While making a homemade fried gluten free doughnut recipe is not difficult, there are a few secret must-dos when it comes to making traditional fried doughnuts. When you get it right, no one would ever know that these yummy, light and airy doughnuts were gluten free!
Follow my tips to ensure your doughnuts aren’t dense, soggy or oily (ew!).
Don’t tell your friends, but it’s actually easy to make a great gluten free doughnut, you just need the right ingredients and these easy no-fail frying tips!
Gluten Free Fried Doughnut No Fail Tips
The most basic and most important, is to use the right gluten free flour. Using a gritty rice-based flour will leave you with a gritty gluten free doughnut (yuck!) and using a heavy flour will make your doughnuts more like bricks.
My award-winning gfJules™ Flour will get them light and fluffy, just like you want them.
Second, don’t overwork your dough. Mix until incorporated, and then make your doughnut shapes and set aside to rise without futzing too much with the dough after that.
Third, your oil must be consistently heated to the proper temperature. The sweet spot is generally 325F, but you’ll need a fry thermometer to know for sure — I go into this more in the instructions, so pay attention!
And fourth, finish with mouth-watering glaze, powdered or granulated sugar, chocolate or sprinkles … any way YOU like it, anytime YOU want a great gluten free doughnut!
Variations on Gluten Free Doughnuts
The beauty of baking a gluten free doughnut yourself — in addition to being able to satisfy a true donut craving any time you have one — is that you can make them just the way you like them.
For example, celebrate May Day by honoring the tradition of Finnish Munkki: just add 1 teaspoon ground cardamom to gfJules Flour in this donut recipe and voilà! Happy May Day!
And mark your calendar for June 2 — it’s National Donut Day (can’t miss that)! Or just make Donut Day any ol’ day you need an excuse to bake happy!
These gluten free doughnuts are really so easy to make, there’s no time like TODAY to make your day better with a doughnut!
I’ve given you some fun glaze options, or you can make an easy jam or cream-filled doughnut or Boston Cream filled doughnut (use my Boston Cream filling from this recipe). A simple powdered sugar dusting or glaze and sprinkles … any combination is delish with a great doughnut!
Need more gluten free doughnut ideas? Try baked donuts and get your donut fix without the oil. Hop over to one of my favorite recipes, Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie Doughnuts!
Feeling chocolatey? Take on my Gluten Free Chocolate-Zucchini Donuts! Or healthier Gluten Free Donut Holes made with protein and coffee! Or search for lots of other fun Gluten Free Donut Holes recipes and others on my site – just use the search bar at the top of each page.)
Or try this recipe in an air fryer — it works beautifully! Check them out!
(If you’d like to make a New Orleans gluten free donut, aka Beignets, hop to my Gluten Free Beignet recipe! And just for fun, how ’bout Gluten Free Apple Fritters? They qualify as a doughnut, right?!)
All right already – time to make the donuts!
If you love this recipe and don’t want to miss any other yummy ones, be sure to follow me on your favorite social media: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or on Instagram — and hashtag #gfJules or tag @gfJules – I love seeing your yummy recipes, too!
Gluten Free Fried Doughnut Recipe
Gluten Free Donut Recipe
The beauty of baking a gluten free doughnut yourself -- in addition to being able to satisfy a true donut craving any time you have one -- is that you can make them just the way you like them. Fry in oil or bake in an air fryer!
Ingredients
Doughnuts
- 3 2/3 cups (500 gr.) gfJules™ All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom (if making as Finnish Munkki for May Day)
- 1/4 cup shortening (I like Spectrum® Palm Oil Shortening)
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk (or egg substitute)
- 1 cup milk (dairy or non-dairy)
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons vanilla paste or 5 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 Tablespoon rapid rise yeast (or 4 packages rapid rise yeast, 1/4 oz. each) – Red Star® Quick Rise Yeast
- High heat vegetable oil, for frying
- Confectioner’s sugar for dusting or prepared glaze recipes (below)
Glazes / Toppings
- 1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 2-3 Tablespoons milk (dairy or non-dairy)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon milk (dairy or non-dairy)
- 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder (optional - for chocolate frosting)
- 1 Tablespoon chocolate syrup (optional - for chocolate frosting)
- 1/2 teaspoon beet powder (optional - for pink glaze)
- gluten-free sprinkles (optional)
Cream Filling**
- 1/3 cup whipping cream (or choose a vegan option from here)
- 1-2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup cream cheese (or choose a vegan option from here)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add 1 cup gfJules Flour, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and shortening. Beat until the shortening is integrated into a mixture resembling small pebbles.
