Krispy Kreme Copycat Donut Recipe
This Krispy Kreme donut recipe creates melt-in-your-mouth donuts that you’ll savor every single bite of. Much like the original, this copycat recipe is topped with a lightly sweet glaze that rounds out the donut perfectly.
If you are in the mood to make donuts, you may also like my simple homemade sugar donuts, this quick fried donut recipe, or even my 15-minute ricotta donuts.
Copycat Krispy Kreme Donut Recipe
I call this a copycat recipe, but I need to be honest with you all…these donuts are better than the original. Way better, in my opinion!
It took some trial and error to get this donut to have that true Krispy Kreme flavor. I will usually make my donuts with butter in the dough, but to nail this copycat recipe I swapped it out for shortening. After another trial round (my job is so hard!) I thought it was still missing something and I finally figured out what it was.
Rather than fry these in oil, this copycat Krispy Kreme donut recipe should be fried in Crisco. Sure, if you don’t have Crisco on hand you can use oil, but if you really want that classic Krispy Kreme flavor, you’ll want to use Crisco.
Every bite of this copycat Krispy Kreme donut recipe fills your mouth with fluffy yeast donut. Just like the ones in the shop, these donuts are best when they are still slightly warm.. Yes, your fingers will probably get slightly sticky from the glaze, but it’s totally worth it!
Krispy Kreme Donut Glaze Recipe
Let’s be honest. The other part of what makes these donuts so completely irresistible is the glaze. This Krispy Kreme donut glaze recipe is super simple to make. It’s certainly sweet, but not overpoweringly so. When combined with the yeasty, airy donut, the glaze adds sweetness and flavor.
Plus, the Krispy Kreme donut glaze recipe only has three simple ingredients: confectioners’ sugar, milk, and light corn syrup. Make sure to get the light kind, because the dark syrup will make this glaze taste totally different from the original!
The best way I have found to get these donuts glazed properly is to put the glaze in a shallow bowl. Once the donuts have come out of the oven and cooled enough that the glaze won’t just slide off, you can use tongs to submerge half of the donut into the glaze. Flip it glaze side up, and let it sit on a cooling rack for a few minutes before enjoying it!
How to Make the Krispy Kreme Donut Recipe
For detailed recipe instructions see the recipe card bottom of the post.
Making this Krispy Kreme donut recipe has two separate parts: the donut, then the glaze. Here’s how to make each.
Make the Dough
- Proof the yeast and let it rise until doubled in volume.
- Make the donut dough by mixing together the ingredients and kneading with a dough hook in a stand mixer until the dough is tacky.
- Roll the dough into a ball, then place it into a greased bowl. Let it proof again for 1-2 hours until doubled in volume.
- Punch down the dough on a nonstick, greased surface and roll it out. Then cut out rounds with a donut cutter and set them aside. Take the remaining dough and roll it out once more, then cut out more rounds. Continue until you are not able to cut any more disks out.
- Cover the cut donuts and allow them to rise until they have doubled in size – about one hour.
- Heat Crisco or another shortening or vegetable oil in a pan to 350 degrees. Then carefully drop in the donuts and fry them.
- Let cool on a rack.
Make the Glaze
- Meanwhile, make the glaze by mixing together the sugar, light corn syrup, and milk.
- Once the donuts are cool enough to handle, glaze them in a shallow bowl, then allow them to dry on a wire rack.
- Eat while warm. Enjoy!
Scroll to the bottom for the full recipe with precise ingredient amounts.
More Breakfast Dessert Recipes
Krispy Kreme Donut Recipe
This Krispy Kreme donut recipe tastes just like the original! You'll be amazed at how simple it is to put together this dough to create an airy donut that's topped with a light glaze.
Ingredients
Combine together
- 2½ tsp active dry yeast
- 2 Tbsp warm water
- 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
Mix with a mixer
- 3¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk warm
- 2 oz shortening
- 3 large egg yolks
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
For glaze
- 2 1/2 cup confections sugar
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
For frying
- 4-5 cups Crisco shortening or vegetable oil
Instructions
How to make this Krispy Kreme donut recipe
-
Proof yeast: Stir 2 tbsp warm water, 1/2 tsp sugar & 2 1/2tsp active dry yeast in a tall glass. Leave to rise for 5-10 minutes or until doubled in volume and foamy. If it does not rise and foam up, discard the yeast and buy a fresh batch of yeast before you proceed with the recipe.
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Make donut dough: Mix together 3 1/4 cups flour, 1 cup warm milk, 2 oz shortening, 3 yolks, 2 tbsp sugar and the proofed yeast mixture in mixer on low speed, with the dough hook attachment until the dough comes together, about 2 minutes. Slightly increase the speed and knead for another 15-20 minutes or until the dough is tacky to touch.
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Shape donut dough: Pick up the dough, form it into a ball. Butter a large bowl (for proofing), place the dough ball back in the greased bowl, then grease the dough ball itself to prevent it from forming a crust.
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Proof: Cover with a clean kitchen towel, place in a warm draft-free place and allow to rise for 1-2 hours (depending on how warm it is) until at least doubled in volume.
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Cut out 5"x5" squares of parchment or wax paper.
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Punch down the dough, turn it out onto the greased surface (can use nonstick spray) and roll it to ½ inches thickness. Cut out as many rounds as possible with a 3 inch round cookie cutter and place 1 dough disk on 1 piece of prepared parchment paper. Keep re-rolling and cutting out as many donut disks as you can until all donut dough is used up.
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Cover cut out doughnuts with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise for 45 min to 1 hour or until doubled in size.
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Heat 4-5 cups of Crisco shortening or vegetable oil in a heavy pot (cast iron) to 350F. To fry donuts, drop several of them at a time and allow to become golden before turning to the other side, about 1-2 minutes per side.
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Transfer to paper towels or wire rack to drain. Let cool.
Make the glaze
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Mix together 2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, 1/4 cup milk, and 1/4 cup of light corn syrup.
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Once the doughnuts are cool enough to handle, drizzle the donut glaze on top or dip the top half of the donut in and let it drip off on a wire rack.
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Marina | Let the Baking Begin
Only thing recipe is missing is salt, added 1/2 tsp.
Easy to follow but I’m afraid I may have made some technical errors. Some of my smaller doughnut holes puffed up nicely but my larger doughnuts are more flat and dense. Maybe should have let them rise a bit more after cutting? Oil temp was fairly consistent. Not sure where I went wrong. Taste is good though! Sugared some. Iced some. Filled some.
Krispy Kreme fries their doughnuts in soybean oil.
Darn it! My donuts came out dark and burned. I used a candy thermometer & temp was 350. Could I have used too much Crisco? They cooked very quickly and turned dark brown in seconds. A disappointment but I always have difficulty deep frying stuff. I’ll try again sometime, though.
Hi Richard,
Sorry to hear about trouble you had with donuts 🙁
I wonder if your thermometer’s temperature is off somehow? Is it a digital or a mercury thermometer? Did you keep the thermometer in the oil the whole time while it was frying and adjust the heat/flame accordingly?
I don’t think the reason could be that there’s too much Crisco. Did you make any substitutions or changes to the dough recipe or technique at all?
Hi Marina
You’re probably right about that thermometer. I filled your instructions to the letter so I’ll try making them again after I pick one up.
Thanks very much!
I don’t understand the directions about the donuts coming out of the oven
Quick question if I may. I live in Switzerland and there’s no Crisco sold here (for the shortening in the recipe) so I was wondering if I can use what they call saindoux over here. It’s lard (animal fat, white and solid like Crisco).
Trying to get the donuts as authentic as possible since they don’t sell them over here either:) Craving a taste of home!
Hi Tonia, yes you can replace Crisco with lard. Hope this helps!~
I believe I let my dough rise to long, however my question is can I add vanilla to this recipe?
Yes, a teaspoon of vanilla extract would do well in this recipe.
Hi can i use butter instead of shortening?
You can, but the texture will be a little different. Not bad, just different.
I was wondering, can I substitute light corn syrup with something else, perhaps more healthier?
Thank you!
You should be able to substitute it for honey or agave
Tried this today and it was so fun! Just have one question: will this work with gluten-free flour? I have celiac and cannot have donuts, and have especially missed Krispy Kreme donuts. I tried it with GF flour and found that my donuts were not light and airy, but quite dense. This very well may be due to over-proofing (my dough rose slowly as my home is a little cold, so I left the donuts to rise for 2 1/2 hours, which was probably too long). Just wanted to know your thoughts are on taking a GF spin on this recipe?
Hi Mae,
I don’t have any experience baking with gluten free flour, so can’t give you any advice at all 🙁
No worries! Thank you so much for your response and for this recipe <3
Did not make yet because I don’t know what type of crisco.
You do mean frying oil crisco and not shortening right?
Crisco makes several types of oil, and even butter and sprays.
What type of crisco do you fry them in?
And does it have to be crisco? Can it be other peanut or frying oils ie: sunflower?
Hi David, I’ve updated the post with clarification on this. Basically, you can use any vegetable shortening or vegetable oil for frying, doesn’t have to be Crisco brand, but that is what I used. Yes, you can use peanut or any other frying oil.
wow dave, one star because you don’t understand something? seems a bit harsh
First, let me say..I love your site. Your recipes and detailed instructions with pics are drool worthy! (Did I mention I’m coming to live with you guys to be your test. taster). My question for you is this: do you have any idea of how to make the white, light Kreme similar to Krispy Kreme and other bakeries that fill their eclairs and/or doughnuts with that white, sweet, light filling? It’s not just whipped cream, but it’s not the heavy sugary type icings.?.. Just know if someone knows how to make that, it’s you! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks for all of your wonderful posts!
Dee
Hi Dee! Thank you, so much! You’re just too kind, I appreciate it greatly!
I have not attempted to make the white cream for the donuts, but know which one you’re talking about. I did a little search on the net and looking at this recipe and knowing what the cream at Krispy Kreme tastes like, it seems like this recipe would produce something like the filling you’re talking about. I haven’t tried this recipe, but I would start with this one and tweak it to make it to your liking after. https://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/272/Dunken_Doughnuts_Vanilla_Fille54426.shtml
Hi… made these doughnuts tonight as a tester and they are brilliant! They are so so perfect… I want to make a big batch tomorrow and then serve it the next day? How should I go about doing that? Will they stay nice and fresh? How do I do it?
Hi… made these doughnuts tonight as a tester and they are brilliant! They are so so perfect… I want to make a big batch tomorrow and then serve it the next day? How should I go about doing that? Will they stay nice and fresh? How do I do it?
THANKS
You might also try a “mock whipped cream icing,” also sometimes called “ermine frosting” – it is a little bit different type of recipe. Flour and milk are cooked to a pudding-like consistency and then allowed to cool to room temperature, then beaten (stand mixer with the whisk attachment works best) with granulated sugar, softened butter, and vanilla until fluffy. It’s the closest thing in taste and consistency to Krispy Kreme’s kreme filling I can think of.
OMG see. I know what your talking about and I absolutely LOVE it.
I’m going to try and recreate it today. It’s not creme patisserie, it’s like really light pure white sugary cream is that right???
From the description, yes, it sounds like it’s the really white and sugar cream. Let me know if you try it, I’d love to know if it’s the one.
They’re so goooooddd
Best donuts
Excellent
Really bummed out with the taste of these doughnuts:(
My hubby and son said the dough tasted nothing like doughnuts at the chain bakeries; too yeasty tasting. I made them, glazed them, and filled a few. They were pretty, just not what we were hoping to end up with. Hubby thinks the dough would make a better savory recipe, but “no go” for doughnuts.
Thank you for your honest review, 3boys3.
I wonder if something didn’t go the way it was supposed to because you mention “yeasty” taste, which these donuts should not have. This usually happens when the dough has been overproofed (risen more than 2 1/2 times the original volume). When any yeast dough overproofs, the dough smells and tastes yeasty and the texture of the baked good is compromised. Instead of uniform small air pockets, the donuts would have larger pockets, many of which collapsed and which causes it the donuts to be on the denser side.
I was thinking about what you said could have been the issue for my doughnuts being too dense inside, and tasting yeasty. I have MS and have to keep the inside of the house quite cool! Because of the temp in the house, I turned the oven on the lowest temp setting for about 1 minute, then placed the covered bowl in the oven for 2 hrs. (We had an errand to run, normally I’m present the entire time of the rising.) After reading your suggestions, I think it could well be the dough overproofed. I’m going to try your recipe again, and stay put:)! I’ve bought different doughnuts(Krispy Kreme, Dunkin, and a local bakery), and slowly pulled pieces of the doughnuts apart to taste carefully to see if I tasted any yeast…I don’t. And the fluffy airiness of the doughnuts have to have yeast to have the lite and fluffy texture..BUT, I have hope that it was a technical
error, leaving the house while it was riding and most likely, too long. I greatly appreciate your answering my message and providing me insight as to possible errors. Is there any other way you would recommend I get my dough to rise?…or do it as I did and just keep an eye on it and remove once risen. It could have risen enough in an hour or maybe even less.. it’s all making sense …oops:)
Forgot to say, after turning oven on for about a minute, turned it off, then put the dough in oven.
Yeah, 2 hours might’ve just been a bit too long for a warm oven.
For a warm oven, about 1 hour is plenty.
In the future, if you ever need to leave somewhere before the dough gets a chance to fully rise, you can punch it down and put it in the fridge, and then come back and remove it to a warm spot and allow it to double in size.
Yep!
You were dead on correct!
The less rise time yielded the fluffy doughnuts one desires and no yeast taste! Yay!!
Thank you so much!
Dee
Awesome! Love hearing back from you! Let me know if you have any other questions.
I have made these and they are delicious
Sooo, shortening for both butter and oil?
Yum!
Wow these look amazing!
Thank you Bernadine!
How do I use fresh yeast instead of dry yeast
She means buy fresh (new) dry active yeast. If your yeast is not fresh (old) it will not activate. So just go buy a new jar of active dry yeast. Hope this helps. 🙂
Here is the conversion ratio for fresh yeast. Fresh yeast meaning fresh cake yeast. For dry active yeast you generally need to use half the quantity of fresh yeast stated in the recipe and for instant yeast you need to use 1/4 of the quantity of fresh yeast. So if the recipe has 30g (1 ounce) fresh yeast then you can use 15g (1/2 ounce) active dry yeast or 7g (1/4 ounce) instant yeast instead.Sep 3, 2010
Absolutely informative. Thanks.. Truly appreciate your divine recipes. God bless you ✝️
Thank you so much, Anthea!
Sounds easy, can’t wait to try this recipe with my daughters. Will be our first time making homemade glazed doughnuts. Thank you for sharing!