Home » Recipes » Dessert » Raspberry donuts

Raspberry donuts

By Brenda Score ()
Jump to Recipe

These pillowy-soft and fluffy vanilla-raspberry donuts will be the star of your Valentine’s Day gifts this year. Dunked into tangy glaze with hints of sweet lemon, they’re so dreamy you’ll fall in love with every single bite.

Homemade raspberry donuts with a cup of coffee in the background.

If you’re the type of person that could eat donuts all day every day, you’ll love this fresh raspberry donut recipe. It requires a bit of prep time, but it’s so worth it! The buttery yeast dough is ultra-light and fluffy. However, it’s the silky raspberry-lemon glaze that I’m obsessed with. It adds the perfect amount acidity to round out the donuts’ vanilla sweetness.

Fried until golden and dunked into the pink glaze, they’re also a great Valentine’s Day sweet treat— just like my Frozen White Chocolate & Raspberry Dessert. I recommend making more than one batch because, by the time you’re done, everybody might’ve already eaten half the donuts. Enjoy!

Aren’t These Raspberry Donuts Just – Gorgeous?

  • Better than the bakery. Instead of getting donuts that have been sitting on the counter for the day, you’ll have perfectly fluffy and delicious homemade donuts. There’s nothing like a freshly baked donut. Nothing.
  • Sweet-and-fruity. Vanilla dough, fresh raspberries, and lemon juice create a delightful combo of sweetness and tart flavors.
  • Great for Valentine’s Day. The naturally pink glaze makes these donuts an ideal Valentine’s Day gift.
  • Super fluffy. The fluffiest donuts are made with a yeast dough that’s had enough time to rise. You’re welcome!
Flour, powdered sugar, and raspberry donuts.

What You’ll Need

You only need baking staples, tart raspberries, and a squeeze of lemon juice to prep these soft raspberry donuts. The recipe card at the bottom of the post contains exact measurements and step-by-step instructions.

fOR THE DONUTS

  • Whole milk – 2% is a good substitute. Don’t use plant-based milk, as it’s water-based and won’t provide richness.
  • Active dry yeast – Feel free to swap it for the same amount of instant yeast.
  • Sugar – Go for granulated sugar, light, or dark brown sugar.
  • Eggs – I like whisking them before adding them in to ensure there are no streaks in the mixture.
  • Unsalted butter – Softened butter is best so it distributes evenly in the dough.
  • Pure vanilla extract – Clear (imitation) extract works too. Feel free to skip it but it adds a lovely sweet aroma.
  • Salt – Skip it if you used salted butter for the dough. Kosher salt is best. Avoid coarse sea salt, as it won’t dissolve well.
  • White Lily® All-Purpose Flour – This is my preferred brand, but use your favorite.
  • Oil – Vegetable and canola oil are best because of their high smoke points and neutral flavor.

FOR THE RASPBERRY GLAZE

  • Raspberries – You can use fresh or frozen (thawed).
  • Lemon juice – Reduce the amount by half if you use lime juice.
  • Water – Milk works too.
  • Sugar – I recommend only using granulated sugar here for a super pink glaze.
  • Powdered sugar – It’s also called “confectioners’ sugar”.
Glazed donuts on a wire rack.

VARIATION IDEAS

It’s super easy to spruce up these fresh raspberry donuts with a bit of cocoa powder, earthy cinnamon, or even matcha. Here are some of my favorite flavor combinations:

  • Make them zesty. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons orange zest or lemon zest to the dry ingredients for citrusy punch in the dough.
  • Spice it up. Mix 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg to the dry ingredients for warm spice in every bite.
  • Chocolate donuts. Stir 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder into the dry ingredients for a chocolatey donut variation with raspberry glaze.
  • Add toppings. Sprinkling the freshly-glazed donuts with toasted shredded coconut, mini chocolate chips, or chopped pistachios adds more flavor and texture.
  • Go matcha. Whisk 4 tablespoons matcha powder into the dry ingredients for a little herbal goodness if you love matcha sweet treats.
  • Rose-raspberry glaze. Swap the water in the glaze for rose water. After glazing the donuts, sprinkle chopped candied rose petals on top for a lovely floral flavor profile.
Landscape photo of homemade vanilla donuts with raspberry-lemon glaze.