- Warm milk to just above body temperature (approximately 100°F) by heating in a small saucepan or in a microwave for 1 minute. Add vanilla paste, 1 tablespoon of sugar and yeast. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- After five minutes at rest, and when the yeast mixture has begun to bubble and rise, gently stir into the flour mixture with the eggs (whisk together first before adding). Add remaining gfJules Flour, 1 cup at a time, until the dough is firm but slightly sticky.
- Lightly flour a clean countertop or pastry mat with gfJules™ Flour. Transfer the dough and pat it into a flat disk shape, then gently roll out to 1/2 inch-thick.
- To make donuts, flour (with gfJules Flour) a large round cutter (2-inches or larger) and press into the rolled dough. Use a small round cookie cutters to cut out the middles.
- To make donut holes, use a 1-inch or smaller size cookie cutter. Gently press scraps of dough together to re-cut so that all the dough is used.
- To make donut holes, roll each cut circle lightly between your palms until it is shaped like a ball. Once cut or rolled, place donuts onto baking sheets lined with parchment and cover with another sheet or parchment.
- Place in a warm location or oven turned on to 200°F and turned off. (Place a pot of boiling water in the oven with the dough to help the rise.) Allow the donuts to rise for at least 30 minutes.
To Fry:
- In a large saucepan, heat 2 inches of vegetable oil to 335-350°. Add 3 or 4 donuts at a time, adjusting the heat to keep the oil between 325° and 350°. Use a candy or fry thermometer to be sure of the temperature.
- Fry the donuts until golden brown, flipping so both sides are cooked. This process can take less than 1 minute total with these yeasted doughnuts, so watch closely to ensure they are not over or under-cooked.
- Remove cooked donuts with a slotted spoon and let drain on a wire rack. If rolling in sugar, do so while the donuts are still hot; if using glazes, allow donuts to cool first.
To Air Fry:
- Set the machine to Air Fry at 350F and turn the timer on to start the machine (with my Cuisinart Air Fryer/Toaster Oven the timer must be running for the Air Fry setting to turn on). Put the baking tray on the pan onto rack position 2 (or follow instructions on your air fryer model).
- After about 4 minutes, take the doughnuts out — that’s it! They should be lightly browned and fully cooked inside. The first batch I let cook for 5 minutes, and it was a touch too long. I’m sure it depends on the size of your doughnut holes, but you don’t want them to get too brown or crunchy.
Glaze:
- To make glaze, whisk ingredients together in a small saucepan over low heat. Once integrated and warmed, dunk donuts into the glaze and set aside on a cooling rack covered with wax paper.
- To make chocolate glaze, whisk ingredients together until thick but still spreadable. Dip the tops of donuts into the glaze, then set aside on a cooling rack covered with wax paper until glaze is set. Add more or less milk or sugar until the consistency is right.
Cream-Filled:
- Beat whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy in a medium-sized bowl using an electric mixer with whisk attachment(s).
- In a separate bowl, whip cream cheese until creamy, then fold into the whipped cream mixture.
- To fill the donuts, once the doughnuts are fried and cooled, fit a large opening metal icing tip onto a pastry bag and fill with jam, preserves, frosting or cream as you withdraw the tip. Push the metal tip into the side of the donut hole almost into the middle, and squeeze the jam or cream inside the donut. For larger donuts, insert a pastry bag fitted with a long metal tip into the middle, then squeeze filling as you withdraw the tip.
As with any fried donut, these are best when enjoyed the day you make them.*
Notes
*If you don't intend to enjoy all the doughnuts the day they're made, don't glaze the any you're saving for another day. The glaze won't keep well. Store leftovers at room temperature for up to 2 days.
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Which Egg substitute do you think would work best for these?
Hi Catilin, I think my first try would be aquafaba. I really like how light it is and still provides stretch and viscosity. Here are some others if you’d like to take a look, though.
