This post may contain affiliate links. Read disclosure policy
Our Blueberry Donuts are made from scratch using my Grandma’s cake donut recipe that she made my dad growing up! This is her secret recipe with the delicious addition of fresh blueberries.
Our Blueberry Cake Donut recipe is life-changingly good. A must make!
Fried Dough + Sweet Bluebs + Vanilla Glaze
I think we can trace my love of donuts back to my Grammy. She used to make a batch of cake donuts (that link takes you to her secret recipe) every time we’d visit.
I had the bright idea to add some sweet, fresh blueberries to the dough and these blueberry donuts were born.
A sweet vanilla glaze tops it all off, but you could easily toss these in powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar for something a little different. My grandma used to serve her donuts plain – I think they’re best with a sweet topping, but these are certainly good enough to stand on their own!
We make donuts regularly, often baking them for ease, like with my chocolate glazed donut recipe that the whole internet is obsessed with. This blueberry cake donut recipe requires deep frying, like our potato donuts but I promise it’s worth it. These are a must make!
♥ What We Love About This Recipe:
- Blueberries: We love blueberries when they’ve been baked (or fried) into something sweet like these cake donuts. The juicy blueberries get soaked up by the donut batter and add lots of flavor to it!
- Versatile: Our simple, sweet, homemade glaze is perfect here, but you could also toss these in powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, or just eat them plain.
- Made with Love: This recipe is my grandma’s secret recipe that she only shared with family back in her day. It tastes like a warm hug and family all rolled in one.
Ingredient Notes:
For the blueberry donuts:
Dry Ingredients – You’ll need sugar, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
Wet Ingredients – You’ll also need room temperature butter, a large egg, buttermilk, and some oil for frying.
Blueberries – I’m using fresh blueberries in these donuts! They’re going to provide the most flavor. We haven’t tested these with frozen berries, but if you do I would thaw them first and pat them dry.
For the glaze:
Powdered Sugar – This simple homemade donut glaze starts with some confectioners sugar to sweeten it all up.
Heavy Cream – The other main ingredient for the glaze is heavy cream. It’ll get mixed with the sugar to create the sticky sweet donut glaze.
Vanilla Extract – For flavor!
My Favorite Vanilla!
I love using this meat thermometer for making sure the meat is at 165 degrees! Easy for beginners & totally worth the $10 cost!
Step by Step Donut Love:
Make the dough in a stand mixer or using a wooden spoon and a lot of elbow grease. The dough will be fairly soft, but you’ll add a bit of flour a little at a time until it’s workable. Don’t add more than you need to or the donuts won’t be as tender.
Pat the dough out on a floured surface and the sprinkle the blueberries over the top. Fold the dough over itself to cover the berries and pat or roll it out to about 1/3-1/2 inch thick.
Use a donut cutter to cut out donuts. Be sure to save the holes- we’ll fry those up as well and they’re arguably the best part. Reroll the dough as needed to use the scraps.
Add a few doughnuts at a time to the hot oil. Fry until golden, about 2 minutes on each side. Fry the donut holes too, about 1 minute or so. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to let the grease drain off.
Whisk together the powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla. We like our glaze on the thicker side and dunk the warm donuts right on in it. Add more cream for a thinner consistency, if that’s what you prefer.
Transfer the glazed donuts to a wire rack placed over a sheet pan so that any excess glaze can drip off. These are delicious eaten while still just a bit warm, but they’re also delicious at room temperature.
Freezing & Storage:
These glazed blueberry cake donuts are best served the day they are made while still good and fresh. But you can keep them stored in an airtight container at room temperature for about 2 to 3 days.
You can freeze these donuts. Let them cool completely before transferring to a freezer safe bag or container. Use some wax paper to separate them so they don’t stick. They can be frozen for up to a few months.
More Topping Ideas:
Maple Glaze: Swap the vanilla extract for maple extract and you’ll have maple blueberry donuts.
Cinnamon Sugar: Toss the just fried donuts in a mixture made with 2 cups granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon.
Powdered Donuts: Toss the warm donuts in powdered sugar.
Plain Sugar: A cup or two of plain granulated sugar adds a crunchy sweet exterior to cake donuts.
Plain: While we prefer a sweet topping on our donuts, my grandma always served hers plain.
Donut Holes AKA The Best Part
When you’re cutting out your donuts, be sure to set aside the donut holes to fry as well!
These are what we call The Donut Tax in my house. Whoever does the frying of the donuts gets to eat as many donut holes as they want while doing the cooking. They are also definitely calorie free during this time range…pretty sure of that. 😉
The donut holes will fry up just a bit quicker than the full-sized donuts, but the process is the same.
Recipe FAQs:
A cake donut is generally denser and more crumbly than a yeast donut. They’re like little rings of deep fried cake. Yeast donuts are lighter and more airy, more like deep fried bread.
Our homemade donut glaze is super simple and made with just 3 ingredients: powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract!
I’d recommend using avocado oil, canola oil, or vegetable oil. Canola is widely considered the best for frying donuts. It has a light color, a mild flavor, and a high smoke point that are all good for making fried donuts.
Blueberry Cake Donuts
Ingredients
For the donuts
- 2 tablespoons butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3 cups flour may need more
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- Oil for frying
For the glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup heavy cream more as needed
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
To make the donuts
- Fill a pot with about 3 inches of neutral flavored oil, such as vegetable or canola oil, and heat over medium high heat to 375 degrees.
- While the oil is heating, add the butter and sugar to a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and beat together until combined.
- Beat in the egg until just combined.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.
- Alternate adding the buttermilk and flour mixture to the sugar until everything is well combined. Knead for just a couple of minutes. If the dough is too sticky to roll out, add more flour until it's workable, a tablespoon at a time, being careful not to add more flour than is needed.
- Dump the dough out on a floured surface and pat flat. Sprinkle the dough with half of the blueberries and fold dough over on itself. Flatten and sprinkle with remaining blueberries. Fold dough over to cover blueberries and roll out to 1/3-1/2 inch thick. Use a donut cutter to cut donuts. Reroll the dough as needed.
- Add a few donuts at a time to the hot oil, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Fry until golden, about 2 minutes each side. Fry the donut holes as well, about 1 minute.
- Remove the donuts to a paper towel lined plate and let the grease drain off.
To glaze the donuts
- Add the powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla to a bowl and whisk well to combine. Add additional cream (or milk or water) to thin the glaze to your desired consistency.
- Dip the warm donuts in the glaze and place on a cooling rack to set up for at least 20 minutes.
John says
Karly, this is the recipe I have been looking for! I love doughnuts and these blueberry doughnuts look so tasty. I will be making these for Kim and the family A.S.A.P.
Annemarie @ justalittlebitofbacon says
Yum! These look tasty! That glaze is beautiful. Donuts are a favorite around here too and these look like a great way to use some of our fresh blueberries.
deslyfoods says
Donuts is one of my favorite snack,every time I go to the cake shop I will get one but I think it is not very good to get too much sugar.
Holly says
Hi Karly! This is my husbands all-time favorite donut! And yours look so delicious! I’m gonna have to surprise him and give these a try – thanks!