French Cruller Doughnut Recipe with Honey Glaze

Easy Homemade French Crullers Dipped in Honey Glaze

Homemade French Crullers are one of the easiest and most delicious kinds of doughnut you can make. Start to finish, they take about an hour to make and requires only a small handful of ingredients - milk, butter, sugar, salt, eggs, and flour. They are simple enough for a lazy Sunday morning breakfast but pretty enough for a special occasion brunch.

This recipe includes a super simple method for frying Crullers with ease and a delicious sweet honey glaze. 

What are Traditional French Crullers?

"Crullers" are kind of a broad category of pastry. Traditional Crullers are fried rectangles of dough twisted into a sort of braided torpedo. Sometimes, Crullers are made with a batter more akin to a cake doughnut. But, French Crullers are lovely fluted, ring-shaped doughnuts made from pâte à choux that's fried and then dipped in a sweet glaze.

Pâte à choux (choux pastry) is that delicious, buttery, eggy dough used to make things like Profiteroles and Eclairs. It can be a bit tricky. But, the version used for these French Crullers is easy-peasy.

Frying the dough eliminates many of the challenges of baking pâte à choux. The dough comes together quickly - they are quite literally something you can decide to make at 9am and be happily eating by 10am. 

4 Simple Steps For Making Pâte à Choux (Choux Pastry):

1. Add milk, water, butter, salt, and sugar to a saucepan and bring it to a full, rapid boil.
2. Add the flour. Pour the flour in all at once and stir until it forms a dough. Cook the dough for about a minute longer, smushing it against the side of the pan as you do. Then, dump the dough into the bowl of a stand mixer and let it cool down for a few minutes.
3. Add the eggs. Add two eggs to the dough and beat until they have been fully incorporated. Beat in a third egg, then an additional egg white and some lemon zest. Make sure to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl every now and then.
4. Let it chill. Cover the bowl and set it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes while you prepare to fry the doughnuts. 

The super easy technique for frying crullers with ease:

One of the potentially tricky parts of making crullers is getting that delicate pastry dough into the hot oil. The dough is soft enough to be piped into pretty little rounds, making it nearly impossible to lift the doughnuts into the hot oil.

The solution is simple: Just pipe each doughnut onto its own little parchment paper square and lift eat whole thing - parchment and all - into the hot oil. Once the doughnut hits the hot oil, the parchment will come free from the dough and you can use metal tongs to remove it.

Crullers cook quickly. After 5 or 6 minutes, they will be golden brown, soft and airy on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside. When the crullers are a rich golden brown, use a slotted spoon or spatula to remove them from the hot oil, set them on a metal rack, and drizzle them with plenty of honey glaze. 

Here's something you may not know about Crullers: 

Apparently, Crullers were referenced in The Wizard of Oz. Aunt Em offered Hunk, Hickory and Zeke a cruller after scolding them for being "three shiftless farmhands". So, Aunt Em thought they were screw ups, but at least they got a Cruller out of it.

You don't have to be a shiftless farmhand to deserve a French Cruller. You deserve one simply because it's today and they are delicious. No other reason required.

This recipe makes 9 or 10 French Crullers, depending on how thick your piping is. The doughnuts are best the day they are made, but still pretty good the next day. I made the ones pictured here yesterday and am eating one right now, as I type this. Still delicious.

More Favorite Doughnut and Pastry Recipes:

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But, you want to know the best thing about this doughnut recipe?

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Perfect Profiteroles {Little French Cream Puffs}

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Frequently Asked Questions about Making French Crullers:

Q: I noticed there's a higher amount of salt in this recipe than in similar recipes. Why the higher amount?

A: I rarely feel that recipes for sweet foods include enough salt. Salt does so much more than make foods taste "salty". It's an amazing flavor booster, making every other ingredient in a recipe taste more like itself. Salt is also one of the ingredients in recipes that adds "balance". In this case, the amount of salt not only increases the flavor of the dough, it helps to balance out the sweetness of the honey glaze.

Having said all of that, I have heard from a couple of readers that the amount of salt in this recipe is a bit high for their personal taste. If you tend to be salt sensitive, just decrease the amount of salt by a ¼ teaspoon or so. 

Q: How do you know when Crullers are cooked all the way through?