~jules
Hi Jules I am allergic to yeast. Is there a way to make the donuts without yeast in it? They look so delicious and I miss eating them. Thank you
Hi Charlotte, there are lots of different kinds of doughnuts/donuts, and not all have yeast. I would steer you towards my recipes that were developed for donuts without yeast, as I think you’ll have more success with those than trying to make a yeast-free recipe without yeast. Those donuts are not fried, btw. Use the search bar and search “donuts” and you’ll come up with lots of recipes, just cull through them and find the ones that don’t call for yeast in the first place — there are lots of delicious choices! Here’s the search done for you linked here. ENJOY!
~jules
I was so intimidated to try GF donuts but my husband was really hoping to recreate a childhood bakery favorite, marshmallow donuts, for his birthday. This recipe (and your flour) made it so easy! I still can’t believe how well they turned out! Thank you!
Oh my gosh, Robin, those look like a giant box of gluten free donut PERFECTION!!!!!! I think I’m going need a birthday RE-DO and have these donuts instead!! WOW!!! Happy birthday to your hubby and congrats on bringing back a childhood favorite for him, gluten-free, as such a sweet birthday gift!
~jules
Hi Robin! Those donuts look PHENOMENAL! Did you fry them or put in air fryer? What is in the filling?? Marshmallow sounds DELICIOUS.
These were ok. I was a disappointed that they did not rise higher. I let them rise for about 45 minutes in a 75°F kitchen. I was really hoping for a light texture. This turned out heavier and denser that I wanted. There is no way you could have piped jelly into them. So continues my quest to find a perfect gf donut!
Hi Rebecca, were you using my gfJules Flour?
~jules
Do you know approximately how many doughnut holes this recipe makes?
Hi Carolyn, it’s about 2 dozen. Enjoy!
~jules
Thank you. I’m going to try these one of these days.
I know you’ll love it, Carolyn!
~jules
YUM!!!!!!
So good and tasty!!!!😃😃😃
So glad you loved these gluten free doughnuts, Lousia!!!
~jules
I made gluten-free pączki (pronounced pohnch-kee) for Fat Thursday using Jules doughnut recipe. I used butter instead of shortening. Added lemon zest to the batter and sprinkled with powdered sugar instead of glazing. Filled with strawberry jam.
So good! I’m looking forward to making them again.
Those look FANTASTIC, AmyJo! I can’t wait to try it your way — now you have me craving gluten free jelly doughnuts!!!! Thanks so much for sharing your photo and modifications!
~jules
How can I make these without using your flour? Your mix has corn starch and corn flour which my son is allergic to.
Hi Angela, check out this article on using alternative flours and my recommendations. I hope that helps!
~jules
Hi Jules, just wondering about air frying. you mentioned 4 minutes for the donut holes, have you tried air frying the donuts and if so for how long? Thank you
Hi Bernadette, I haven’t air fried full sized doughnuts yet, but they shouldn’t take much longer. The size of the doughnut is the variable, so I’d say bake one first to get the timing just right and then you’ll know what you need for the full batch. Let me know how it goes!
~jules
Any way to make these chocolate? I can’t find a fried GF chocolate donut recipe.
Well these were freaking delicious. They didn’t rise much. Then I realized I only added 1/4 of the required yeast. How embarrassing. Will attempt again.
Freaking delicious when only 1/4 of the required yeast was added is pretty freaking great! I can’t wait to hear how like them with all the yeast!!!
~jules
These tasted like fried bread chunks. Recipe worked well but I will have to adjust things if I make it again.
Hmmmm. Wonder what went wrong? Did you make any ingredient substitutions? Did you measure the temperature of your oil?
~jules
I just finished making them and they turned out like a sweet bread too. I made some in the air fryer and the rest deep fried. I followed the recipe to the T. I may need to try them again tomorrow because I am now determined to get a donut. 😕
Can the dough be made the night before and kept in the fridge?
Hi Dena, it can! Just let it come closer to room temp before working with it the next day. Enjoy!
~jules
I’m allergic to vanilla…. What can I use instead????
Hi Heather, any other extract you can tolerate and you like the taste of will work fine instead. It’s purely for flavor, so make it flavored the way you like it!
~jules
You totally won me over with that dripping icing! But the dough itself looks so perfect too. Might need to venture making these.
I know — glazed doughnuts are SO hard to resist!!!
~jules