These guilt-free homemade tallow-fried doughnuts are the ultimate treat and are so delicious. With a little more effort and time, you can make these homemade doughnuts fried in tallow (an animal fat) making them a better alternative than bakery doughnuts. Follow my instructions and you will be on your way to having a hot doughnut with glaze.
Fun fact: I was eliminated from a spelling bee in first grade because I misspelled doughnuts as ‘donuts’ haha. These doughnuts will take you back to the vintage ‘donut’ shop with their classic taste and old-fashioned ingredients.
Canola Oil vs Tallow
Modern doughnuts are unhealthy if bought in stores or at a doughnut shop. The culprit is doughnuts are fried in canola, soybean, or vegetable oil. Seed oils became the cheap substitute for animal fats in an industry that has been around since the early 1900s.
Before this, people were using beef & sheep tallow, or lard.
Deep-fried foods can be delicious and healthy for you too! Animal fats are saturated fats that are easy to digest and work better with our body systems. Seed oils clog up your arteries & make the body’s tissues plastic-like while they oxidize in your body. You can read more about why they are not healthy in this article.
Ingredients for Homemade Tallow-Fried Doughnuts
These nine simple ingredients are classic and come together so easily. It is not too yeast-y or too sweet, but just right for these easy-to-make doughnuts.
The yeast does a wonderful job of helping the dough rise to become nice and fluffy.
Warm milk will activate and feed the yeast
Sugar also will feed the yeast and fill your doughnuts with the perfect sweetness.
The melted butter helps make the dough dense and airy.
Vanilla, nutmeg, and salt will give the doughnuts a hint of flavor.
Farm Fresh Eggs will add more protein and help hold the ingredients together.
Organic all-purpose flour makes the dough soft, giving it structure.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Part 1. Making the Dough.
Activate your yeast by adding milk and sugar to the bowl with the yeast. Let the yeast sit for 5 min. or until foamy.
Mix all ingredients to prepare the dough. The dough will come together nicely by adding wet and then dry ingredients. Knead for a few minutes, not using too much extra flour. You still want the dough to be slightly sticky.
Let the dough rise covered for 2 hours or until doubled in size.
Part 2. Roll out the dough and make the doughnut cutouts. Once the dough has risen, uncover it, then take it out of the bowl. Punch it down to start flattening the dough.
With a rolling pin, spread the dough to form a large rectangle and roll out to 1/2 in. thick.
Use a doughnut cutter or any 3-in-diameter circle cutout, with a 1-in-diameter for the holes to shape them. (I have a doughnut cutter, but an alternative is a measuring cup and frosting tip).
Place the cutout doughnuts on a baking sheet lined with parchment and cover for 30 minutes while you set up the frying station. The more time the dough rises, the more fluffy it will be.
Part 3. Heat the grass-fed tallow in a Dutch oven or big pot for frying
Part 4. Fry the Doughnuts
Finally, to cook the doughnuts, dip the dough into the hot tallow and let it cook on each side for 2-3 minutes. Depending on how thick the dough is, it will need a longer time to cook.
Once they are a golden brown color, flip with a slotted spoon. Don’t wait to glaze the doughnuts when they are cool, make sure to glaze while still warm. Refer to the video below for a visual.
Glaze Flavors and Variations for Homemade Doughnuts:
There options are endless, but here are a few flavorful additions to the classic glaze. This list is similar and versatile to bagel toppings.
- Homemade Blueberry Glaze
- Huckleberry Glaze
- Maple Syrup Glaze
- Cane Sugar Coating
- Dipped in chocolate
Homemade Tallow Fried Doughnuts
These guilt-free doughnuts are the ultimate treat and are so delicious. With a little more effort and time, you can make these homemade doughnuts fried in tallow (an animal fat) making them a better alternative than bakery doughnuts.
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk, warmed to 110 degrees F.
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (7g)
- 1/3 cup cane sugar, divided
- 2 farm fresh eggs
- 6 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups organic all purpose flour
- 2 cups grass-fed tallow
- GLAZE:
- 1 cups powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Prepare Dough: Activate yeast by adding warm milk and 1 tablespoon sugar to the bowl with the yeast. Let the yeast sit for 5 min or until foamy.
- Add the wet ingredients (eggs, melted butter, vanilla) to the bowl with foamy yeast, then add dry ingredients (remaining sugar, nutmeg, salt, and 2 cups of flour).
- Knead Dough: Mix all together with a dough hook or mixer. Knead for 5 minutes with an electric mixer, or by hand. If kneading by hand, take the dough out of bowl and move onto a lightly floured surface. Be sure not to add extra flour. You still want the dough to be slightly sticky.
- Dough Rising: Add coconut oil or olive oil to the mixing bowl and place the dough back into greased bowl. Cover the bowl and allow it to rise in a semi-warm spot for 2 hours or until it doubles in size.
- Shape Dough into Doughnuts: When the dough has doubled in size, punch it out to flatten and release air. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it out with a rolling pin. The thickness of the dough should be 1/2 in thick. Use a doughnut cutter and place the cutout doughnuts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover the doughnuts & doughnut holes, then leave them to rise a bit more while the oil heats up.
- Fry the Doughnuts and Doughnut Holes: Scoop the tallow into the Dutch oven, and heat it up to 375 degrees F. Add 2 or 3 doughnuts at a time and cook each side for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Flip the doughnut with a slotted spoon. Adjust the temperature of the oil if needed. Make sure the larger and fluffier doughnuts are cooked thoroughly.
- Glaze the Doughnuts: Make the glaze by mixing all the glaze ingredients together with a wisk or by using an electric mixer. Dip the warm and cooked doughnuts into the glaze and turn to coat each side. Place on a cooling rack with the baking sheet under to catch the dripping glaze.
- Enjoy Doughnuts: Cool and enjoy! These will keep in an airtight container for a few days, but are best eaten warm and fresh.
Notes
Shop the Kitchen: Doughnut cutter.
To cook the doughnut holes, add 5 or 6 at a time and flip them. Dunk them in the glaze right after.
Oh my gosh these look amazing! Where do you recommend getting tallow if you don’t have cattle? Taljon will most certainly wanna try this recipe! Thanks CarliseBee!
You can buy grass-fed tallow from amazon! We buy this one: https://amzn.to/3TM2UJN
Thanks for sharing! Hope you enjoy!