Tips For Success

Working with yeast shouldn’t be intimidating! Use these tips to help you feel comfortable rising the dough and making the best homemade raspberry donuts:

  • Do an overnight rise. If you don’t have time to prepare the whole recipe in one day, prepare the dough as usual, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it sit in the fridge overnight for a slow rise. Roll, fry, and glaze the next day as usual.
  • Use your hands. If you don’t have a stand mixer, use your hands to knead the dough for 8-12 minutes or until soft and smooth. You can sprinkle it with more flour as needed until it’s no longer sticky.
  • Choose the right bowl. When you place the dough in the oven for proofing, make sure the bowl is made from stainless steel. The oven’s heat could easily melt plastic bowls.
  • Let it rise naturally. If the weather in your area is warm, set the bowl of dough on the counter. It should rise naturally within 1-2 hours. When it’s slightly chilly, it may take 3-4 hours.
  • Watch the yeast. Keep an eye on the milk-yeast mixture. If it doesn’t turn foamy after 5–10 minutes, discard it and start over. The yeast may have been “dead,” or the milk may have been too hot—both of which will prevent the dough from rising.

How to Store Homemade Donuts

You definitely get the most enjoyment out of eating them on the same day they’re made, especially while they’re still a bit warm. However, you can store the leftovers.

  • Fridge: Place in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Set them on the counter for 5 minutes before digging in to let them come down to room temperature.
  • Freezer: This works for un-glazed donuts. Wrap each one in plastic wrap twice. Transfer to a freezer bag. Thaw overnight in the fridge or on the counter for 15 minutes. Glaze as usual and enjoy.

More Pink Treats

Recipe card photo for raspberry donuts.

Raspberry Donuts

Yield: 12 donuts
prep time: 45 minutes
cook time: 1 hour 45 minutes
total time: 2 hours 30 minutes
This golden, vanilla-raspberry donuts recipe with sweet lemon glaze is a yummy homemade gift for Valentine's Day.
4.5 Stars (6 Reviews)
Print

Ingredients

For the yeast donuts:

  • 1 c. whole milk warmed to 110°F
  • 1 T. active dry yeast
  • ⅓ c. sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 6 T. unsalted butter melted gently and slightly cooled
  • 1 T. pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 4.25 c. White Lily® All-Purpose Flour plus more for flouring the kneading and rolling surface
  • neutral oil

for the fresh raspberry glaze:

  • 6 oz. fresh raspberries
  • 1 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 3 T. water
  • 2 T. sugar
  • ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 1.5 to 2 c. powdered sugar

Instructions

  • Line two large baking pans with parchment paper.
  • Place a cooling rack over a third baking pan.
  • Prepare fresh raspberry glaze through Step 1 (see below) and set aside.

for the yeast doughnuts:

