This homemade heart doughnuts recipe walks you through how to make homemade doughnuts in the shape of hearts and offers ideas for decorating them for Valentine’s Day.
Homemade donuts are the ultimate cozy weekend treat—perfect for a lazy breakfast in. Shape them into cute hearts, dip them in bright chocolate glaze, and sprinkle on some fun Valentine’s-themed decorations, and boom—they instantly become a gorgeous holiday dessert. These little guys make the sweetest Valentine’s surprise, a pretty addition to a dessert board, or an adorable homemade gift.
How to Make Heart-Shaped Doughnuts
To make heart-shaped raised doughnuts, we will make yeast dough, roll it out, and use a heart cookie cutter to cut out the doughnuts. Then let the dough rise before frying the hearts in oil.
For the best results, use fresh, good-quality ingredients. It really makes a difference. Go for whole milk in the dough—it gives them that soft, rich flavor we all love. If you want them even more indulgent, swap in a bit of light cream. Use organic, all-purpose flour, sifting it for extra lightness. And don’t skimp on the frying oil: pick something neutral-tasting, odorless, and high-heat friendly. Avocado oil is a good choice because of it’s neutral flavor and high smoke point. You can also use palm oil or your favorite mild oil.
To decorate your fried doughnuts, white candy melts, almond bark, or white chocolate chips work great for the glaze. Gel food coloring is your best friend here—it gives the brightest, cleanest colors without messing with the texture.
Besides drizzling the doughnuts with melted white chocolate, grab some colorful sprinkles and those cute heart sprinkles. You can pipe little messages with the glaze or just dust them with powdered sugar or pink or red colored sugar. Feel free to play around and make them your own—go with whatever vibe you’re feeling, or just copy our decorating ideas if you want!
The raised donuts puff up when being cooked in the oil. If you wish, you can inject the hearts with raspberry jam, strawberry jam, or your favorite jelly.
Heart Doughnuts Recipe
This recipe makes 12- 14 doughnuts depending on the size of your heart-shaped cookie cutter.
Ingredients:
Dough Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 1 3/4 cups flour, divided
- 1 1/2 cups oil for deep-frying
Doughnut Toppings:
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- 3-4 drops red food coloring gel
- 1/4 teaspoon red and gold heart sprinkles
- red sprinkles
Doughnut Directions:
1. For the dough, heat the milk to 98°F. You can warm it in the microwave for 1 minute.
2. Pour the yeast, salt, and sugar into a bowl. Add the warm milk. Whisk the mixture until foamy. Pour in the vanilla extract and add 1 1/2 cups of flour. Stir the dough with a spoon.
3. Dust a board with flour. Place the dough on the board and knead it, gradually increasing pressure and adding flour. The dough should be soft and smooth.
4. Grease the bottom and sides of a rising bowl with vegetable oil. Form the dough into a ball and place it in the bowl.
5. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the bowl and dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
6. Punch down the dough and roll it out to 1/3 inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to shape into hearts.
7. Place the doughnuts on a board and cover with plastic wrap. Let them rise for 20 minutes.
8. Preheat the oil to 356°F.
9. Drop the doughnuts into the oil and fry for 1 minute per side until golden brown. The doughnuts fry very quickly.
10. Use a slotted spoon to remove the hearts and place them on a paper towel folded in quarters.
Decorating the Heart Doughnuts
1. Melt the white candy melts in a double boiler or microwave until they are the consistency of condensed milk.
2. Decorate a few hearts by drizzling the melted white chocolate, coat a few more of the donuts completely with the white chocolate, then sprinkle with hearts and red sprinkles.
3. Add red food coloring gel to the remaining melted white chocolate and decorate the remaining doughnuts by drizzling red candy melts overs some doughnuts and coating some doughnuts with the red candy melts, then add sprinkles.
While many people now consider doughnuts a breakfast recipe, I usually serve them either with a brunch or as a dessert after dinner.
Printable Recipe for Heart Doughnuts
Heart Doughnuts Recipe
Ingredients
Doughnut Dough Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 1 3/4 cups flour divided
- 1 1/2 cups oil for deep-frying
Doughnut Toppings:
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- 3-4 drops red food coloring gel
- 1/4 teaspoon red and gold heart sprinkles
- red sprinkles
Instructions
Doughnut Directions:
- For the dough, heat the milk to 98°F. You can warm it in the microwave for 1 minute.
- Pour the yeast, salt, and sugar into a bowl. Add the warm milk. Whisk the mixture until foamy. Pour in the vanilla extract and add 1 1/2 cups of flour. Stir the dough with a spoon.
- Dust a board with flour. Place the dough on the board and knead it, gradually increasing pressure and adding flour. The dough should be soft and smooth.
- Grease the bottom and sides of a rising bowl with vegetable oil. Form the dough into a ball and place it in the bowl.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the bowl and dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
- Punch down the dough and roll it out to 1/3 inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to shape into hearts.
- Place the doughnuts on a board and cover with plastic wrap. Let them rise for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oil to 356°F.
- Drop the doughnuts into the oil and fry for 1 minute per side until golden brown. The doughnuts fry very quickly.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the hearts and place them on a paper towel folded in quarters.
Decorating the Heart Doughnuts
- Melt the white candy melts in a double boiler or microwave until they are the consistency of condensed milk.
- Decorate a few hearts by drizzling the melted white chocolate, coat a few more of the donuts completely with the white chocolate, then sprinkle with hearts and red sprinkles.
- Add red food coloring gel to the remaining melted white chocolate and decorate the remaining doughnuts by drizzling red candy melts overs some doughnuts and coating some doughnuts with the red candy melts, then add sprinkles.
More Valentine’s Day Recipes:
Chocolate Dipped Clementine Hearts
Valentine’s Day Heart Brownie Pops Recipe
Valentine’s Day Heart Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars Recipe
More Valentine’s Day Dessert Recipes
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