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These super light and airy cruller doughnuts are surprisingly easy to make and totally impossible to resist! Fluffy and crispy crullers are made by frying choux dough, and are a must-try if you haven’t made them before.
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Chocolate Glazed Crullers
French crullers are famous for their fluted rings and light airy texture. Cruller comes from the Dutch word krulle, which means twisted cake. Thus, your finished result should resemble a golden brown pinwheel.
These chocolate glazed crullers have a light and airy texture kind of like a cake. The center is moist and delicious, and the exterior is perfectly crisp. With a delicious homemade chocolate glaze, they are melt-in-your-mouth good!
How To Make Crullers with Chocolate Glaze
Making crullers is all about the baking ingredients. For this recipe, you’ll need ingredients for both the doughnut and the glaze. Here’s what you need:
- Flour– Do not use your measuring cup to scoop the flour. Instead, spoon the flour into the measuring cup, and then level it off with a butter knife. Packing the flour will result in too much flour being used.
- Milk– I use whole milk, but you can use any milk that you prefer.
- Sugar– Unlike flour, you can use the measuring cup to scoop and pack your sugar.
- Eggs– For baking, eggs work best at room temperature. Place them on the counter for about 30-minutes prior to using them.
- Semisweet chocolate– You’ll be melting the chocolate so make sure to get melting wafers or morsels not chocolate chips.
- Unsalted butter– The butter will melt quicker if you have it softened first. Set it on the counter with your eggs 30-minutes before using it.
- Powdered sugar– You cannot use granulated sugar for the glaze. Granulated sugar will not mix well and give you an unappealing texture.
- Sprinkles– Totally optional, sprinkles add a little color and texture to your finished doughnut.
- Water– You will need water for both the batter and the glaze.
Follow the steps below for a delicious breakfast treat!
- First, combine the milk, water, butter, sugar, and salt in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan.
- Then, cook the mixture over medium heat until the butter melts and it just begins to boil. Remove from the heat.
- Next, add the flour to the butter mixture and beat until well combined.
- Turn the heat back on and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring it vigorously the entire time. As you stir, the mixture will form a ball and begin to come away from the side of the saucepan.
- Once the ball forms, remove it from the heat and transfer it to a mixing bowl. Set it to the side for 15-minutes to cool.
- Using a stand mixer with a fitted paddle attachment, mix the dough while adding 2 eggs. Beat on medium until the eggs are fully incorporated.
- Add your last egg and beat on medium until fully incorporated.
- Finally, add the egg white and beat again until fully incorporated.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place the dough in the fridge to chill for 10-minutes.
- While it is chilling, cut out 15 3×3 inch squares of parchment paper.
- Fill a heavy-bottomed saucepan or dutch oven with 3-4 inches of oil and heat to 350-370?.
- Once you have everything prepped, remove the dough from the refrigerator and transfer it to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip.
- Hold the pastry bag vertically over one of the parchment squares. Then, pipe and even circle of dough, just making the ends meet.
- Very gently place the cruller onto a metal slotted spoon with the parchment paper. Low it into the hot oil.
- Fry the crullers for 6-minutes, turning to ensure an even cooking.
Pro Tip: You can fry 3-4 crullers at one time, removing the paper with tongs after 1-minute and flipping the crullers over.
- Remove each cruller from the oil and allow them to drain on a wire rack. Let them cool before glazing.
- To make the glaze, put the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for about 40-60 seconds, or until the chocolate and butter are melted and smooth.
- Stir the powdered sugar into the melted butter and chocolate. Beat the mixture, adding small amounts of hot water until thinned as desired.
- Once the crullers are cool, dunk them one at a time into the glaze. Allow the additional glaze to drip off, and then place them back on the wire rack to cool.
- Top with sprinkles if you choose and enjoy!
Tips and Tricks to Perfect Crullers
- Use a large star tip. The tip has to be wide enough for the dough to get through. I would suggest using a French Star Pastry Tip .69” for best results.
- You can fry 3-4 crullers at one time, removing the paper with tongs after 1-minute and flipping the crullers over.
- Crullers should be a golden brown before removing them from the oil.
- Add sprinkles right after you glaze so they stick to the cruller as they cool and the glaze hardens.
FAQs
For best results, you will want to fry your crullers in oil that is 350-370?. Keep a thermometer close by and check the oil temperature periodically. Turn the heat down or up to adjust.
Between making the dough, chilling the dough, and piping it into circular shapes, it will take you 40-minutes to prep the crullers. Then, it will take an additional 30-minutes of cooking time to make all of them. You should have them ready to enjoy in about 1 hour and 10 minutes.
French crullers are best eaten the day they are made. So, only make many as what will be eaten. If you can’t eat all of them, you can keep them uncovered at room temperature overnight. Throw them out after 1-day.
Doughnuts are typically made with flour and yeast, so they are tender with a slight fermented flavor and sweet to the taste. Crullers on the other hand, are made with flour and eggs and have a soft airy texture with a pleasant egg-like flavor. The sweetness comes from the glaze instead of the dough.
More Doughnut Recipes You’ll Love
Crullers are a different type of doughnut, but I love doughnuts of all varieties. They are the perfect grab-and-go breakfast. If you love a quick and easy breakfast, try my Pumpkin Spice Baked Doughnuts, 10-Minute Baked Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Holes, or my Easy Powdered Sugar Doughnut Holes.
Chocolate Glazed Crullers Recipe
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Crullers With Chocolate Glaze
Equipment
Ingredients
Crullers
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon milk
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon water
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 1 egg white
Chocolate Glaze
- 1 oz semisweet chocolate
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1-2 teaspoons hot water
- ½ cup powdered sugar sifted
- sprinkles
Instructions
- In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the milk, water, butter, sugar, and salt. Cook, stirring, until butter melts and mixture just comes to the boil.
- Remove from heat. Add all the flour to the butter mixture at once, beat until well combined.
- Return the pan to heat and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring vigorously the entire time. The mixture will form a ball and begin to come away from the side of the saucepan.
- Remove from heat and transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl if using a handheld mixer. Set aside for 15 minutes to cool.
- Mix the dough while adding 2 eggs. Beat on medium speed until the eggs have been fully incorporated. Add the third egg. Beat on medium until fully incorporated. Then add the egg white. Beat once again until fully incorporated.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Cut out 15 3*3-inch squares of parchment paper.
- Fill a heavy-bottomed saucepan or cast iron dutch oven with about 3-4 inches of oil. Heat to 350-370°F.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and transfer it into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Holding the pastry bag vertically over one of the parchment squares, pipe an even circle of dough, just making ends meet.
- Gently place a cruller onto a slotted spoon, along with its paper, and lower it into the hot oil. Fry the crullers 3 or 4 at a time, removing the paper with tongs after 1 minute and flipping them over. Fry for approximately 6 minutes, turning to ensure even cooking, until golden brown.
- Remove from the oil and allow to drain on the wire rack. Cool before glazing.
- To make the glaze, put the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for about 40-60 seconds, or until the chocolate and butter are melted and smooth. Stir the powdered sugar into the melted butter and chocolate. Beat the mixture, adding small amounts of hot water until thinned as desired.
- Dunk one cruller at a time in the glaze, allow the additional glaze to drip off, and then place on the wire rack. Top with sprinkles.
- Enjoy!
