Mashed Potato Donuts are delicious, light and oh, so good! These little nuggets have all the good stuff inside. After you make the dough, you cut out circles and donut holes and fry them in oil. Once done, you dunk them in a bowl of cinnamon sugar.

Mashed Potato Donuts (Spudnuts) are a tasty treat you can make from left over mashed potatoes. Is it really possible to make donuts from left over mashed potatoes? Yes, yes it is! This is a fun dessert to make when you need to use up some mashed potatoes hanging out in your refrigerator. This recipe makes about 20 donuts and you need 1 1/2 cups of mashed potatoes.

Some people are surprised these donuts have mashed potatoes in them because you cannot taste them. But then again, when something has flour and sugar and you deep fry it, I mean, come on, that alone is enough to have any dessert taste fabulous. But, that is not enough. Now you are going to dunk it in a bowl of cinnamon sugar. Everyone loves these Mashed Potato Donuts.

These are a creation from my youth. When I was young, my family often shopped in a nearby city that had a Spudnut bakery where all the donuts were made from potatoes. I have very fond memories of going there and eating these tasty treats.

How to Make Mashed Potato Donuts (Spudnuts)

1. Get the yeast started. To make sure you don’t kill yeast, use a thermometer to measure the temperature of the warm buttermilk. Place the yeast and sugar in a large bowl. Pour the warm buttermilk over the top and stir. I warmed the cold buttermilk for 40 seconds in the microwave on high. It was the perfect temperature. You always want any liquid you are adding to yeast to be between 105° and 120°.

2. Mix the yeast, sugar and buttermilk together with a spoon. It will take the yeast about 3-4 minutes before it starts to foam. This is when you want to add 2 cups of sugar into the bowl. The other cup of sugar will be used at the end when it is mixed with the cinnamon.

3. Add the eggs and beat everything together.

4. Add mashed potatoes, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. If you do not have any butter in your mashed potatoes, add 1/3 cup of melted butter at this time. Make sure it is not hotter than 120° or it will kill the yeast. These donuts need extra help so you also need to add baking powder, baking soda and salt. The nutmeg is a perfect compliment to the cinnamon and sugar at the end.

I have a great mashed potato recipe if you are interested. They are called Can’t Put My Fork Down Mashed Potatoes.

5. Add flour one cup at a time. After adding three cups of flour, change out the beaters for the kneading arm on a stand mixer. If you don’t have a stand mixer, the dough will start to get very thick. You can pour the dough on a clean surface and work the rest of the flour in by hand. This dough does not need to be kneaded, so once the flour is incorporated, you can go to the next step.

6. Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours. This dough does not really rise. So, don’t be surprised when you pull it out of the refrigerator and it is the same size. When you put the dough in the oil, they will puff up.

These donuts are more of cake donut than a yeast donut, even though there is yeast in them.

7. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and place it on a clean surface. Divide the dough into two pieces and roll each out to a large circle on a floured surface. You want the dough to be about 1/2 inch thick. Using round cookie cutters, press out the big donuts and then use a smaller round cookie cutter to cut the centers out. To be honest, the donut holes are my favorite. Just a quick bite to satisfy my sweet tooth.

8. Place the oil in a large frying pan or in an electric skillet. If you use an electric skillet, you can regulate the temperature a little better, but both work. These donuts turn dark very fast if the oil is too hot. I used a digital thermometer to keep the temperature at 350°. At first the dough sinks to the bottom and the donuts cook on both sides. Later, they start to float to the top and you need to turn them. I used two chopsticks and they worked great.

Cinnamon Sugar Makes Everything Taste Better.

9. Mix one cup of sugar with one teaspoon of cinnamon. Put this in a bowl with a larger opening so it is easy to get the donuts in and out of the bowl. I used a shallow cereal bowl.

10. Place several paper towels next to the frying pan. As the donuts get done, pull them out and drain them on the towels. While the donuts are hot, dip them in the cinnamon sugar mixture and transfer to another plate.

11. Continue to cook the rest of the cut donuts. Drain them and dust in cinnamon sugar.

12. Roll out the second dough and repeat until all the donuts are cooked.

Let me know on Instagram or Facebook if you make these. Post a picture and tag me @dinasdiner.