dip the tops of your doughnuts into the glaze and immediately add sprinkles. Set aside to dry. Best eaten within the day.

 

NOTE: If you don’t have a candy thermometer to find the temperature of the oil like me, I found this trick online and it worked perfectly for me. Put a single popcorn kernel in the oil to check the temperature. When it pops, that means the oil is at about 360 degrees, and is close to your temperature for frying. I stared frying at this temperature and it was completely fine.
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how to make alphabet donuts

 

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ABOUT

Hi there! My name is Mackenzie. I live in Portland, Maine with my husband and was born and raised in Maine. After spending 7 years in Boston, MA to build my career and venture outside of my home state, I realized that it felt time to move back home, and here I am! I enjoy romanticizing where I'm from and teaching others to do the same. For sponsorship opportunities, please email Mackenzienoelmurphy@gmail.com

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10 Comments

  1. 12.12.16
    Ruthie said:

    I want one of these NOW!! But seriously I want to try these with my kiddos!! SO fun!! XO

    • 12.12.16
      Mackenzie said:

      These would be so much fun to do with kids!!! A great way to make spelling practice fun too đŸ˜‰

  2. 12.12.16
    Roselynn said:

    OMgeeee these are too cute!! I am definitely saving this and going to attempt!! Thanks for sharing love!!

    xo, Roselynn
    http://www.thestylelynnlife.com

    • 12.12.16
      Mackenzie said:

      Thanks Roselynn! They are so much easier to make than it might seem. Glad you liked!!

  3. 12.12.16
    Nina Nguyen said:

    These are wayyyyyyy too cute!! I’ll have to try to make these for my fiance, he’s obsessed with donuts!! Thanks for sharing beautiful!
    xo-Nina

    http://www.ninalnguyen.com/

  4. 12.12.16
    Astrid said:

    I absolutely love this idea! Thank you for sharing

  5. 12.12.16
    Amanda Maxwell said:

    Looks like my family will be getting donuts for a treat this weekend! Thanks for the recipe and the inspiration.

  6. 12.12.16
    Nicole Fuentes said:

    This looks AMAZING! I wanna try it so badly!
    xx, Nicole
    http://www.nicolesometimes.com

  7. 12.12.16
    Stephanie said:

    How CUTE! I want to make these right now! Love this post!

    XO
    Stephanie
    theblondestyleblog.com

  8. 12.13.16
    A Graceful Life Blog said:

    Ok so trying this!! They look delicious and super cute!