Is the Best Recipe
Yogurt Doughnuts served ready to eat.

Preview: built by our recipe engine and not yet reviewed. Details may change.

Yogurt Doughnuts

Yield
6 servings

Yogurt and self-rising flour form a soft dough that is fried in small portions until golden.

Ingredients
Show the recipe for

Tips are one tap away.

Ingredients

Servings
Units
Batches and reset

6 servings · US measures · 1 batch

Batching

Mix one batch of dough at a time and fry it in its own 6-quart pot of oil; for a larger yield, mix and fry a second batch. A half batch is not offered because the oil must still be deep enough to float the doughnuts. Oil temperature and frying time do not multiply with ingredient quantities.

Original recipe: 6 servings.

The optional powdered sugar is excluded from the base nutrition scenario. Plain whole-milk yogurt is the selected yogurt. Nutrition is incomplete because the oil the doughnuts absorb and the vanilla sugar composition are not established.

Open shopping list

Before you start

  • Read through the recipe before heating the oil. Gather the bowl, spoon, heavy pot, deep-fry thermometer, slotted spoon, lined tray and the measured ingredients.

Directions

1

Read and gather

For the whole recipe

Read through the recipe and gather the equipment. Use the ingredient lines to measure everything, line the tray with paper towels and make sure the slotted spoon and thermometer are completely dry, because water makes hot oil spatter. Everything is prepared and measured before the pot goes on the heat.

2

Mix the dough

For each batch of dough and pot of oil

Mix about 4 cups self-rising flour, about 16 oz plain whole-milk yogurt, 2 whole large eggs, 2 tbsp granulated sugar, 2 tbsp vanilla sugar and 1/8 tsp fine salt in the large bowl with the sturdy spoon until a soft dough forms with no dry flour. Do not taste the dough: it contains raw egg and raw flour.

3

Cover and rest the dough

For each batch of dough and pot of oil

Cover the bowl and let the dough rest at room temperature until it looks slightly puffy and feels less sticky, about 30 minutes.

4

Shape the dough balls

For each batch of dough and pot of oil

Shape the dough into balls about 2 inches across with damp hands and set them on a lightly floured plate or the counter. The dough is shaped into even balls.

5

Pour in and heat the oil

For each batch of dough and pot of oil

Pour about 12 cups vegetable oil into a 6-quart heavy pot, so it comes no more than halfway up the sides. Heat it over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer reads 350°F (175°C). Never leave hot oil unattended.

6

Lower the dough in and fry in small batches

For each batch of dough and pot of oil

Lower a few balls at a time into the oil with the slotted spoon and fry over medium heat, turning them so they color evenly, until deep golden all over, about 3 to 4 minutes. Break open the first one: the center should be dry and fluffy with no wet dough; if it is still doughy, fry the next ones a little longer or shape them smaller. Let the oil come back to 350°F between batches.

7

Lift out, drain, taste and adjust

For each batch of dough and pot of oil

Lift the doughnuts onto the paper towels with the slotted spoon. Taste a piece of the test doughnut once it has cooled slightly. Aim for lightly sweet and tangy, crisp outside and fluffy inside. If they taste plain, dust them with powdered sugar to taste. The doughnuts are drained and cool enough to handle.

8

Serve warm

For the whole recipe

Serve the doughnuts warm, to make 6 servings, the day they are fried. Turn off the burner and let the oil cool completely in the pot before you move or discard it. The doughnuts are served warm.

About this recipe

Research preview: these details come from our sourced research and haven't been reviewed by our chef yet.

Why it works

Self-rising flour already holds the leavening, so yogurt and eggs make a soft dough that puffs in hot oil without yeast or a long rise. Small balls and steady oil at about 350 °F cook through before the outside darkens.

Associated with

Israeli and Ashkenazi Jewish

Foods fried in oil are a Hanukkah custom recalling the Temple oil. The filled jelly doughnut came to Israel with Polish Jewish immigrants and took the Hebrew name sufganiyah.

Taste

  • Sweet
  • Sour
  • Salty
  • Bitter
  • Savory
  • Heat

Lightly sweet with vanilla., Yogurt adds a gentle tang. · crisp fried outside with a soft, cake-like inside · warm

Skill level

Some practice

Deep-frying in a large pot of oil needs temperature control and care.

