Cronuts are the best of both worlds – the flakiness of a croissant combined with the fried and glazed goodness of a donut! These homemade croissant donuts are easier to make than you might think and will get even the groggiest sleeper jumping out of bed for breakfast in the early morning.
What’s in this Cronut recipe?
There’s nothing more satisfying than biting into a Cronut! Every single flaky layer that you love about a croissant is fried to perfection in the shape of a donut and drizzled with a simple and sweet glaze. Simply put, it’s total bliss!
- Milk: Warm milk helps the yeast to bloom and adds moisture to the cronut dough. For a plant-based option, try oat milk.
- Yeast: Active dry yeast causes the dough to rise, creating light, fluffy cronuts. You could use instant yeast if you prefer.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar feeds the yeast and adds sweetness to the dough, while powdered sugar creates a smooth, sweet glaze that’s never grainy.
- Eggs: Eggs help make the dough soft and rich.
- Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract adds rich vanilla flavor to the dough and the glaze. Feel free to experiment with other flavors, like citrus, anise, or almond!
- Salt: Kosher salt enhances the natural flavors of the dough. If using a finer salt, like sea salt or table salt, use half the amount by volume (or the same amount in grams).
- Flour: All-purpose flour forms the base of our cronut dough.
- Butter: Unsalted butter helps to create rich, flaky, croissant-like layers in the dough.
- Oil: Vegetable oil is the perfect neutral oil for frying. It helps the cronuts to achieve a rich, golden color. You can use other high smoke point neutral oils, like canola or avocado, if you prefer.
Pro Tip: If you’re not a fan of glaze, try rolling your hot cronuts in a 50/50 mixture of cinnamon and sugar!
Variations on Croissant Donuts
I love the simplicity of these cronuts. They’re perfectly sweet, soft, and fluffy. But they’re also so fun to experiment with. I love them topped with bacon crumbles or drizzled with chocolate or lemon syrup. I’ve also sliced them in half horizontally and stuffed them with lemon curd, peanut butter fluff spread, banana strawberry cream cheese, cookies and cream butter, or apple butter! For a decadent dessert, I’ve even used them to make ice cream sandwiches with my favorite red velvet ice cream.
A cronut is a hybrid of a croissant and a donut. Imagine cutting croissant dough into rings and deep frying it to create a rich, buttery, flaky donut!
The cronut was invented by Chef Dominique Ansel in his New York City bakery.
A cronut tastes like a buttery, flaky croissant that has been fried instead of baked.
There are about 430 calories in a cronut, but this will vary depending on the size you make yours!
If the oil gets too hot, the cronuts burn before they cook on the inside. If the oil is too cool, the donuts absorb all the oil and end up greasy. Be sure to monitor the oil temperature closely, and don’t overcrowd the cronuts.
How to Store a Donut Croissant
Store leftover cronuts in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 8 hours or in the refrigerator for up to 1 day. I do not recommend freezing cronuts.
What to Serve with Homemade Cronuts
These pillowy breakfast sweets pair so well with your morning cup of coffee! Try them with a chocolate coffee, flat white, iced caramel latte, iced honey cinnamon latte, or an iced espresso. Not a coffee drinker? Go for an iced chai tea latte, an orange ginger shot, or a triple chocolate detox smoothie. For a filling breakfast, opt for a cronut served alongside some bacon, egg bites, granola, or PB&J overnight oats.
Recipe
Cronuts Recipe
Prep: 45 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Total: 3 hours 25 minutes
Flaky cronuts are easier to make at home than you’d think. Buttery, crispy, and so delicious!
Instructions
For the Dough
Add the milk, yeast, and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir and then let it bloom for a few minutes.
1 cup milk, 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast, 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
Whisk in the eggs, vanilla, and salt. Attach the dough hook to the mixer. Mix on low speed while gradually adding in the flour.
2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1½ teaspoons kosher salt, 3¾ cups all-purpose flour
Continue to mix on low for 3-4 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and elastic and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough doesn’t pull away from the bowl, add in a couple more tablespoons of flour at a time and continue mixing.
Remove from the dough from the mixer and place on the counter to knead a few times and shape into a ball.
Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
On a floured surface, roll out the dough to a 12×18-inch rectangle. Visually divide the dough into thirds.
Spread 7 tablespoons of butter onto the middle portion of the dough.
¾ cup unsalted butter
Fold one side on top of the buttered middle third. Spread the rest of the butter on top of the folded side.
Fold the remaining side inward on top of the 2nd buttered portion.
Place the dough on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for another 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough into a rectangle about the same dimensions as before. Fold the dough using the same pattern as before, turning each third inward over the middle third.
Place on the sheet pan, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Repeat the process of rolling to a rectangle and folding inward 2 more times.
Place the dough back on the sheet pan, cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Roll out the dough to a little under ½-inch thick.
Use a donut cutter or a round cookie cutter or jar to cut out 8-10 circles. Use a smaller round cookie cutter to cut out the holes in the circles.
Place the donuts and donut holes on a lined baking sheet.
For Frying
Add 2-3 inches of oil to a Dutch oven and heat to 350°F.
Vegetable oil
Working batches (2-3 at a time), drop the donuts into the oil and fry for a couple minutes on each side until golden brown. Transfer to a baking rack or baking sheet lined with paper towels.
For Glazing
Whisk together the glaze ingredients.
¾ cup powdered sugar, 1-2 tablespoons milk, ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Dip the top of each cronut in the glaze. Return to the rack to allow the glaze to set.
Becky’s tips
- Flavor the glaze with a different extract, like citrus, anise, or almond.
- Add colorful sprinkles to make them festive!
- Try rolling your hot cronuts in cinnamon-sugar instead of glazing them.
- Don’t rush making the dough. It’s important for the dough to remain cold, otherwise the butter will leak out when you fry them!
- Use a deep frying thermometer to monitor the temperature of your oil. This will help avoid burned or greasy cronuts.
- Don’t overcrowd the oil or the temperature will drop, leading to greasy cronuts.
- Use any leftover scraps to make cronut holes!
Storage: Store cronuts in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 8 hours or in the refrigerator for up to 1 day.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1cronut Calories: 430kcal (22%) Carbohydrates: 51g (17%) Protein: 8g (16%) Fat: 22g (34%) Saturated Fat: 10g (63%) Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g Monounsaturated Fat: 6g Trans Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 77mg (26%) Sodium: 377mg (16%) Potassium: 134mg (4%) Fiber: 2g (8%) Sugar: 14g (16%) Vitamin A: 521IU (10%) Vitamin C: 0.01mg Calcium: 50mg (5%) Iron: 2mg (11%)
