Easy Donut Holes You Can Make at Home • Always Moving Mommy

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Donuts are one of my kids favorite treats. But finding donuts (or a donut shop) that they all agree on isn’t an easy task. One is all about the icing and sprinkles. Another is all about super plain and classic. The last one is all about his favorites. These easy donut holes are great to make at home because everyone can customize them however they’d like. If your kids are old enough, this is something they could make on their own, which makes this recipe even better!

Do you have to fry these donut holes?

Now the recipe below is for making these easy donut holes in an air fryer. If you don’t have one yet, give these a try in the oven (or toaster oven) or frying them the old fashioned way. However you decide to cook them, they’re going to be delicious.

What do I need to make these donut holes at home?

I’m not kidding when I say these are super easy to make. You’ve probably got most everything on hand. Because they use premade crescent rolls, you don’t have to worry about making any kind of dough or waiting for it to rise or anything like that when you’re making these easy donut holes at home.

Here’s what you need to make your donut holes at home:

Crescent rolls
Pie filling in your favorite flavor (or another filling – get creative!)
Powdered sugar (to roll your donut holes in or to make a glaze or icing if you’d rather do that)
Cooking spray (if you’re using the air fryer or baking in the oven)

Start out by opening the crescent rolls and spreading them all out. This is a great step for the kids to help out with. Mine always fight over who gets to open the tube of dough. If everyone is making their own flavored donut holes, use plates or cutting boards to keep everyone’s dough separated while they’re working on their creations.

This next step might just be the hardest part of the entire recipe. You’ve got to have some restraint when filling your donut holes. There should be enough filling that you can taste it when biting into it, but not too much so the donut hole doesn’t explode when you’re making it.

After you’ve got filling ready for all your donut holes, it’s time to roll them into balls so they look like real donut holes. Make sure all the edges are sealed to keep that yummy filling on the inside where it belongs. Don’t squish the whole ball too much when you’re rolling them up. You’ll still want them to puff up a bit when they’re cooking without being too doughy.

Once these easy donut holes are all rolled up, it’s time to cook them. For your air fryer, it’ll take 5 – 10 minutes on 350 degrees.

Try the same temperature and time when you’re using the oven. Because a crescent roll doesn’t get a crunchy outside when you make them the normal way, you can try spraying a little cooking spray on the tops before putting them into the oven. Brushing them with a little melted butter can help to give you a bit more crust on the outside. One more tip for baking them – if you’re worried they won’t hold their round shape, consider baking them in a cupcake pan or use a cake pop pan or maker if you have one of those. If that round shape isn’t important, then just get them on that cookie sheet and into the oven.

If you’re going to fry them, be sure your oil is hot before adding your easy donut holes in. Watch them while they’re frying. They made need to be flipped over and they won’t take long to cook at all. Overcooking can lead to oily donut holes which won’t be nearly as good.

Once they’re finished baking or frying, it’s time to add toppings – but only if you want to. To keep these easy donut holes simple, roll them in some powdered sugar to add a little extra sweetness.

If your filling lends to more of a glaze on the outside of your donut holes, put some powdered sugar into a small bowl and add a tiny bit of milk or melted butter until it’s the thin consistency you’re looking for to drizzle over the donut holes. You can also dip them right into the glaze and dry on a cooling rack so the excess glaze drains off.

When your donut holes need more of an icing, add a little less butter or milk to your bowl of powdered sugar so you have a thicker consistency. Again, you can drizzle the icing on or dip the donut holes into the icing.

Add a touch of flavor to your glaze or icing by adding in a few drops of your favorite flavorings and extracts. My go tos for something like this would be vanilla, almond extract, or even peppermint extract. Since you’re only making a little bit of glaze or icing, you’ll only need a tiny bit so it’s not too overpowering.

This would also be the time to add any sprinkles or other decorations to your easy donut holes. Simple is great but there’s nothing wrong with adding a little sparkle and bling to your breakfast. (If you wanted your decorations to be part of the donut hole, add your sprinkles or sanding sugar to the dough by rolling the donut holes before you cook them.)

Ok this step is probably the second hardest step – waiting for these donut holes to cool off so you can eat them! They’re great on their own but would be a delicious addition to a breakfast buffet or served with some yogurt and fruit. And there’s no judgement if you just munch on the donut holes all on their own.