13 doughnut recipes

Traditional Slovak yeast doughnuts enriched with egg yolks, butter, and a hint of lemon rind. Light, pillowy fried dough rooted in Eastern European baking traditions. Makes 36.

Shisky are Eastern European yeast doughnuts spiked with rum or whiskey, double-risen, deep-fried to golden perfection, and dusted with powdered sugar. Light, pillowy, and just a little boozy.

Deep-fried pumpkin doughnuts with buttermilk, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger, rolled in sugar while still warm. Tender, spiced, and golden crisp outside.

French Canadian date doughnuts (beignets) with chopped dates, nutmeg, and lemon extract, dropped by the spoonful into hot oil and fried golden in 3 minutes. From the Quebec kitchen tradition.

Homemade banana doughnuts deep-fried until golden and tossed in cinnamon sugar while still warm. Made from scratch with mashed bananas and nutmeg. Ready in 30 minutes, makes a dozen.

Pumpkin cake doughnuts with bran flakes and pumpkin pie spice, deep-fried until golden and rolled in cinnamon sugar. A spiced fall doughnut made from scratch with real pumpkin.

New Orleans-style French Market beignets cut into squares, deep-fried golden, and buried in powdered sugar. Make-ahead yeast dough that chills overnight and improves over a week in the fridge.

Double chocolate cake doughnuts made from scratch with unsweetened chocolate and buttermilk, then fried and topped with cocoa icing. Rich, cakey, and worth the overnight chill.

New Orleans beignets are pillowy square yeast doughnuts, deep-fried until golden and puffed, then buried in confectioners' sugar. The iconic French Quarter treat, best eaten piping hot.

Classic Spudnuts: fluffy potato doughnuts made with real mashed potatoes and yeast, fried golden and dipped in a powdered sugar glaze. This big-batch recipe makes about 100 doughnuts that freeze beautifully.

Old-fashioned sour milk jumbles cut with a doughnut cutter and sprinkled with sugar straight from the oven. Buttermilk and nutmeg give these ring-shaped cookies a tender crumb and warm spice.

Classic Midwestern longjohns: rectangular yeast-raised doughnuts fried golden and topped with a cooked brown-sugar maple frosting. Old-school bakery comfort.

Sure, you can buy ready-made pizza dough, but often it contains quite a bit of fat and sometimes it’s hydrogenated. This dough is an easy, no-hassle alternative. It takes about five minutes to put together in the food processor, and it’s easy to stretch or roll out. The dough recipe makes enough for two 14-inch pizzas (or three very thin 10- to 12-inch pizzas). You can roll all of it out and freeze what you don’t use, so long as it’s wrapped airtight.