Easy and Cute Heart Shaped Donuts
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These Valentine’s Day Heart Donuts are the a delicious and cute treat. These heart-shaped donuts are deliciously easy to make and look so festive on a brunch or dessert table.
Whether you’re making them for a romantic breakfast, a fun kids’ treat, or a Galentine’s brunch, these homemade donuts are sure to impress.
These donuts are baked instead of fried, making them an easy and quick prep option. Serve them with a hot cup of coffee or a glass of milk, and you’ve got a beautiful Valentine’s dessert everyone will love.
Be sure to save this recipe—you’ll want to make these every year!
Why Make These?
This heart-shaped donut recipe makes a fun treat for so many occaisions Not only are these great for Valentine’s day, they are also nice for a date night, engagement party or a bridal shower.
These donuts are made with a very simple doughnut dough and the help of a piping tube, so there’s no need for special molds. Plus, this is a no-yeast recipe, making it even easier to whip up in no time.
Ingredients
For the Donuts:
- whole milk
- unsalted butter, cubed
- granulated sugar
- all purpose flour
- eggs
For the Vanilla Glaze:
- powdered sugar – also known as confectioners’ sugar
- milk
- vanilla extract
- festive sprinkles
- Optional: Pink food color to make pink icing. I recommend using a pink gel food coloring
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
For a fun chocolate treat, Make these chocolate icing by melting some chocolate chips. You can also try a maple, or lemon glaze by adding flavors.
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How to Make Heart Donuts
Step 1 – In a saucepan, combine wet ingredients. Add flour and if desired, transfer to a large mixing bowl. Cover bowl in plastic wrap and chill.
Step 2 – Remove dough from refrigerator and transfer to a piping bag with star piping tip. Pipe into a heart shape on a slotted spoon and place in fryer. Fry each donut until golden brown and drain on a paper towel.
Step 3 – Prepare icing in mixing bowl.
Step 4 – Mix icing until blended.
Step 3 – Ice each donut and top with festive sprinkles. Let set on a wire rack (with pan or paper underneath it to catch overflow).
Serving and Storage Suggestions
Store these donuts with a hot cup of coffee or tea or a glass of milk. These are delicious for a dessert or mid-morning snack.
Store leftovers in an airtight container.
Timesaving Tips
- Baking time may vary by oven. Our oven-baked donuts need to be baked for ten to twelve minutes until they turn golden brown or a cake tester inserted into the donut comes out clean. If you lightly press on a finished donut it will bounce back and retain its shape instead of having a finger indentation
- Don’t overmix. Mix ingredients just until combined.
- Don’t skip the cooling step. And use a wire rack to allow air to circulate and around the donuts.
More Heart-Shaped Dessert Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Heart Donuts
Equipment
- Bowl
- star piping tip
- piping tube
- Wire Rack
Ingredients
For the Doughnut Dough:
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 large eggs
For the Vanilla Glaze:
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Optional: Pink gel food colorin
Instructions
Prepare Donuts
- In a medium saucepan, combine water, milk, butter, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and add the flour all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan (about 2 minutes).
- Remove from heat and let the dough cool for 5 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a mixing bowl (or you can use the pot if it has cooled down enough).
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition until the dough is smooth and glossy.
- Heat oil in a deep skillet or heavy-bottomed pot to 325°F (160°C).
- Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.
- Pipe heart shapes onto individual squares of parchment paper.
- Freeze the piped donuts for 15 minutes or chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Fry the donuts in batches of 4 at 325°F for 3 minutes per side, or until golden brown.
- Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
Prepare Vanilla Donut Glaze
- In a medium bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Optional: Add a few drops of pink gel food coloring to create a pink glaze.
- Dip each cruller into the glaze, allowing excess to drip off.
- Place on a wire rack and immediately garnish with Valentine sprinkles.
- Allow the glaze to set for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
crullers will brown too quickly; too cool, and they’ll absorb oil. Pipe Consistent Shapes: This ensures even frying and uniform donuts. Let the Dough Cool: Cooling the dough slightly before adding eggs prevents them
from cooking prematurely.
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So Cute! I made these for Valentine’s day and it took a little practice, but they came out great.