Lemon Thyme Donuts
These Lemon Thyme donuts are made with ricotta cheese which makes them extra light and fluffy. They are topped with a tart lemon glaze and garnished with fresh thyme and lemon zest!
These Lemon Thyme Donuts will be your new favorite donut. They come together so quickly, and are baked which means no fryer required!
The ricotta cheese in the donuts makes them super light and fluffy and then they are dipped in a tart lemon glaze, that is so good you could eat it by itself with a spoon! I like to dip the donuts twice and double glaze them, thats how delicious this icing is.
As with most donut recipe, these lemon thyme donuts are definitely best the day they are made. As they sit, they will become dense, so I recommend baking and glazing right before you plan on serving them.
Tips on making this recipe perfectly
Spray your donut pan generously with non stick cooking spray. This will help the donuts release easily after they are baked.
Once the donuts come out of the oven remove them from the pan immediately. Keep in mind, they will still be fragile during this state, so carefully pop them out of the donut pan. If they sit in the donut pan as they cool, the steam will absorb back into the donut and will make it dense.
Do not over mix the donut batter. Once you combine the liquid ingredients into the dry, mix until just combined. Over mixing the batter will develop too much gluten and make the donuts tough
Use fresh lemon juice. Try to stay away from the bottled lemon juice as often as possible. It has a much more bitter and acidic flavor and will effect the final flavor of your product. Fresh is always better!
If you aren’t a fan of thyme, you can leave it out completely or substitute another dried herb. Dried basil or rosemary would also pair nicely in this recipe.
Cool the donuts completely before glazing. If the donuts are too hot the glaze will melt and drip off.
Lemon Thyme Donuts
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 TBL cornstarch
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 3 TBL unsalted butter, melted
- 2 TBL lemon zest
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 TBL fresh lemon juice
- Fresh thyme and lemon zest for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a donut pan with non stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium bowl combine the flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and dried thyme.
- In another bowl combine the milk, ricotta, eggs, butter, and zest.
- Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined.
- Spoon or pipe the donut batter into the molds, you should get exactly 12 donuts with a 1x batch.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
- Carefully un mold the donuts from the pan and place onto a cooling rack.
- Once cool, stir together the powdered sugar and lemon juice to make the glaze.
- Dip the donuts into the glaze and garnish with fresh thyme and lemon zest.
Notes
These donuts are best served the day they are made.