How to Make Crumb Doughnuts Better Than Entenmann’s

When my mom would bring home a variety pack of Entenmann’s doughnuts from the grocery store as a kid, the crumb doughnuts were always the first to go. Each tiny morsel on top added craveable texture and additional sweetness that we loved. Even the crumbs that had fallen off the doughnut and into the box were scooped out and eaten plain.

As everyone got older, boxes of Entenmann’s doughnuts weren’t brought home quite as often, but they were loved all the same. Here’s how to make homemade crumb doughnuts that will jog your childhood memories.

Ingredients for Crumb Doughnuts

• Flour: All-purpose flour does the trick for pastries with a soft dough, like doughnuts. There’s no need for a higher protein count like you’d find in an alternative like bread flour.
• Baking powder and baking soda: This particular doughnut recipe needs the combined power of baking soda and baking powder. Together, they make the dough rise and increase the volume of the doughnut batter. Learn the difference between baking powder and baking soda before you get started.
• Melted butter: The butter needs to be melted when making the dough to avoid creating little pockets of air. Besides creating the texture you’d typically expect in a baked doughnut, the melted butter also provides tenderness and moisture.
• Milk: We recommend using 2% milk in this recipe, but 1% or whole would work as alternatives. Fuller fat milks add richness, which is something you won’t get as much of with skim milk.
• Sour cream: Sour cream gives the dough some moisture without adding more liquid to the dough.
• Cold butter: When you’re making the topping for the doughnuts, cold butter is absolutely key to the formation of crumbs. You cut the cold butter into a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon, granulated sugar and flour for the perfect copycat topping.

Crumb Doughnuts Recipe

This recipe from the Taste of Home Test Kitchen makes two dozen doughnuts and takes just 35 minutes from start to finish.

Ingredients

Doughnuts:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup 2% milk
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Crumb topping: 

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup cold butter

Directions

Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients

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Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, combine the flour, light brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, sour cream, milk, butter and vanilla.

Step 2: Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients

Stir the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients, just until moistened. Overmixing will result in a tough doughnut later on.

Step 3: Pipe the doughnut batter into the pan

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Cut a small hole into the corner of a food-safe plastic bag and fill it with batter. Pipe the batter into a greased 6-cavity doughnut pan, filling the cavities half full. Make sure you’re not overfilling in order to leave room for the crumb topping. Otherwise, the topping will fall right off when the doughnuts rise in the oven.

Test Kitchen Tip: Spray the doughnut pan with cooking spray right before you add the doughnut batter. If added too soon, it may drip down and pool in the bottom, causing the doughnuts to stick to the sides of the pan.

Step 4: Prepare the crumb topping

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In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut the cold butter into small cubes to make it easier to cut into the dry ingredients. Then, use a pastry cutter to cut in the cold butter until crumbly. If you don’t have a pastry cutter at home, use a fork.

Step 5: Sprinkle the topping onto the doughnuts

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Sprinkle the crumb topping over the batter, pressing down the crumb mixture with your fingers to adhere it to the dough. That way, it won’t fall off as easily when you take the doughnuts out of the pan later.

Step 6: Bake the crumb doughnuts

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Bake the doughnuts for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the doughnut comes out clean.

Cool each batch of doughnuts for 5 minutes before removing from the pan to wire racks to cool completely.

Recipe Variations

While these crumb doughnuts are pretty sweet on their own, you can make them even sweeter by drizzling a classic vanilla doughnut glaze on top made with confectioners’ sugar, half-and-half and vanilla. Since the doughnuts contain cinnamon and nutmeg, a maple glaze would be a delicious decision too. Don’t be afraid to experiment with adding different flavors to a glaze—there are plenty of warm flavors that would complement the doughnuts, such as pumpkin pie spice or coffee.

A sprinkling of confectioners’ sugar on top would be the perfect finisher as well.

How to Store Crumb Doughnuts

Keep crumb doughnuts in an airtight container at room temperature for two to three days. Know that they’ll taste better fresh, so eat them sooner rather than later!

If you don’t plan to enjoy them all within that timeframe, you can keep them in the freezer in a zip-top freezer bag. Place a sheet of waxed paper between layers if you plan to freeze more than what can fit in a single layer. Our guide to how to freeze doughnuts provides more tips and tricks for preserving our favorite breakfast treat.

Tips for Making Crumb Doughnuts

How long should you let the crumb doughnuts cool before removing them from the pan?

Let the doughnuts cool for five minutes in the doughnut pan before transferring them to a cooling rack. Before then, you might have a hard time getting them out, whether they stick to the pan or are simply too hot to handle.

Can you make baked crumb doughnuts without a doughnut pan?

You can definitely make doughnuts without a doughnut pan if you have a muffin tin and some tin foil. Create makeshift doughnut-shapes with the foil and place in each muffin cup.

Can you make crumb doughnuts ahead of time?

You can make crumb doughnuts a day ahead of time if you need, although they’ll taste better fresh. Keep them in an airtight container overnight and enjoy the next day.