A: It can be a bit tricky to know when crullers are cooked all the way through. Color is the most important indicator - they should be a deep golden brown on all sides. Another thing you can do is use the first doughnut to test the cook time. Cook one cruller in the hot oil, making sure to keep the temperature of the oil as constant as possible and timing how long it takes to achieve a rich golden brown color.

Remove the cruller from the oil and watch it for a minute or two. If it collapses on itself after it cools, that means the inside isn't quite done. Simply increase the cooking time for the rest of the batch.

Q: Can I cook Crullers in an Air Fryer?

A: Yes! A couple of reader have left a comments to say that they've had good success making these in their air fryer. They were kind enough to leave instructions about what they did. Here's what they said (Thank you, TJ and Lesley!):

"Put 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a small bowl. Cut several 3″ squares of parchment. Place them on a sheet pan and brush very lightly with the oil. Pipe rings on the parchment. Brush the tops of the crullers very lightly with oil.

Set the air fryer to 380F and preheat for a couple minutes. Leaving the rings on the parchment squares, set as many as will fit in the fryer basket. Fry for about 2 minutes, at which point the crullers should be well puffed and have a little browning. Turn the crullers over and remove the parchment squares. Don’t worry if the crullers deflate slightly; they will puff back up once the heat is on. Continue to fry until they are browned all over and feel firm, about 2-3 minutes. If using a melting-type glaze, glaze immediately and cool on a rack.

Keep a close ear on the fryer as the parchment squares can sometimes blow loose from under the crullers. Remove any loose parchment squares immediately as they can cut off the air flow or ignite." - TJ

"I made about 11 donuts in the air fryer and found that 390°F for 9-10 minutes worked best for me." - Lesley

Q: What tools do you need to shape the dough into Crullers?

A: You'll need two things to shape Pâte à choux (choux pastry) dough into the distinctive shape of a French cruller: A large pastry bag and a large star piping tip.

I purchase large 18-inch disposable decorator bags in bulk from Amazon. This box of 100 18-inch bags lasts a long time, ensuring that you won't run out when the urge to make Crullers hits. You can use smaller bags, but I find them to be frustrating. With smaller bags, you have to constantly stop and refill the bags sometimes running out of dough in the middle of piping a Cruller. The large 18-inch size is much easier to work with. 

The other thing that's important to have is a large piping tip. I have heard from readers who only had a small piping tip and forged ahead with making Crullers anyway. They simply made many tiny Crullers, which I love. But if you want large, normal size doughnuts you'll need to pipe them through a large decorator tip. The large start tip I use is Ateco 869 French Star. 

If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Scroll down to rate this recipe and leave a comment, or take a picture and tag @ofbatteranddough on Instagram.

Happy Baking!

Continue to Content

French Cruller Doughnut Recipe

Yield: 10

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Homemade French Crullers are one of the easiest and most delicious kinds of doughnut you can make. Start to finish, they take about an hour to make and requires only a small handful of ingredients - milk, butter, sugar, salt, eggs, and flour.

They are simple enough for a lazy Sunday morning breakfast but pretty enough for a special occasion brunch.

If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Scroll down to rate this recipe and leave a comment for me!

Print

Ingredients

FOR THE DOUGHNUTS:

• ½ cup (118ml) + 1 tablespoon (14.7ml) whole milk
• ½ cup (118ml) + 1 tablespoon (14.7ml) water
• 8 tablespoon (1 stick; 113g) butter
• 1 tablespoon (12.5g) granulated sugar
• ¾ teaspoon (4.4g) table salt, 1 ¼ teaspoon kosher salt (*See note)
• 1 ¼ cup (150g) unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 3 large whole eggs
• 1 large egg white, lightly beaten
• 1-2 tablespoon grated lemon zest (about 1 large lemon)

FOR THE GLAZE:

• 1 ½ cups (187.5g) powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon (21g) honey
• 2-3 (30 - 45ml) tablespoon milk
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. In a large, heavy bottomed saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to a rolling boil over medium heat. (A rolling boil means that bubbles are "rolling" across the entire surface of the liquid.)
2. Remove from the heat and add the flour all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until combined and throughout moistened.
3. Return the pan to the heat and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring vigorously the entire time. The dough will be very thick and stirring it will give your arm a good workout. Rather than "stirring", think of it as kneading the dough with a wooden spoon. After 2-3 minutes, a thick film should have formed over the bottom of the pan and the dough should feel smooth.
4. Dump the dough into the bowl of an electric standing mixer and use the spoon to spread it out into a somewhat thin layer, covering the bottom of the bowl and moving a few inches up the sides. Let cool, uncovered, until the dough is just slightly warm - about 15 minutes.
5. Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, and add 2 of the eggs to the dough. Beat on medium speed until the eggs have been fully incorporated into the dough, stoping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
6. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the 3rd egg to the dough. Beat on medium until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg white and lemon zest. Beat on medium until fully incorporated.
7. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover and let chill in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
8. Cut out ten 3-inch by 3-inch squares of parchment paper and brush each lightly with vegetable oil.
9. Heat a fryer to 370 degrees F (187 degrees C). OR - add enough vegetable oil to a deep saucepan or stockpot to come 3 or 4 inches up the sides, and heat the oil to 370 degrees F (187 degrees C). *It's extremely helpful to have a deep fry thermometer.
10. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and scoop some into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Holding the pastry bag vertically over one of the parchment squares, pipe an even circle of dough, just making the ends meet and connect. Repeat with the remaining dough and parchment squares.
11. Gently place a cruller onto a slotted spoon, along with it's paper, and lower it into the hot oil, paper and all. Hold the spoon under the cruller for 4 or 5 seconds to prevent it from sinking to the bottom of the fryer. Fry the doughnuts 3 or 4 at a time for 5 ½ to 6 minutes, removing the paper with mental tongs after 1 minute and flipping them over after 2 ½ minutes. The crullers should be a deep golden brown on all sides. Do your best as the doughnuts cook to keep the temperature of the oil between 355 - 370 degrees F (179.4 - 187 degrees C).
12. Use a slotted spoon to remove the doughnuts from the oil to drain on paper towels. Cool completely before glazing.

MAKE THE GLAZE:

1. Add all glaze ingredients to a small bowl and stir to combine. Add enough milk to create a runny glaze that's still thick enough to adhere to the tops of the doughnuts.
2. When the crullers are completely cool, dip the tops of each one into the glaze.

Notes

A not about the amount of salt in this recipe:

I've heard from a couple of readers that the amount of salt in this recipe is a bit high for their personal taste. If you tend to be salt sensitive, just decrease the amount of salt by a ¼ teaspoon or so.

How do you know when Crullers are cooked all the way through?

It can be a bit tricky to know when the crullers are cooked all the way through. Color is an important indicator - they should be a deep golden brown. If you like, test the cook time by cooking the first doughnut by itself. If it collapses on itself after removing it from the oil to cool, increase the cooking time for the rest of the batch.

One reader left a comment to say that they've had good success making these in their air fryer. They were kind enough to leave instructions about what they did. Here's what they said (Thank you, TJ and Lesley!):

"Put 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a small bowl. Cut several 3″ squares of parchment. Place them on a sheet pan and brush very lightly with the oil. Pipe rings on the parchment. Brush the tops of the crullers very lightly with oil.

Set the air fryer to 380F and preheat for a couple minutes. Leaving the rings on the parchment squares, set as many as will fit in the fryer basket. Fry for about 2 minutes, at which point the crullers should be well puffed and have a little browning. Turn the crullers over and remove the parchment squares. Don’t worry if the crullers deflate slightly; they will puff back up once the heat is on. Continue to fry until they are browned all over and feel firm, about 2-3 minutes. If using a melting-type glaze, glaze immediately and cool on a rack.

Keep a close ear on the fryer as the parchment squares can sometimes blow loose from under the crullers. Remove any loose parchment squares immediately as they can cut off the air flow or ignite." - TJ

"I made about 11 donuts in the air fryer and found that 390°F for 9-10 minutes worked best for me." - Lesley

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  ThermoPro Waterproof Digital Thermometer 
• 
  Ateco Disposable Decorating Bags, 18-Inch, Pack of 100
• 
  Cuisinart MultiClad Pro Stainless 8-Quart Stockpot with Cover
• 
  Cuisinart Deep Fryer, 4 Quart, Stainless Steel
• 
  KitchenAid Professional 600 6-Qt. Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer
• 
  Ateco 869 Pastry Tube - French Star - Size 9

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1 Cruller
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 171Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 75mgSodium: 500mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 1gSugar: 20gProtein: 5g

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