Pizza Doughnuts

I’m no stranger to savory doughnuts—let’s not forget about these bacon cheeseburger doughnuts—and honestly, I think that savory might just be better than sweet. I hesitate to say that because I just love doughnuts in general and so it’s really hard to pick. I imagine it’s like picking a favorite child when you should love all your children equally. Yeah, it’s just like that. I love all my doughnuts the same. With that being said this time, I’m bringing you these out-of-this-world, too-good-to-be-true Pizza Doughnuts. The dough is studded with pepperoni and cheese and then fried until golden and tossed in more cheese and herbs. Serve with warmed pizza sauce for the ultimate pizza experience. Trust me, you’ll love them.

To make the doughnuts, place the warm milk in a large bowl or glass measuring cup. Add a pinch of the sugar and stir in the yeast. Set aside and allow to foam and froth up, about 10 minutes.

Note: If the yeast doesn’t foam up, toss and start over. That means the milk wasn’t warm enough or it was too hot and so the yeast didn’t properly activate. This step is important as it’ll ensure the dough rises properly.**

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, salt, butter, eggs, and yeast mixture. Mix on low until the dough starts to come together. Increase the speed and knead on high until the dough becomes smooth, soft and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 8 minutes.

**Tip: If the dough is too wet, you can add more flour, a tablespoon or two at a time until the desired consistency is reached. This all depends on the weather/temperature in the kitchen.**

Sprinkle in a 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese and the chopped pepperoni. Knead the dough by hand in the bowl until the cheese and pepperoni are evenly distributed. (You can also knead on the counter, but why dirty it just yet?)

**Note: For the pepperoni, I place it in the food processor and pulse until very finely chopped. It should resemble bacon bits.**

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap and a damp kitchen towel. Place in a warm spot and allow to double in size, about 1 hour.

**Tip: If your kitchen isn’t warm enough (especially during this time of year) warm up the oven for a few seconds and then turn it off and place the bowl in the oven.**

Once risen, gently punch the dough down and then transfer to a well-floured work surface. Roll out to about 1/2 of an inch thick.

Using a 3-inch doughnut cutter, cut out the dough into doughnuts and place onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing them out evenly. (Don’t forget about the doughnut holes!) Knead any scraps together, being careful not to overwork the dough, and let rest for a few minutes before repeating the cutting process. Cover the baking sheets loosely with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel. Allow to rest in a warm spot until slightly puffed up, about 45 minutes.

Once the oil has reached 375°F, carefully add the doughnuts, a few at a time. Do not over-crowd the pot. When the bottoms are golden, after 45 seconds to a minute, use a slotted spoon to flip over; cook until they’re deep golden all over. Transfer to the prepared plates or racks, and repeat with the rest of the doughnuts.

**Note: Lastly, fry the doughnut holes all at once, turning them often to get them evenly browned. Just note that the holes will fry much faster.**

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In a shallow dish, toss together the parmesan, Italian seasoning, basil, parsley, oregano, red pepper, salt and pepper until evenly combined. While the doughnuts are still warm, toss in the cheese mixture to evenly coat both sides. 

**Note: The cheese mixture won’t completely stick to the doughnuts but you can sprinkle the cheese on top of each doughnut once you place them onto a platter or serving tray.**

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Transfer to a platter. Top with fresh basil and serve with warm pizza sauce for dipping. Doughnuts are best eaten the day they’re made, while still warm if possible. Because of the cheese coating, you can’t really store them at room temperature and if you refrigerate them, they’ll get too firm.

If you’re feeling very overzealous you can make your own pizza sauce, but honestly you just went through the whole process to make these doughnuts and so a little help from the store will be gladly appreciated. Plus store bought pizza sauce has a distinct flavor and texture that you can’t really recreate.

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The bits of pepperoni in the dough really brings out that pizza flavor and gives it a nice salty bite, but if you want to keep things vegetarian you can totally just leave that step out. The doughnuts will still taste like pizza have no worries.

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In all my years of making and sharing recipes on this site, I think these Pizza Doughnuts will go down as one of my top 10 ideas/recipes of all time. It’s honestly so good and so I hope you’ll give them a try because they are more than worth the effort that goes into them. Making yeasted dough and frying can be daunting but a task that can be easily conquered. Let me know what you think below and thank you for following along and reading!