  • Pour warmed milk (I warm the milk in 5 to 10-second intervals in microwave, testing temperature after each heating) into bowl of stand mixer and then sprinkle yeast evenly over the top of the milk. Let it sit for 1 minute and then give it a small, gentle stir. Let mixture sit for about 5 more minutes, until silky/foamy.
  • Preheat oven to 200° F.
  • Fit stand mixer with dough hook and then beat sugar, eggs, butter, vanilla, and salt into yeast mixture on low speed, just until combined. Add 2 cups of the flour and mix, just until combined. Then add the remaining 2-1/4 cups of flour, beating on low speed until combined, and then on medium-high speed until the dough pulls away from the sides of bowl. This takes almost 5 minutes of beating time with my mixer. The dough should be thick, yet soft and somewhat sticky. If your dough is too wet, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of flour more. But really try to not add too much more flour, as this will take away from the tenderness of the dough.
  • Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and gently knead until smooth and elastic, about 2 minutes. Pull in a little extra flour as needed. I find it very helpful, almost essential, to use a flexible dough scraper to scrape all the dough out of the bowl (with the curved edge) and to aid in scraping the dough from the kneading surface (with the flat edge) – I almost use the scraper like my second hand. I HIGHLY recommend that you have one of these before starting this recipe. I have grown to love this tool when working with any yeast doughs. Lightly spray a large bowl with non-stick cooking spray and transfer dough to the bowl, turning the dough to coat evenly. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Turn oven heat off and place bowl of dough in lightly warmed oven. Let dough rise until it doubles in size, about 1 hour. To test if the dough is ready, poke one finger about 1" deep into the top of the dough. If the indent stays, the dough is ready. If the indent fills in with surrounding dough, the dough needs more time to rise.
  • Again, preheat oven to 200° F.
  • Remove bowl from oven and punch down dough to release air bubbles. Remove dough from bowl and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Punch down again, if needed. Then roll dough out to a 1/2" thickness with a lightly floured rolling pin. Use a donut cutter or two circle cookie cutters (large cutter should be about 3-1/2" in diameter) to cut out donuts, dipping the cutters in flour after each cut. You will need to re-roll dough scraps to cut a total of 12 donuts.
  • Transfer cut dough to prepared parchment-lined baking pans with a thin metal spatula, 6 donuts and their holes per baking sheet. I found that it worked best for me to transfer the donut and its hole, intact, from the rolled dough surface to the prepared pan, and then remove the hole from the center. Reserve the holes, adding them to the pans with the donuts. Cover each pan gently with a lightweight kitchen towel. Turn oven heat off, place towel-covered dough in oven, and leave oven door ajar. Let dough rest in warmed oven for 30 minutes.
  • While dough is resting in the warmed oven, prepare oil for frying. I use an electric deep fryer, but any heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven will work. Either way, be sure to use a reliable cooking thermometer to measure the heat of the oil. I found that the attached thermometer on our deep fryer was no longer very accurate (we received the fryer when we were married over 17 years ago), so I learned to rely on my cooking thermometer instead. Add a neutral oil to fryer or pot, to a depth of almost 3".
  • Heat to 375°F. This will take quite awhile, and the oil will be very hot. Be careful.
  • Also while dough is resting and oil is heating, finish making the fresh raspberry glaze, continuing on with Step 2 (see below). Set glaze aside.
  • When oil is heated, add two to three donuts at a time and cook for 1 minute per side. Carefully remove with a metal spatula or metal slotted spoon and place on prepared rack sitting on a baking sheet. The method I like best is to cook two donuts at a time, and when the second set of two donuts is removed from the fryer, I dip the first set of two donuts into the glaze. To achieve a smooth looking glaze, it works best to dip the donuts while they are still very warm. If you want to mix things up, roll the doughnuts in cinnamon sugar – my family loves this! This was also an easy way to finish off the donut holes – by simply placing all the holes in a small bowl, shaking cinnamon sugar over them, and rolling the bowl to evenly coat all the holes.

for the fresh raspberry glaze:

  • In a small to medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, stir together raspberries, lemon juice, water, and sugar. When mixture starts to bubble, smash raspberries with the back side of a wooden spoon. Turn heat down a bit to medium-low and let mixture cook for 2 minutes, stirring once or twice.
  • Remove pan from heat and stir in vanilla. Line a colander with a double layer of cheese cloth and place over a large bowl. Pour raspberry mixture over cheese cloth. Pull up sides of cheese cloth to form a bundle of raspberry mixture. Then gently press on the bundle with the back side of a large wooden spoon to extract the juices, letting the juices drain into the bowl below. Take care to not pierce and break the cheese cloth. Keep pressing until you have a little more than 1/4 cup of bright red raspberry juice. Set juice aside. Discard the cheese cloth bundle.
  • To create the glaze, in a small bowl that’s wide enough to dip a donut in, whisk together 1/4 cup of prepared raspberry juice with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar until smooth. Whisk in another 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, and then another, to equal 1-1/2 cups total. Add up to 1/2 cup more of powdered sugar to reach your desired consistency. I found that I liked the glaze somewhere between fluid and thickened. I know that’s not much of a measure, but if when you dip your first donut you don’t like the consistency, simply add a bit more juice to thin, or a bit more powdered sugar to thicken. I also think it helps to whisk the glaze before dipping if the glaze has been sitting for awhile.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 1 Calories: 243kcal Carbohydrates: 40g Protein: 2g Fat: 9g Saturated Fat: 4g Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g Cholesterol: 48mg Sodium: 217mg Fiber: 1g Sugar: 38g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Spoonacular. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your own favorite calculator.
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a comment below. And share a photo on Instagram with the hashtag #afarmgirlsdabbles or tag @farmgirlsdabble!
© Brenda | A Farmgirl’s Dabbles
Cuisine: American
Course: Dessert
35 Comments / Leave a Comment »

get new posts via email:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating:




35 comments on “Raspberry donuts”

  1. Christian Lindstrom

    5 stars
    I read so many donut recipes before trying yours, and they all confused me just a little bit … how long should they rise? Where should they rise? Yours seemed straight forward and easy to follow, with every step laid out, and it was! And the donuts came out perfectly … soft and a bit chewy and so tasty! Thank you!

    Reply

get new posts via email: