Baked Strawberry Lemon Doughnuts

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Baked Strawberry Lemon Doughnuts are the doughnut embodiment of spring.

Springtime means bright, fresh, and fruity spring flavors – and this doughnut hits them all.

I love the sweet + tart flavor combination of strawberry & lemon SO much, and adding those flavors to a doughnut? Magic!

Most doughnuts need to be fried in order to achieve a fluffy, light texture – and I have lots of delicious fried doughnut recipes (like my Glazed Doughnut Recipe and my Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnut Recipe) … but this recipe achieves maximum fluffiness without a drop of oil!

These Baked Strawberry Lemon Doughnuts are so vibrant and pretty without any artificial food coloring. Feel free to add some cute lemon-shaped sprinkles to the glaze for extra fun!

Sprinkle of Science

How to Make Baked Strawberry Lemon Donuts

How to Make Perfect Doughnut Dough

• Since we’re baking and not frying this Baked Strawberry Lemon Doughnut dough, it’s key that the dough lends richness on its own, so I’ve added butter, egg yolks, and cream. Those ingredients help create a texture that’s as close to fried bakery doughnuts as possible, but without the use of oil.
• Those ingredients also slow down rising time, so be patient. It took 2 hours to double in size for the first rise in my kitchen, but it may take more or less time depending on how warm and/or humid your kitchen is.
• Whatever you do, avoid adding too much extra flour to this dough. You can see from the photo below what the texture should look like. It needs to be fairly sticky. Don’t worry, as the dough rises, the flour will absorb some of that moisture and the dough will become less sticky and easier to work with.

Tips for Cutting & Shaping Doughnuts

• Use a doughnut cutter to make quick and easy work of shaping the doughnuts.
• Avoid twisting the cutter to release the dough.
• Sprinkling some flour on the cutter can help prevent sticking.
• If you don’t have a doughnut cutter, you can also use a larger + a smaller biscuit cutter, or anything else you can find (piping tips, or even a bottle cap) to make that classic shape.

Do I Have to Use Instant Yeast for These Donuts? Can I Use Active Dry Yeast Instead?

Yes, you can use active dry yeast in this Baked Strawberry Lemon Donuts recipe. If you don’t have or can’t find instant yeast, you can easily use active dry yeast instead. Simply combine it with the warm liquid called for in the recipe and allow it to proof for 5 minutes before adding into the bowl with the other ingredients.

Note that instant yeast is sometimes labeled as rapid-rise or quick-rise yeast. These types of yeast are specifically formulated to allow you to skip proofing (aka the step where you combine the yeast with warm liquid for 5 minutes). You can add instant yeast directly into the mix with all of the ingredients.

Most yeast products are formulated to ensure your success in the kitchen, so unless you kill the yeast by exposing it to liquid that’s way too hot, you should be just fine. The dough may just take longer to rise.

The Strawberry Glaze

This glaze uses freeze-dried strawberries to give it that strawberry flavor and color without any food coloring. If you’d like more lemon flavor, replace some of the water in the glaze with lemon juice!

Where to Find Freeze-Dried Strawberries

Find freeze-dried strawberries near the other dried fruit in the grocery store. I find them reliably at Target (under the Simple Balanced brand name) and Trader Joe’s, and they’re also easily available on Amazon here.

If you’re crushing the strawberries by hand, you may need to add more freeze-dried strawberries to color the glaze and add enough flavor, as the powder won’t be as fine and more of it will get stuck in the strainer than inside the glaze itself.

How to Add More Strawberry Flavor

I didn’t add any chopped strawberries to this dough because I found it negatively affected the texture and baking subdued the strawberry flavor too much to make it worthwhile. If you want an extra punch of strawberry, try adding a touch of strawberry extract to the glaze. Alternatively, you could add some strawberry liqueur to the glaze for a more adult doughnut, or you could even fill your doughnuts with strawberry jam! The options are endless.

Do I Have to Use Corn Syrup?

No, you can leave it out. It simply helps to create that ultra-shiny ‘donut shoppe’-style glaze. You could also replace with golden syrup if you’d prefer.

How to Make Baked Strawberry Lemon Donuts Ahead of Time

You can let the Baked Strawberry Lemon Donut dough rise for the first time for about 24 hours in the fridge. These doughnuts are best enjoyed the day they’re baked and become stale very quickly, so keep that in mind!

More Doughnut Recipes You’ll Love:

• Classic Glazed Doughnuts
• Champagne Doughnuts
• Cream Cheese Stuffed Baked Doughnuts
• Classic Cake Doughnuts
• Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts

How to Make

Baked Strawberry Lemon Doughnuts

By: Tessa Arias

4.80 from 5 votes

Yield: 12 to 15 doughnuts + doughnut holes

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Rising time: 3 hours hrs

Cook Time: 12 minutes mins

Total Time: 3 hours hrs 42 minutes mins

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Baked Strawberry Lemon Doughnuts are made with a yeasted dough but baked for the best fluffy texture without frying! Topped with a beautiful naturally colored strawberry glaze.

Ingredients 

For the doughnuts:

• ▢ 1/2 cup warm water (about 90 – 95°F)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) instant yeast
• ▢ 4 large egg yolks
• ▢ 1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (335 grams) all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• ▢ 4 tablespoons (57 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ▢ 1/4 cup heavy cream, at room temperature

For the strawberry glaze:

• ▢ 3 cups (375 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
• ▢ 1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup or golden syrup
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon strawberry extract, optional
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups (30 grams) freeze-dried strawberries, finely crushed and sifted*
• ▢ 1/4 to 1/2 cup hot water

Instructions

Make the doughnuts:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the water, zest, vanilla, yeast, eggs, and sugar. Gradually add in the flour then salt, stirring until absorbed. Attach the dough hook. Add the butter and cream and knead on medium speed for 6 to 8 minutes, or until a smooth sticky dough forms. Avoid adding too much additional flour, the dough will become less sticky as it rises. Remove the dough to a greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• Roll the dough out on a floured surface until it’s just over a ½-inch in thickness. Cut out about 12 doughnuts from the dough with a flour-dusted doughnut cutter, rerolling the dough scraps as needed. Place on large baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing at least a few inches apart. Cover and allow to rise until puffy, about 30 to 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the doughnuts for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly golden and puffed.

Make the glaze:

• Mix all ingredients in a bowl with a whisk until smooth, adding just enough water to make the glaze smooth and pourable but still very thick. Dip each doughnut into the glaze. Place glazed doughnuts on a wire rack above a lined sheet pan to catch any excess glaze. Let set for about 30 minutes before serving. Doughnuts are best served the day they’re baked.

Show us!If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a picture and share it on Instagram with #handletheheat so we can all see!

Recipe Notes

Find freeze-dried strawberries near the other dried fruit in the grocery store, or online here. Finely crush in a food processor, blender, or by hand with a mallet.

More tips on the doughnut dough, glaze, baking, and storage can be found in the Tip Box in the full post above.

Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.