Cinnamon Doughnuts

Learn how to make the freshest doughnuts ever with this Cinnamon Doughnuts recipe.

Doughnuts are the ultimate feel-good food and these days you can find them everywhere you look, from specialty shops in shopping malls to airports and supermarkets. But nothing beats a homemade doughnut!

Jump to:

• The recipe
• Ingredient notes
• How to make Cinnamon Doughnuts
• Enjoying and storing
• Variation ideas
• More handwritten recipes
• Cinnamon Doughnuts

The recipe

While they may be a favourite modern treat, they actually have a long and interesting history. Cinnamon Doughnuts, the classic favourite, can be traced right back to the mid 1800s.

At the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1934, doughnuts were hailed as “the food hit of the century of progress” and Red Cross women, known as Doughnut Dollies, handed them out during World War II. 

So it’s perhaps not surprising to find this doughnuts recipe in Nana Ling’s recipe book dated 1940.

Note: I've tweaked and modernised this original recipe, so please keep scrolling to the end of the post for the updated version of this Cinnamon Doughnuts recipe.

Ingredient notes

The ingredients you'll need for the doughnuts are:

• milk
• plain (all purpose flour)
• butter
• egg
• caster sugar (superfine sugar)
• dry yeast.

To make the cinnamon sugar, you'll need:

• cinnamon
• nutmeg
• icing sugar (powdered sugar).

You'll also need vegetable oil (for deep frying the doughnuts).

Equipment – you’ll need a doughnut cutter (find one for under $5 at your local supermarket or kitchenware store)!

The ingredient measurements are listed in the recipe card at the end of this post.

How to make Cinnamon Doughnuts

TIP: Plan ahead! You need to stand the doughnut dough aside for 1 hour and then again for another half to one hour.

Start by adding the yeast to lukewarm milk. Sit for 5 minutes and then stir into half of the flour. Allow to stand for 1 hour.

Cream the butter and sugar well. Add the egg and mix well. Then add to the yeast mixture.

Add the rest of the flour to the mixture and knead lightly. Stand the dough aside till it doubles in size.

Roll out dough to about 1.5 cm thickness. Cut out doughnut shapes using a doughnut cutter.

Sift icing sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg onto a plate. Prepare vegetable oil for deep frying.

Deep fry doughnuts in vegetable oil until light golden brown.

Drain well and then roll in the icing sugar mixture.

Enjoying and storing

• Cinnamon Doughnuts are best enjoyed warm and fresh.

• You can store them at room temperature for a day or two and then re-heat in the microwave.

• You can freeze cinnamon donuts for up to three months by placing them in an airtight container or freezer bag.

Variation ideas

For iced doughnuts, you could replace the cinnamon sugar dusting with some icing and sprinkles.

You can also create some themed cinnamon doughnuts.

Below, I've created Christmas-themed doughnuts by using a little icing sugar (mixed to a paste with water) to attach reindeer horns (pretzels), candy eyes (purchased from the supermarket) and a button nose (a red M & M). Other doughnuts have a star-shaped pretzel added and some gold sprinkles.

More handwritten recipes

Nana Ling hand-recorded this recipe and many others in the 1930s and 1940s. Here are some other favourite handwritten recipes:

Made this recipe and love it? Please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. (And it really makes my day to hear how Nana Ling's recipes are being made, shared and loved all around the world! - Libby x)

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