Ah Valentine’s Day! Tis the season to fall in love, or celebrate being in love! Yes, love is all around, as the song goes. Even if it isn’t, that’s still no excuse not to bake a Valentine’s Day treat. These heart-shaped mini sugar doughnuts are always worth making. They are an easy cinnamon roll hack that creates a cute mini doughnut recipe that we can all use to make an easy Valentine’s treat.
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Doughnuts are not only the perfect Valentine’s Day treat. They are also one of the most indulgent, satisfying treats ever!
They are the perfect combination of sweet, sticky and chewy to satisfy any craving. Getting cravings yet?
A mini doughnut recipe is nice because it means you are allowed to have more than one! It’s Valentine’s Day – who’s counting! And even novice cooks will find our mini doughnut recipe straightforward. You only need a few ingredients and a heart shaped cookie cutter.
Doughnuts or Donuts?
The spelling of ‘doughnut’ is the traditional one, although ‘donut’ is an alternative spelling, often seen in the United States. No matter whether you spell them as the traditional doughnut or the shortened donut, everyone knows what you are talking about. Do you say doughnut or donut? Personally, I am a doughnut person and will use that spelling here.
If you have never made your own doughnuts before, you are in for a treat. Warm from the oven, these are indescribably good.
You might also like 15 Reasons Why I Love my Dog & He’s my Best Valentine, Gluten Free Sugar Cookies for Valentine’s Day or Gluten Free Linzer Cookies for Valentine’s Day.
Heart shaped mini sugar doughnuts are perfect for February. When the weather is less than stellar and you are still missing the recent festive season, these doughnuts can cheer the soul.
They are yummy with a cup of tea or coffee – whichever is your preference. These mini doughnuts can also be wrapped up in a pretty package as a Valentine’s Day treat for your love or for friends or family. These mini sugar doughnut holes make a cheap and unique Valentines idea. They are beyond cute and oh so tasty!
Mini Sugar Doughnut Holes Recipe
Heart Shaped Mini Sugar Doughnut Holes
Ingredients
- 1 Can cinnamon rolls dough pre-made
- canola oil for frying
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 Tbsp. cinnamon
- 2 Cups icing sugar
- 1/4 Cup milk warmed
- 4 Oz. cream cheese
- 1/2 Cup strawberries
- 2 Tbsp. icing sugar
- 1 Tbsp. whipping cream
- 1 Tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a dutch oven or saucepan, heat 2” of canola oil to 350 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix granulated sugar with cinnamon. In a separate bowl, whisk powdered sugar and warm milk.
- Lightly flour a flat surface area or cutting board. Separate the biscuits and roll flat with a rolling pin to about ½” thick. Use a 2” heart shaped cookie cutter to cut dough into small hearts.
- Carefully drop the hearts into the canola oil and fry for 1 minute per side. Remove from oil and place on a paper towel lined plate to drain excess oil.
- Place donuts on a wire rack over a cookie sheet or covered surface to catch any spills. Brush donuts with glaze, then dip both sides in cinnamon sugar mixture. It is best to do one at a time so the glaze does not set before dipping.
- Repeat with all donuts.
- To make the dip: Add cream cheese, strawberries, sugar, whipping cream, and vanilla extract to a food processor or blender. Pulse for 15 to 20 seconds, or until smooth.
- Serve the mini heart shaped donuts with dip and enjoy!
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Cinnamon Roll Hack
These mini heart shaped doughnut holes are made with a can of cinnamon rolls dough. These super easy cinnamon roll hack makes creating these Valentine’s treats so easy. In fact, you can make these in less than half an hour.
History of Doughnuts
The earliest doughnuts can be traced back to the Dutch. They made ‘olykoek’ (oily cake) and actually still eat that on New Year’s Eve. Dutch settlers introduced these little delights to New York in the early 1700s, which was called New Amsterdam back then. The sweetened dough was fried in hog’s fat and known as olykoek or dough-nuts.
By the mid-1800s, doughnuts looked and tasted like today’s versions. There were still no heart shaped mini sugar donuts. Instead they were round or roundish, or even round with a hole.
So why do doughnuts often have a hole in the middle? This might have started off as a way to ensure the doughnuts cooked all the way though. Nobody wanted an undercooked, stodgy part in the center.
Today there are many types of doughnut varieties available, and even shops dedicated to selling only doughnuts. Frosted, powdered, glazed, sour cream, chocolate, jelly, custard, and Boston cream are just some available varieties.
In fact, fancy doughnuts are so popular, the plain kind are often sold as ‘old fashioned’. Another variation is the ‘spudnut’ or potato doughnut, but that isn’t usually the best Valentine’s Day treat!
Tip and Tricks for Perfect Doughnuts
If you are going to make these heart shaped mini sugar doughnuts, you will want to ensure they come out as perfect as possible.
The dough needs to be smooth and just a little bit sticky. If the heart shaped mini sugar doughnuts dough is too sticky, you can sprinkle with a little bit of flour.
If you are a fan of this cinnamon roll hack, you might also like these Super Easy Pumpkin Shaped Cinnamon Rolls.
This step is completely optional for this cinnamon roll hack mini doughnut recipe, but you can choose to let the dough rise for about half an hour somewhere warm. This can be on top of the refrigerator, in a sunny spot on the windowsill or even on the countertop if the kitchen is warm.
Cooking the doughnuts is the easy part because there is no guesswork involved with this mini doughnut recipe. When baking a cake in the oven you will hope it cooks perfectly – not too little or too much.
When frying doughnuts though, you can see them cook. This means you can see when your heart shaped mini sugar doughnuts change from pasty off-white to golden brown. As soon as they are golden brown, that means they are done!
Roll them in the cinnamon coating as soon as they are done, so it sticks properly, then let them cool down. Don’t bite into one until they have at least cooled partially. They can be piping hot inside.
Can You Fill These Doughnuts?
Heart shaped mini sugar doughnuts are typically not filled. This is mainly because they are small to begin with. However if you want to go the extra mile and fill them, go ahead. I would suggest Nutella!
You can use two parts Nutella to one part heavy cream, and pipe it in using a pastry bag. You might want to save this for larger doughnuts though, since it is far less fiddly with those!
Maybe you will choose to enjoy these heart shaped mini sugar doughnuts with the kids. This mini doughnut recipe is also nice with coffee after a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner. Although making them heart shaped is a great Valentine’s Day treat, they are too good to only enjoy in February!
Let me know if you try these mini doughnuts which are an easy cinnamon roll hack for Valentine’s Day! If you are looking for a heart shaped meal, try this Homemade Gluten Free Heart Shaped Pizza or make this Strawberry Sour Candy Cocktail For Valentine’s Day . Don’t forget to take a photo and look up some sweet Valentine’s Day Instagram captions to go along with it.
These heart-shaped donuts are such a nice idea especially as Valentine’s Day is coming up. I will try to make them with my kids.
Mini cinnamon sugar donuts! Yes, please!! My son and I will be fighting over these! Lol
It’s so cute. My friends would definitely love this for Galentine’s.
oooooh yummy – I love donut holes. Will have to surprise the hubs with these in the morning. Thank you
This looks like such a yummy recipe for me to try out! I can’t wait to give it a go myself, thank you!
These look so yummy and they come in such a fun shape!