jadesfood
Are you wondering if there is a recipe for the doughnuts that are vegan but are as good as ordinary ones? These doughnuts are made with no eggs and dairy products but made with tangzhong which is a mixture of bread flour and boiling water to keep the recipe vegan and still taste good.
Since I came across the idea of tangzhong, I have been experimenting with lots of recipes for tangzhong doughnuts because there are quite a few recipes for different kinds of baked goods in Japan where tangzhong was invented. After frying plenty of doughnuts, I finally nailed making the best vegan doughnuts. You won’t realise that they are vegan!
What is Tangzhong?
Tangzhong(湯種) is made by combining some hot water and about 30% of the flour in the recipe to gelatinize the gluten of the flour. This method makes baked goods keep soft and fresh for longer than a standard method. Now, making bread with Tangzhong is widely used in many countries, especially in Korea, Taiwan, and “Japan” where Tangzhong is invented. In Japan, Tangzhong is pronounced as “Yudane” and I don’t know why people outside Japan use the word Tangzhong, not Yudane to describe the roux.
Ingredients You Will Need
Bread flour – This is an essential ingredient for both your tangzhong and dough. Any brand of bread flour is fine.
Boiling water – Hot water is very important for making tangzhong. The water should be over 70C to gelatinize your bread flour properly.
Vegan butter – You can use any vegan butter you like. Always make your butter soft before using it.
Vanilla extract – This is completely optional but because these doughnuts don’t have butter in them, I think they need to be flavoured with something. You can use other spices like nutmeg or mace.
Sugar – The amount of sugar really affects the yeast. Too much sugar disturbs the action of yeast but too little sugar makes your doughnuts quite bland.
Salt – Salt is important even in sweet things. It enhances the flavour of your doughnuts.
For the sugar glaze
Icing sugar – You can find vegan icing sugar nowadays. What I always do is process vegan granulated sugar in a food processor until it becomes powder.
Boiling water – To keep my recipe vegan, I use boiling water to make glaze instead of milk.
Salt & Vanilla – They are optional but I like my glaze to be flavourful.
Tips for Making Vegan Tangzhong Doughnuts
Always use boiling water in your Tangzhong
When you make tangzhong, every bit of your bread flour has to be hydrated with boiling water that is over 70C otherwise, your tangzhong won’t be gelatinized properly and that doesn’t have any meaning of using tangzhong in your doughnuts.
Proof your dough enough
Underproofed dough tends to become tough the next day even if you have made the doughnuts with tangzhong which can keep baked goods soft for long. Please always check your dough if it has become double in size by eye.
Fry your doughnuts at 160-175C(320-347F)
The temperature of your frying oil is really important because if your oil is too high, the doughnuts will burn quickly and still be raw inside but if it’s too low, your doughnuts will be too greasy. The best temperature for frying doughnuts in my opinion is 160-175C which takes about 2 minutes for each side to fry a doughnut.
Q & A
How long do the doughnuts last?
They last at least 2 days at room temperature in an airtight container or a freezer bag.
Can I freeze the doughnuts?
Yes, absolutely! You can freeze the fried doughnuts perfectly. Also, you can freeze cut dough, all you do is place the doughnuts that haven’t been second-proofed in a freezer bag and freeze. You just take them out and do a second proof on the day you want to eat doughnuts.
More Vegan BakedGood Recipes
No knead Black Sesame Babka Buns (Vegan)
No Knead Tangzhong Maple Pecan Sticky Buns (Vegan)
Vegan Chinsuko (Okinawan Shortbread Cookies) ちんすこう
Vegan Tangzhong Doughnuts
Equipment
- 1 Large Pot For frying
Ingredients
For Tangzhong
- 40 g Bread Flour
- 60 g Boiling Water
For the Doughnuts
- 160 g Bread Flour
- 30 g Sugar
- 3 g Active Dry Yeast
- ½ tsp Salt
- 90-100 ml Plant Based Milk ( room temperature )
- 20 g Vegan Butter
- some Bread Flour For flouring
For the Sugar Glaze
- 150 g Icing Sugar
- 35 g Boiling Water
- 1 pinch Salt
- ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
Instructions
For the Tangzhong
- Put 40g flour and 60mil boiling water and mix well to haydrate every bit of flour. It looks like lumpy mashed potato. Leave it for about 30min.
For the Dough
- In a bowl of stand mixer, put flour, sugar and yeast. Put salt in the opposite side of yeast and pour the milk. Beat the dough for about 3 minutes before adding tangzhong and beat the dough again until it becomes elastic and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Add the vegan butter and beat the dough until it becomes shiny.You can make the dough by hand. Please knead your dough at least 15minutes.
- Lightly grease a large bowl with oil and place your dough. Cover the bowel with a damp tea towel and let the dough rise at room temperature for 1-2 hours or until double in size. You can check if it's finised proofing by poking your floured forefinger into your dough. If the hole keep it's shape and doesn't spring back, it's done.
- Punch the dough to release the gas trapped in the dough and tip it onto the floured surface and roll it to about 1/2 inch thick with a floured rolling pin. Cut your dough with doughnut cutter. You can reroll your scraps and cut again.
- Grease a tray with oil and place your doughnuts and cover them with a clean towel. Leave them at room temperature for about 1 hour or until they become plump. Push the dough with your forefinger softly. If it sprangs back quickly, the dough is not ready yet.
- Once your dough has finished second proof, fry them in hot oil at 160-175C (320-347F) until golden brown.
For the Glaze
- Sift the icing sugar in a bowl and pour the boiling water. Whisk it until smooth and dip your doughnuts and sit them on a wire rack. Leave the doughnuts until the glaze has set. If you eat them next day, put them in an airtight container or a freezer bag to prevent them from drying. They can be frozen perfectly up to 1 months.
