Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Gluten-Free

Are you missing Krispy Kreme style donuts in your gluten free life? Have I got a treat for you then. You’re gonna FLIP over these incredible gluten free yeast donuts that are so much like Krispy Kreme, you’ll think you’re cheating on your gluten free self!!

4.23 from 181 votes

Prep Time 30 minutes mins Cook Time 3 minutes mins Chilling Time 8 hours hrs

Total Time8hours hrs 33minutes mins

Course Breakfast Cuisine American Servings24 donuts

Table of Contents

Ingredients

oil for deep frying (canola, vegetable, or melted shortening)

Sweet Dough

3½ cups (490g)
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
1¾ teaspoon baking powder
2 tbsp plus 1½ teaspoon (24g) instant yeast
2 tbsp (10g) whole psyllium husks (or 1½ tablespoon psyllium husk powder), optional (see notes)
1 teaspoon salt
1½ cups (360ml) whole milk (or dairy-free alternative)
¾ cup (169g) butter, very soft or melted (or dairy-free butter)
2 large eggs, at room temperature

Vanilla Glaze

2 cups (250 g) powdered sugar
4 tbsp (½ stick or 56 g) butter
4 tbsp (60 ml) whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Glaze

¼ recipe vanilla glaze (above) (you can just eyeball it)
¼ cup (25g) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon corn syrup
hot tap water by the tablespoon or more powdered sugar as needed to achieve the right thickness

Maple Glaze

¼ recipe vanilla glaze (above) (eyeball it)
2 tablespoon real maple syrup
¼ to ½ teaspoon maple extract (more or less to taste)

Strawberry Glaze

¼ recipe vanilla glaze (above) (eyeball it)
3-4 small strawberries, quartered
3-4 tablespoon freeze dried strawberries (just eyeball it–no need to get absolutely precise)
hot water or powdered sugar as necessary for achieving desired thickness

Cream Filling

Instructions

For the Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk first, followed by all the other ingredients. Using the dough hook, knead dough for 5 minutes on medium speed. Dough will be very sticky. Scrape dough into center of bowl and cover bowl. Refrigerate overnight for a cold proof (bulk fermentation).
Remove dough from the refrigerator and knead it on a well floured surface until smooth. Roll out to about ½-inch thick. Cut the dough with donut cutter dipped in flour, or biscuit/cookie cutter to make fillable donuts. Reroll scraps. Place donuts and holes on parchment squares on a baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free area until a little less than doubled in size.

Frying in Oil

When donuts are almost completely risen, heat the oil in a deep fryer or large heavy duty Dutch oven to 320-330° F. Carefully lower donuts, only a few at a time, into the oil, parchment and all (especially if they’re sticking to the parchment). Use tongs to remove the parchment from the oil. Fry for 1-2 minutes on each side (longer for donuts without a hole in the center).
Remove donuts from the oil and place onto a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Glaze or garnish and fill as desired. Donuts are best eaten fresh, but will keep for a day, well covered, and can be heated very briefly in the microwave (15 seconds or so).

Air Frying

Preheat air fryer to 350°F. Carefully place as many donuts as can fit in your air fryer in one layer, still on their parchment squares. “Fry” for 4 minutes (time may need adjusting depending on your specific air fryer.
Remove donuts from air fryer. Glaze or garnish and fill as desired. To add dry toppings, such as sugar, powdered sugar, or cinnamon sugar, first dunk donuts in melted butter so toppings will adhere.

For Vanilla Glaze:

In the microwave, melt butter with milk in a one-quart measuring cup or bowl. Add powdered sugar and vanilla, whisking constantly until a pourable consistency. Dunk donuts in the glaze as desired.

For Chocolate Glaze:

Add unsweetened cocoa powder and corn syrup to the vanilla glaze and whisk to combine fully. If too thick, add 1 tablespoon of hot top water at a time until smooth. If too thin, add more powdered sugar to thicken.

For Maple Glaze:

Add maple syrup and maple extract to vanilla glaze and stir or whisk to combine.

For Strawberry Glaze:

Add strawberries and freeze dried strawberries to vanilla glaze and use an immersion blender or regular blender to blend everything together. Adjust thickness by adding a tablespoon at a time of hot water for thinner glaze, or powdered sugar, a little bit at a time, for thicker glaze.

To Fill

Take a chopstick or something similar (the end of a wooden spoon or a long, skinny decorating tip) and puncture a hole on the side of the donut. Wiggle and move it around to create more space to fill the entire donut. Fill with jelly,

Notes

It is not absolutely necessary to use psyllium husks (whole or powder). You will still be able to roll out the dough and cut the donuts, but it will be a little bit stickier. To omit the psyllium husks, reduce the milk to 1 ¼ cups (300ml).

A Word on Sugar: The total amount of sugar for this entire recipe is one cup, which seems like a lot. However, the amount of yeast in this dough requires a lot of sugar to feed the yeast and to obtain the correct soft texture. If you reduce the sugar, you will NOT get the same texture to the final donuts. If you’re okay with this, then proceed. The amount of sugar is for the whole recipe, which I don’t suggest using all at once. The dough is so versatile, I strongly suggest using half for donuts (1 dozen) and keeping the other half in the fridge for another use (see within the post for several options). You may also halve the recipe, although then you won’t have another half of the dough in the fridge when you’re ready to make something else 🙂

For the above donut holes, I rolled them in a mixture of granulated sugar (about ¼ cup), ½ teaspoon cinnamon, and ¼ teaspoon cardamom (because I love cardamom). They’re almost like a chai-spiced donut hole!

***Per reader Lauren, these donuts can be made without refrigerating the dough and instead placing it in a piping bag and piping into a donut pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 15 minutes. Alternatively, they can be piped onto a sheet of parchment paper and placed in the freezer for about 10 minutes before frying as directed above.