Pink Donuts (no food coloring)Pink Donuts (no food coloring)

Step 1

You can make the dough by hand (see note) or in a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. I recommend the latter since the dough is rather sticky.

Step 2

In a large bowl of a stand mixer, add warm milk and sugar. Sprinkle instant yeast on top and let sit for 1 minute (or 5 minutes if using active dry yeast).

Step 3

Add the eggs, melted butter, vanilla extract, and salt, stirring to combine.

Step 4

Add roughly half the flour (simply eyeball it), mix until combined. Add the remaining flour and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 7 minutes on medium low. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl and be slightly sticky. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons additional flour if necessary.

Step 5

Place dough inside an oiled bowl. Turn to coat and cover with a fitting lid or plastic wrap. (At this point you could do an overnight rise in the fridge, see note.) Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, depending on the room temperature.

Step 6

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface, dust the dough with flour, and roll it to 3/4-inch (2 cm) thickness using a rolling pin. Cut out the donuts with a doughnut cutter. Alternatively, you can use a large circle cookie cutter (or glass) with 3 inch (7.5 cm) in diameter plus a small cookie cutter (or shot glass) to cut out the center. Flour the cutters as you go. Either reserve the donut holes or add them to the scrapes. Knead scraps together, and let the dough rest for 5 minutes to relax before re-rolling.

Step 7

Transfer cut-out donuts on two floured baking sheets with room in-between. Cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise at warm room temperature until slightly puffy, about 30-45 minutes.

Step 8

Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat to 338 °F (170 °C)*. You should have at least 1-2 inch (3-5 cm) of oil in the pot. Meanwhile, line a baking sheet or several plates with paper towels.

Step 9

Fry 2 donuts at a time for ½ minute to 1 minute on each side. They should be deep golden all over. If it takes shorter or longer for them to get the desired color, adjust oil temperature. Carefully remove donuts from the oil and transfer onto paper towels. Repeat with the rest of the donuts. Glaze or dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!

Step 10

In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together raspberries, water, and lemon juice. Cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring constantly, until berries are soft and release their juice. Smash raspberries with the back side of a spoon or a spatula.

Step 11

Let berry-mixture reduce to about 3 tablespoons (45 ml), then pass it through a sieve to remove seeds. If you have a bit more or less than 3 tablespoons of juice concentrate, don’t worry, you can later add water. Use juice concentrate immediately, no need to cool.

Step 12

For the blueberry glaze, stir together blueberries, ginger, and water and proceed as described for the raspberry glaze (steps 10 & 11).

Step 13

In a small bowl that's wide enough to dip a donut in, whisk together confectioner’s sugar and 2 tablespoons raspberry/blueberry juice concentrate, using a hand whisk. Mix well until smooth and add another tablespoon of juice if necessary until you get the right glaze consistency. It should be thick but still runny.

Step 14

Dip each donut into the glaze. Let excess glaze drip off and place onto a rack with parchment paper below the rack. Stir glaze every now and then with a whisk to prevent it from forming a skin. If glaze is too thick, add more juice (or water), if too runny, add some confectioner’s sugar. If glaze hardens over time, a few seconds in the microwave will make it runny again. Let the glaze set on the donuts and enjoy.

Step 15

Donuts are best eaten on the same day. If you store them in an airtight container at room temperature overnight, the glaze will get sticky (but donuts still taste good). If you have too many donuts, freeze them without the glaze.

Step 16

You can make the dough by hand (see note) or in a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. I recommend the latter since the dough is rather sticky.

Step 17

In a large bowl of a stand mixer, add warm milk and sugar. Sprinkle instant yeast on top and let sit for 1 minute (or 5 minutes if using active dry yeast).

Step 18

Add the eggs, melted butter, vanilla extract, and salt, stirring to combine.

Step 19

Add roughly half the flour (simply eyeball it), mix until combined. Add the remaining flour and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 7 minutes on medium low. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl and be slightly sticky. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons additional flour if necessary.

Step 20

Place dough inside an oiled bowl. Turn to coat and cover with a fitting lid or plastic wrap. (At this point you could do an overnight rise in the fridge, see note.) Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, depending on the room temperature.

Step 21

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface, dust the dough with flour, and roll it to 3/4-inch (2 cm) thickness using a rolling pin. Cut out the donuts with a doughnut cutter. Alternatively, you can use a large circle cookie cutter (or glass) with 3 inch (7.5 cm) in diameter plus a small cookie cutter (or shot glass) to cut out the center. Flour the cutters as you go. Either reserve the donut holes or add them to the scrapes. Knead scraps together, and let the dough rest for 5 minutes to relax before re-rolling.

Step 22

Transfer cut-out donuts on two floured baking sheets with room in-between. Cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise at warm room temperature until slightly puffy, about 30-45 minutes.

Step 23

Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat to 338 °F (170 °C)*. You should have at least 1-2 inch (3-5 cm) of oil in the pot. Meanwhile, line a baking sheet or several plates with paper towels.

Step 24

Fry 2 donuts at a time for ½ minute to 1 minute on each side. They should be deep golden all over. If it takes shorter or longer for them to get the desired color, adjust oil temperature. Carefully remove donuts from the oil and transfer onto paper towels. Repeat with the rest of the donuts. Glaze or dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!

Step 25

In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together raspberries, water, and lemon juice. Cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring constantly, until berries are soft and release their juice. Smash raspberries with the back side of a spoon or a spatula.

Step 26

Let berry-mixture reduce to about 3 tablespoons (45 ml), then pass it through a sieve to remove seeds. If you have a bit more or less than 3 tablespoons of juice concentrate, don’t worry, you can later add water. Use juice concentrate immediately, no need to cool.

Step 27

For the blueberry glaze, stir together blueberries, ginger, and water and proceed as described for the raspberry glaze (steps 10 & 11).

Step 28

In a small bowl that's wide enough to dip a donut in, whisk together confectioner’s sugar and 2 tablespoons raspberry/blueberry juice concentrate, using a hand whisk. Mix well until smooth and add another tablespoon of juice if necessary until you get the right glaze consistency. It should be thick but still runny.

Step 29

Dip each donut into the glaze. Let excess glaze drip off and place onto a rack with parchment paper below the rack. Stir glaze every now and then with a whisk to prevent it from forming a skin. If glaze is too thick, add more juice (or water), if too runny, add some confectioner’s sugar. If glaze hardens over time, a few seconds in the microwave will make it runny again. Let the glaze set on the donuts and enjoy.

Step 30

Donuts are best eaten on the same day. If you store them in an airtight container at room temperature overnight, the glaze will get sticky (but donuts still taste good). If you have too many donuts, freeze them without the glaze.