Soft and fluffy, scrumptious doughnut holes made with ricotta cheese. These simple doughnuts don’t require any yeast, only take about 30 minutes to make and finger-licking-good!
RICOTTA DOUGHNUT HOLES
This is one super treat for breakfast. These little ricotta doughnut holes will quickly become a family favorite. They are quite addictive for two reasons:
1. They are SO tasty! The texture is wonderful, they are soft, moist and fluffy inside. They have a mild sweet flavor that goes with coffee, tea or milk. And, you can easily fill them with some jam or custard as soon as you pull them out onto a wire rack. (Just use a long pastry tip to fill the doughnuts.)
2. These doughnuts are unbelievably easy to make. First time I made them, I was really surprised just how fast it was to make these from start to finish. Dough takes about five minutes and cooking will depend on the size of the pan you are using and how many doughnuts can you cook at a time. Each batch takes about 5-7 minutes to cook. All in all, it’s an easy, tasty treat for breakfast.
When my mom first gave me this recipe, I thought that the only way to make easy, no-yeast doughnuts was to use refrigerated biscuit dough. This is much, much better. The original recipe actually calls for farmer’s cheese. If you’re not familiar with farmer’s cheese, it’s kind of a pressed cottage cheese. It’s very firm, grainy and quite tasty. I grew up eating a lot of dishes that use farmer’s cheese, so I’m very familiar with it. As I was planning on making this recipe and sharing it with my readers, I realized that there is probably only a small portion of you who are familiar with farmer’s cheese. So I decided to use ricotta cheese and make the appropriate adjustments for the dough. The doughnuts turned out beautiful!
Don’t even think twice! Make these doughnuts as soon as possible. Make them for your family on Christmas morning and it will be the most hassle-free breakfast that everyone will love. After all, you spend most day on Christmas in the kitchen already.
MORE DOUGHNUT RECIPES TO TRY
Black & White Glazed Doughnuts
Baked Lemon Blueberry Doughnuts from The Recipe Rebel
4 Ingredient Apple Cider Doughnuts from The Food Charlatan
Baked Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Doughnuts from The Gunny Sack
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Easy Ricotta Doughnuts
Ingredients
- 10 oz whole milk ricotta cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp white granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Oil for frying
- Powder sugar for topping
Instructions
- Preheat about 5 cups of oil in a medium sauce pot, over medium to medium-high heat. Heat oil to about 315 degrees. (350 will cook doughnuts too fast on the outside and leave them raw on the inside.)
- Set out a wire rack and cover it with a paper towel or two.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk ricotta, vanilla, sugar and eggs until all incorporated.
- Add flour baking soda and salt. Mix with a rubber spatula until completely mixed throughout.
- Lay out a piece of parchment paper and lightly grease it.
- Grease your hands with some cooking spray as well. Scoop out some dough and make about 1-inch balls. Lay them on the parchment paper while waiting to be fried.
- Fry doughnut balls in batches of about 6 (as fitting to your sauce pot) for 5-7 minutes, until deep golden brown.
- Take out the cooked doughnut balls and place them on a paper towel. After they are cooled for a couple of minutes, dust them with powder sugar.
Video
Notes
Amy says
I love your recipes. My Grandmother used to make these doughnuts when I was little. Haven’t seen them since then. Thanks for the memories.
lyuba says
That’s awesome!!
I hope you’ll try them too 🙂
Thank you!
Joshua Hampton says
What a treat these doughnut holes are. I do love a soft and fluffy doughnut, especially for breakfast.
lyuba says
It’s always a pleasure!
Thank you, Joshua!
Liz says
Yum to all the doughnuts. Thank you. Merry Christmas.
lyuba says
Thank you, Liz!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Jeff says
Holy cow these look amazing. Thank you Lyuba (and thanks to your Mom for the recipe)!
lyuba says
Of course!It’s my pleasure to share.
Thank you, Jeff!
Cass says
They look wonderful, how long do they keep for and how do uou store them? I would love to make these in advance for a party!
lyuba says
Hey Cass!
I actually have not tried storing them. We’ve eaten them within a day every time I’ve made these doughnuts. They do get stale as they sit, just like with any fresh-made doughnuts. I wouldn’t recommend making them much ahead of time, they are best fresh. If you just want to make them a few hours ahead, then it’s best to store them in an air-tight container once they are completely cooled. But again, they are best fresh. I hope you enjoy them! Thank you 🙂
Rosemary says
This looks similar to what is known here in Germany, as quarkbällchen! Thanks for the recipe anyway.😀
Lyuba says
Thank you, Rosemary! I love cultural foods 🙂
rose says
Love the receipe and will give it a go. Could you please let me know if you use plain flour or self raising.
