Giant Donut Recipe
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At any age and every stage, everyone loves a pretty glazed donut. This particular donut is jumbo-sized and makes an especially sweet treat to enjoy for a marvelous birthday treat, a fun surprise to present to your special someone, just 'cause, or simply a divine afternoon snack with tea. We decorated ours with a bright purple, lavender-infused icing and added whimsical multi-colored sprinkles because a giant donut deserves to sparkle (quite literally).
If you've never made a giant donut before, you're certainly not alone. They take a lot of time and love to come together, but the process is a whole lot of fun, and the final result will bring tons of smiles. If you're up for the challenge, we certainly recommend going for it. Once your giant donut is served on a fancy platter, your friends, family, or significant other won't be able to help but eat, dunk, and ask for seconds (and thirds).
This particular donut serves ten people or more, depending on the size of the slices, and is a whopping whole foot wide in diameter. Now that's a donut right there. Let's get into how you can create your very own giant donut.
Gather the ingredients to make this giant donut
The first step is rounding up all of your ingredients to make your giant donut, complete with bright purple, lavender-infused icing. The list of ingredients is pretty hefty, but don't let that turn you away from creating the giant donut of your dreams — you've got this!
For the donut itself, you'll need all-purpose flour, baking powder, three large eggs, granulated sugar, butter, whole milk, vanilla Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, lavender extract paste, salt, nutmeg, and enough vegetable oil to coat the baking pan. For the lavender icing, we mixed together grape and blue food coloring to obtain that beautiful purple hue, in addition to vanilla extract, lavender extract paste, confectioners' sugar, salt, and milk. Then we topped it off with pretty sprinkles.
Mix up the dry ingredients for your giant donut
Next, grab a large bowl so you can mix up your dry ingredients. This is the first step in making your donut dough. Combine the all-purpose flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, salt, and nutmeg, and then stir up. Keep stirring well until all of your dry ingredients are fully combined. Put this mixture to the side — we'll be getting back to it in a little bit.
Combine the wet ingredients for your giant donut, then add the dry ingredients
Next up comes working with the wet ingredients for your donut dough — the eggs, whole milk, vanilla Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, and organic lavender extract paste. The wet ingredients should be combined in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on medium speed.
Once they are mixed completely, slowly add in your dry mixture while the stand mixer is on medium speed.
If your dough is too hard, feel free to add just a little more milk. Your final result is going to be soft and fluffy, similar to pizza dough. We'd also like to note that the lavender extract can sometimes be difficult to find in stores if it's not the holidays. Fear not, because you can easily order it online.
Roll your dough into a ball and refrigerate
Grab a clean bowl, and sprinkle a little flower on the bottom of it. Then, form your dough into a ball on a flour-covered surface so it doesn't stick to your hands or the bowl when you place the dough inside of it. Once the donut dough is placed in the bowl, cover the top of it with a dish towel, and then refrigerate for two hours.
Shape your giant donut
Before you begin this step, preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover the surface of your largest baking pan with a sheet of parchment paper.
Take your ball of dough out of the refrigerator, and place it on your work surface that's sprinkled with flour. You're going to push the dough out a bit and work it into the shape of your donut. If you don't like how it's looking, you can always start over, so no stress!
Once you have a large circle (ours is 12 inches in diameter to fit on the baking pan), use something circular as a stencil to cut out your donut hole (we used a glass bowl, six inches in diameter). Use a pairing knife or whatever you are comfortable working with to cut around the bowl and discard the "donut hole" (or you can even use it to make a mini donut).
This is your big moment to make sure you are absolutely happy with the shape of your donut. If you want it a little taller or a little flatter, feel free to get creative. Don't worry if the surface of your donut has imperfections, as your lavender glaze will cover anything that's less than perfect.
It's time to bake the giant donut at 325 degrees Fahrenheit
Place your formed giant donut carefully onto your baking pan that's covered with parchment paper, and then it's time for it to bake for approximately 30 minutes. Note that all ovens are a bit different, but it took us this amount of time for the donut to cook just perfectly. Don't disturb your donut while it's baking, but you can take some peeks at it from the outside with the oven light. Trust us — it's adorable and will fill your kitchen with the most heavenly lavender scent.
Start working on the icing while your donut is cooling
Once your giant donut is finished baking, it should cool for at least a half hour before you begin to make the lavender icing. When the icing is finished, you will want to frost your donut immediately, as the icing will harden up, so you'll want to leave a little time between taking your donut out and icing it.
For the icing, combine your confectioners' sugar, milk, vanilla extract, lavender extract paste, and salt together by hand with a whisk. Mix it very thoroughly so it's nice and smooth.
Next, add your food coloring. We combined 15 drops of grape food coloring and two drops of blue food coloring to get just the right shade of lavender we were looking for, which appropriately matches the lavender flavor.
Decorate your giant donut
Once the icing for your giant donut is mixed, you can drizzle it over the top for a glazed donut look. Add your sprinkles immediately before the icing hardens. We chose a combo of pastel and unicorn party sprinkles, which can be a fun addition to a birthday, bridal shower, or bachelorette party.
Note that you will accumulate extra glaze in the center of your donut, so you can move your creation onto a fancy platter or cake pedestal. Donut be afraid to dig right into your glazed masterpiece, as this treat is best enjoyed while it's fresh, like most donuts!
Now that's a big donut.
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons melted butter, lightly cooled
- 1 cup whole milk (add milk if dough is too hard) + ⅓ cup milk for icing
- ½ cup vanilla Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons vanilla
- 1 tablespoon lavender extract paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 15 drops of grape food coloring
- 2 drops of blue food coloring
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon lavender extract paste
- 3 ½ cups confectioners' sugar
- Pinch of salt
- Vegetable oil to coat baking pan
- Sprinkles in color of choice
- Mix the dry ingredients. Combine 6 cups of all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons of baking powder, 1 ¼ cups of granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of nutmeg in a large bowl, and stir up. Keep stirring well until everything is fully combined. Set this mixture aside.
- Combine 3 large eggs, 1 cup of whole milk, ½ cup of vanilla Greek yogurt, 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon of lavender extract paste in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on medium speed.
- Once mixed completely, slowly add in your dry mixture while the stand mixer is on medium speed. Your resulting donut dough should be soft and fluffy.
- Shape dough into a ball on a flour-covered surface.
- Place it in a bowl, cover with a dish towel, and then refrigerate for two hours.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cover the surface of your largest baking pan with a sheet of parchment paper.
- Take ball of dough out of the refrigerator, and place it on your work surface that's sprinkled with flour. Push it out a bit to shape the donut. Use a small glass bowl as a stencil to cut out your donut hole (6 inches in diameter). Use a pairing knife to cut around the bowl and discard the "donut hole."
- Place the donut carefully on your baking pan that's covered with parchment paper. Bake for approximately 30 minutes.
- For the icing, combine 3 ½ cups of confectioners' sugar, ⅓ cup of milk, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon of lavender extract paste, and pinch of salt with a whisk. Mix thoroughly until smooth.
- Add 15 drops of grape food coloring and 2 drops of blue food coloring.
- Drizzle icing over the top of giant donut. Add sprinkles immediately before the icing hardens. Serve while it's fresh!
| Calories per Serving | 656 |
| Total Fat | 10.8 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6.0 g |
| Trans Fat | 0.3 g |
| Cholesterol | 78.5 mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 127.3 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2.3 g |
| Total Sugars | 68.4 g |
| Sodium | 490.4 mg |
| Protein | 11.6 g |
