Potato donuts are a sweet snack to eat at any time of the day. They are small donuts that have mashed potatoes in the dough and are therefore very soft and tasty. You can fry them or bake them in the oven and if you want to make them even tastier, we have some great tips for you.
For now, though let's start with the basic recipe.
Sweet potato donuts recipe
Ingredients for about 15 donuts
9 oz potatoes
1 lb flour
1 ½ oz butter
1 oz fresh brewer's yeast
1 oz of sugar
2 eggs
½ glass of milk
peanut seed oil
Method
First, add the well-washed unpeeled potatoes in a pot of cold water and bring it to the boil.
After about 30 minutes from the boiling point, they will be soft, then drain them and mash them up whilst they’re still warm.
Dissolve the yeast in slightly heated, but not boiling, milk and separately sift the flour.
In a container, mix the flour with the mashed potatoes together, then soft butter, sugar, egg, milk, and yeast.
Work the mixture with your hands adding more milk if necessary.
Then cover everything with cling film and leave it to rise for about 2 hours.
After this time, take some pieces of dough and make donuts, the size of your choosing.
Cover them properly and let them rise for another hour and then fry them in boiling seed oil.
Once drained on frying paper, cover them in caster sugar.
Light donuts
You can even opt for a lighter version by baking them in the oven.
Simply place the donuts on a baking tray covered with baking paper and bake them at 350° for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Once ready do the same thing as for the fried version and covering them in the sugar.
Extra boost of flavor
The basic dough for potato donuts is already very tasty, but if you fancy boosting the flavors you can do it with sultanas, lemon or orange peel. If you like aromas you can add fennel or aniseed seeds.
Why not also try them in the cocoa version with chocolate chips? Just add a spoonful of cocoa to the base mixture and a handful of chocolate chips.
In the latter case, however, we suggest you cook them in the oven.
Ciambelle / Pancakes and Bomboloni / Donuts
With the dough from the donuts, you can also make pancakes whichever size you prefer or even bomboloni.
For the pancakes, take small pieces of dough and roll them out making small pizzas, let them rise and then fry them. They will be slightly crunchy on the outside.
To make bomboloni, you have to make balls slightly larger than a walnut and let them rise for one to two hours and then fry them. It’s always better to opt for smaller sizes to facilitate leavening and get a softer consistency. Finally, you can fill the donuts with cream or jam and sprinkle the pancakes with sugar.
Savory version
By omitting the sugar in the basic recipe and adding a pinch of salt, these donuts will become the perfect savory snack for an aperitivo.
You can accompany them with cold cuts, cheese and vegetables and you can even slice them in half and fill them.
Similarly, in this savory version, you have two cooking options; fried or oven-baked.
Browse the photo gallery for more tips!