Who doesn’t enjoy a fun, delicious donut? This sweet treat has been bringing smiles to people around the world with a history stretching back to antiquity. They come in a dizzying array of flavors depending on what they’re coated with. Vanilla, chocolate, and cinnamon sugar are some very classic coatings that can give donuts really simple, but tasty flavor. But nothing beats biting into a freshly fried donut; the experience is simply out of this world!

Before frying a donut, its dough needs to rise in one of two ways: with yeast, as has been done for millennia, yielding the yeast donut; or with leaveners like baking soda, yielding the cake donut. People have debated which is better since the cake donut was invented. I personally love yeast donuts for their light, airy, slightly chewy texture. Although both are excellent, I will be showing you an easy way to make yeast donuts fresh, right in your home.

Fresh yeast donuts taste amazing. But they can be a bit intimidating to make, as you need to first make yeast-leavened dough. But I will show you a shortcut for making freshly fried yeast donuts much more easily! The trick is using frozen dinner rolls. Simply take the rolls out of the freezer and let them rise—no need to knead. This hack makes cooking yeast donuts quicker, less intimidating, and more fun! Speaking of fun, making these donuts is a great activity for kids.

Scroll down to see how you can make these delicious, easy yeast donuts!

Ingredients

20 Frozen dinner rolls
Oil for deep frying, vegetable or canola
Sprinkles (optional)

Vanilla Glaze

1 cup Powder sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
2 Tbsp Milk

Cinnamon Sugar

1/2 cup Granulated sugar
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tbsp Nutmeg

Chocolate Coating

1 1/2 cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Place the frozen dinner rolls on a greased sheet pan 2 inches apart. Cover the rolls with plastic wrap and let them rise for 4 hours at room temperature, until each roll is about 3 inches in diameter. To speed up the rising process, you can heat a cool oven for 5 minutes, and then place the dough in the warm oven. The higher temperature will allow the yeast to work quicker and rise the dough in only 1 hour.

Next, flatten the dough into a circle 1/2 inch thick. Then, use a knife or a narrow cylinder to cut out a hole in the center. Save the donut hole to make munchkins!

In a skillet, pot, or deep fryer, add vegetable or canola oil to a depth of at least 1 inch. Over medium heat, heat the oil to 370°F. Gently place the doughnuts into the hot oil. Fry them for 2 minutes, flip, then fry for one additional minute, until puffy and golden brown. Fry the donuts and donut holes in batches. Place the fried donuts on a sheet pan with wire rack to let the excess oil drip.

While the donuts are cooling, make the vanilla glaze, cinnamon sugar, and chocolate coating.

For the vanilla glaze, stir together powder sugar, vanilla extract, and milk until the powder sugar is melted.

To make the cinnamon sugar, simply mix together granulated sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Lastly, prepare melted chocolate for coating the donuts. Place chocolate chips in a bowl and microwave them at 50% power for three minutes, stirring the chocolate every minute.

Once the donuts have cooled, you’re all set to coat them! Spread the chocolate coating and vanilla glaze over the donuts. If desired, you can also add sprinkles to the donuts before the glaze or chocolate coating hardens. For cinnamon sugar donuts, simply coat each doughnut entirely with the cinnamon sugar. The donuts are now ready to be devoured (they won’t stand a chance). Enjoy!

If you like these Easy Shortcut Yeast Donuts, you might also like Hotteok from Frozen Dinner Rolls.

For more recipes like these, be sure to subscribe via email or follow Sprinkle of Sesame on Instagram!

Print Recipe