Donuts are typically divided into two categories: yeast donuts and cake donuts. Yeast donuts also called raised donuts, are made from a dough that rises with yeast, surprisingly enough. Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme are the yeast variety. Cake donuts, on the other hand, are made from a sweetened dough that rises with baking powder. While yeast donuts have that classic donut shop flavor, they are time-consuming to make, and the yeast doesn’t always cooperate. Cake donuts, on the other hand, are the fool-proof option for beginner donut bakers.

To make the perfect homemade cake donut holes, you will need:

It’s actually quite simple to figure out whether or not oil is at the ideal temperature for deep frying, 350 degrees F, even without a thermometer.

This recipe makes about 24 generously sized donut holes.

Frying your donut holes is optional. If you want to bake your donut holes instead, fill the cups of a mini muffin pan ⅔ full of batter and bake at 375 degrees F for about 10 to 12 minutes. A word of warning: once you take the frying out of the equation, you’re basically making cupcakes, not donut holes!

If you want to take your homemade donut holes to the next level, pour a cup of granulated sugar into a shallow dish or bowl and add cinnamon to taste. Drop your hot donut holes directly into the cinnamon sugar mixture immediately after frying, and toss them to coat, before transferring them to the rack for cooling.

If you want to send your donut holes to chocolate heaven, first allow them to cool a bit and then dip them into warm chocolate sauce. For a fancier effect, you can drizzle the cooled donut holes with the chocolate sauce instead. Chocolate sauce recipe: ½ cup of semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped ¼ cup of heavy cream Add chopped chocolate to a mixing bowl, then heat the heavy cream in a saucepan until it’s simmering. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate in the mixing bowl and let it sit for five minutes. Once the chocolate is completely melted, whisk until the sauce is glossy and smooth.

You have to let your donut holes cool completely before adding any filling, but the wait will be worth it! Prepare your piping bag with cooled raspberry filling, and using the piping tip, carefully poke a hole into the center of the donut and pipe the sauce into the hole. Raspberry filling recipe: 8 ounces of raspberry jam ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract Heat raspberry jam in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the jam reaches a saucy consistency. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the vanilla extract. Allow the raspberry sauce to cool for 10 minutes before piping.