You'll practice: Mix a soft yogurt dough, Shape small, even balls, Deep-fry at a steady temperature with a thermometer, Test a piece for doneness, Drain fried food

Allergens

Contains: wheat, milk, egg.

Check the vegetable oil label: it may be soybean oil or a blend.

Diets

Vegetarian: Fits as listed Pescatarian: Fits as listed Vegan: Doesn't fit as written Dairy: See the allergen lines Egg: See the allergen lines Gluten: See the allergen lines

Occasions

  • Hanukkah · traditional holiday food

    Foods fried in oil recall the Temple oil that burned for eight days; this quick yogurt version is inspired by sufganiyot.

    Eight nights beginning at sundown on 25 Kislev in the Hebrew calendar.

    Next: December 4, 2026 (expected)

    Next: December 4, 2026 (expected)

    Next: December 24, 2027 (expected)

Course: dessert · Technique: deep-fry · Time: 1-to-2-hours

Serving and keeping

Best served: Warm, the day they are fried Drained on absorbent paper and cooled enough to handle

Make ahead: Fry close to serving; they are best warm the same day.

Storage: Keep covered at room temperature for best quality, or refrigerate for up to a week. They freeze for about 1 month.

Leftovers: They are softest and crispest the day they are fried.

Food safety

  • The dough holds raw flour and raw egg: do not taste it before frying.
  • Use a deep, heavy pot filled no more than halfway, keep utensils dry, and never leave hot oil unattended.
  • Break open a test piece and keep frying if the center is still raw.
  • Let the doughnuts cool enough to handle; fresh from the oil they are very hot inside.

We make no statement about cross-contact in your kitchen or in packaged ingredients. Check the oil and yogurt labels.

Nutrition notes

Deep-fried dough absorbs some of the frying oil, which adds fat; draining on absorbent paper removes surface oil.

Self-rising flour already contains salt and leaveners, so most of the sodium comes from the flour rather than the pinch of salt.

We don't show nutrition claims (like “good source of”) until our legal review is done.

Swap notes

  • plain whole-milk yogurt · kosher.mainstream

    Works with changes

    Use: plain unsweetened pareve-certified soy or coconut yogurt

    What changes: Makes the doughnuts pareve, so they can follow a meat meal; fry in a pareve pot and oil.

    Not a swap: Dairy yogurt, if the doughnuts follow a meat meal.

  • plain whole-milk yogurt · halal.general

    Works with changes

    Use: plain yogurt without gelatin, halal-certified if preferred

    What changes: No change to the method.

    Not a swap: Yogurt thickened with gelatin of unstated source.

  • large eggs · hindu.lacto_vegetarian

    Not enough evidence yet

    Not a swap: No tested replacement for the eggs in this dough was found; we do not invent one.

  • large eggs · vegan

    Not enough evidence yet

    Not a swap: This dough needs both the yogurt and the eggs replaced, and no tested version was found.

  • self-rising flour · passover.ashkenazi

    Not recommended

    Not a swap: A wheat dough is chametz; this recipe belongs to Hanukkah, not Passover.

These notes don't change the amounts, allergens or nutrition shown for this recipe.

For your food tracker

Fields for MyFitnessPal and other trackers
Recipe url
https://isthebestrecipe.com/desserts/yogurt-doughnuts
Name
Yogurt Doughnuts
Servings
6
Recipe yield
6 servings
Recipe ingredient
about 4 cups self-rising flour, about 16 oz plain whole-milk yogurt from 8-ounce containers, 2 whole large eggs, 2 tbsp granulated sugar, 2 tbsp vanilla sugar, 1/8 tsp fine salt, about 12 cups vegetable oil for deep frying
Copy action wording
Copy recipe and estimated nutrition
Sources

Make it the best

Copy this recipe and make it your own. Change amounts, swap ingredients, rewrite steps. The original stays as it is.

Nutrition Values

Nutrition estimates aren’t available for this recipe yet.

Your notes

Kept on this device.

Return: https://isthebestrecipe.com/desserts/yogurt-doughnuts

Share recipe

Yogurt Doughnuts