Kind Regards
Rosetta.
Melanie says
These are not very sweet (a good thing!), nice flavor. You add the sweetness from whatever you put on top. I’d recommend cinnamon/sugar instead of the powdered sugar. Does take awhile to fry.
Bonnie says
These look amazing and I look forward to making them. I have one question, how do you measure 10 ounces as ricotta cheese as it comes in 8 or 10 ounce containers? Thank you
Maria says
Can you put jam inside a ricotta donuts?
Lyuba says
Hi, Maria! I’m sorry the late response, but yes you can put jam in them. Just use a pastry filling tip (long and thin) and be careful not to overfilL! Sounds amazing. Good luck!
Karen @ The Food Charlatan says
Wow, these look so good and SO easy. Why don’t I make donut holes more often? So much easier than a shaped donut. I love the ricotta and now I’m really curious about Farmer’s cheese! Where can you find it?
Lyuba says
Thank you, Karen! That’s the goal! Check your local grocery stores. Whole Foods and Publix should carry it. Enjoy!
Judi says
Has anyone tried making these with Gluten Free flour?
Lyuba says
Judi, I’ve been meaning to try it out. Unfortunately, I have not had the chance yet. If you do, please let me know how it goes. Stay tuned!
Lindy says
I make them all the time with gf 1:1 flour either from Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur’s but I find I have to adjust the amount of flour to get the right consistency (not too wet, not too dry). My favorite is finishing them with a pumpkin glaze or match/powdered sugar mix. My family prefers these to any store-bought doughnuts. Great recipe!
LyubaB says
Thank, Lindy! So happy you were able to adjust the recipe so you can still enjoy it! 🙂
Maria says
Thank you for this recipe! It looks delicious. I will be making the Ricotta Doughnuts!!!!!
Josir says
Try putting a few drops of anise oil and have an Italian castinoli. After sprinkling the powdeer sugar drizzle with honey.
lyuba says
Oh I can practically smell it!! Great suggestion 🙂 Thank you!
Amy says
Could these be baked at 350 degrees instead of fried?
Reign says
These were not nice to eat at all. They were bland in taste and very dry. I followed the recipe exactly and made sure not to do anything different because I wanted to have this donut the way others would have it. What a waste of ricotta.
lyuba says
I’m sorry you didn’t like these doughnuts, Reign!
I make these very often and I haven’t had a problem with dryness but you can always fill them. I’ve filled these ricotta doughnuts with lemon curd and cheesecake mixture before. That will definitely add more flavor and moisture. If you’d like to give them another shot, here are some recipes for filled doughnut holes and you can use the same ricotta doughnut recipe of regular doughnut holes recipe:
https://www.willcookforsmiles.com/2017/06/bacon-brown-sugar-cream-doughnut-holes.html
https://www.willcookforsmiles.com/2016/08/lemon-curd-filled-doughnut-holes.html
elisabeth valenti-sorbara says
I have made these twice and if we weren’t trying to watch our “fried” intake i would have them weekly. I buy fresh ricotta weekly as it is a wonderful cheese that is low in fat so when i found this recipe and made them i did not feel so guilty eating them because “they are cheese”.
They were extremely easy to make, they fry so very easily, keep well on a cake plate and dont go soggy although they dont last long enough to go soggy.
I will be making them for friends for our annual Good Friday Lunch
Donna says
Could I used Whole milk in place of Ricotta cheese?
Donna says
Can I use whole milk cottage cheese instead of Ricotta cheese ?
lyuba says
Hi Donna,
I would definitely not substitute cottage cheese for ricotta cheese because it’s a completely different consistency. The result will be quite different 🙂
You can try farmer’s cheese but I’m not 100% sure of the result.
Is there a reason you can’t have ricotta cheese?
Gillian says
Is the recipe correct to use baking soda instead of baking powder?
lyuba says
Hey Gillian!
That’s a very old recipe from my mom but that is the way we always made them 🙂 If you want, you can use baking powder and it won’t hurt it, you may need to increase baking powder to 2 tsps.
I hope you enjoy them!