Cookie butter doughnuts (donuts) with a rose water glaze is the perfect way to close off Mother’s Day I think! I learnt a few weeks ago that Biscoff is not the only one who makes awesome cookie butter so you don’t have to hassle finding good cookie butter at the store I think. For those who don’t know, cookie butter is like a very nutty, sweet paste, and tastes like crushed biscuits. So this was very fun to incorporate for the doughnut batter because these cookie butter doughnuts taste like a cookie! Rose water extract is something I discovered recently so I used it to glaze these donuts in place of vanilla extract. Rose water tastes very flowery and reminds me of litchi juice.
Unlike my heart-shaped doughnuts which I made for Valentine’s Day, these cookie butter doughnuts are shaped in the classic doughnut shape with the small circle in the middle. I topped the glaze with sprinkles but you can go for crushed Biscoff cookies or shaved chocolate. I used this 3-inch cookie cutter for shaping the outer circle and another 1.25 inch cookie cutter for the small, inner circle. Dust the cookie cutter in flour to enjoy a seamless shaping experience.
Leave your eggs and cookie butter at room temperature for a good doughnut batter consistency. If your yeast doesn’t bubble in the testing stage, throw it away and start afresh. You will need to let the batter rise for 1 hour in a warm space away from cold winds or moisture. Any longer and you will get over-puffed doughnuts which are just too big (but still yummy!).
More tips for awesome donuts
- I like to use my 10 inch cast-iron skillet because it fries things really well.
- Always use the nice side to dunk into the glaze.
- Use a neutral oil to fry the doughnuts like canola, vegetable oil and avoid virgin oil.
- Serve these fresh because doughnuts generally taste better on the day they are made.
Ingredients
Cookie butter doughnuts
1 packet active dry yeast (about 2&1/4 teaspoons)
1 cup very warm milk
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup cookie butter, at room temperature
4&1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra to roll
3 tablespoons oil to grease bowl
4 cups cooking oil to fry doughnuts
Chocolate glaze
2 cups confectioners' (icing) sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup whipping cream or heavy cream
3 tablespoons rose water (or vanilla extract)
Sprinkles to garnish
Instructions
Cookie butter doughnuts
- Mix the yeast, sugar and milk in a huge mixing bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes. Bubbles should form on the surface. If not, your yeast is probably dead so just start afresh with a new yeast.
- Using a hand whisk, add the melted butter, whisked eggs and half of the flour to this same bowl.
- Fold in the cookie butter and the remaining flour. At this stage the dough might start feeling too thick for a whisk so just use your hands to mix the dough.
- Knead the dough until it is one color (no streaks) for about 5 minutes.
- Get a larger mixing bowl and grease it with the oil.
- Transfer the kneaded dough to the greased bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. Let it rise in a warm place away from moisture or cold winds for 1 hour.
- Heat the 4 cups of oil in a large skillet. I like to use my 10 inch cast-iron skillet because it fries things really well.
- Sprinkle extra flour on a large, dry working space.
- Roll out the risen dough until it is 1/2 inch thick and about 10-11 inches wide.
- Toss all the cookie cutters in flour before using and during the cutting process. I used two circle cookie cutters: a 3.5 inch and a 1.25 in cutter.
- Use the bigger cutter to cut the dough, then use the smaller cutter in the center to get a ring hole shape.
- Place all the cut out dough on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- You can re-roll scraps and cut them out again but I've found that they are not as pretty as the first batch and get too puffy.
- Fry the dough in batches (see notes) in the hot oil for 1 minute on both sides on high heat. I fried up to 5 at a time. Do not forget to fry the small dough bits!
- Let the fried donuts cool on a wire rack.
Chocolate glaze
- Place a wire rack on a large baking tray. If you have two wire racks and two large baking trays that would be perfect.
- Whisk all the glaze ingredients thoroughly in a steep mixing bowl.
- Dip one fried donut at a time directly into the glaze and shake off any excess.
- Place as many of the glazed donuts as can fit on the wire rack.
- Pour the sprinkles over the donuts whiles the glaze is still wet.
- Refrigerate for about 2 hours to harden the glaze.
- Store leftovers for about a day or two in the fridge.
Notes
It's good to fry things in batches because overcrowding the pan lowers the heat of the oil and it starts to potentially get soggy. Hot oil prevents soggy, fried disasters.