Doughnut Facts for Kids

Two plain glazed doughnuts

A doughnut (spelled donut in American English) is a type of deep fried dessert food made out of dough or batter.

How they are made
Types of doughnut
Serving
Health problems
Pictures
Related pages
Images for kids
See also

How they are made

Ring doughnuts being deep fried in a pan

Ring doughnuts are made by joining the ends of a long, thin piece of dough into a ring or by using a doughnut cutter, which perfectly cuts the outside and inside shape, leaving a doughnut-shaped piece of dough and a doughnut hole from dough removed from the center. This smaller piece of dough can be cooked or re-added to the batch to make more doughnuts. A disk-shaped doughnut can also be stretched and molded into a torus until the center breaks to form a hole. Or, a doughnut depositor can be used to place a circle of liquid dough (batter) into the deep fryer. Doughnuts can be made from a yeast-based dough for more puffy doughnuts or a special type of cake batter. Yeast-raised doughnuts contain about 25% oil by weight, whereas cake doughnuts' oil content is around 20%, but they have extra fat in the batter before frying. Cake doughnuts are fried for about 90 seconds at about 190 °C to 198 °C, turning once. Yeast-raised doughnuts absorb more oil because they take longer to fry, about 150 seconds, at 182 °C to 190 °C. Cake doughnuts normally weigh between 24 g and 28 g, whereas yeast-raised doughnuts normally are 38 g and are mostly larger when finished. Some types of cake doughnuts are also baked, as opposed to fried, which greatly reduces the fat content.

Types of doughnut

Bite-sized doughnuts called "doughnut holes"

The two most common types of doughnut are ring doughnuts, which are shaped like rings, and filled doughnuts, which are round and have jam, jelly, custard, whipped cream, or chocolate inside them. There are also "doughnut holes" or "munchkins" which come in the shape of small balls. Most doughnuts have an icing (also called a "frosting") made with icing sugar, water, and flavourings (such as chocolate). Some doughnuts are rolled in sweet foods such as sugar or shredded coconut.

Serving

Doughnuts are often eaten in the morning, along with a cup of hot coffee. Doughnuts are sold at doughnut shops, bakeries, or grocery stores. People also eat doughnuts as a dessert, or as a snack.

Health problems

Doughnuts can cause health problems if they are eaten too often. One of these problems is that doughnuts contain a large amount of fat. Eating too much fat can lead to clogged arteries. When the arteries get clogged, blood does not go through them easily. Also, doughnuts contain a large amount of sugar and white flour, which are turned into fat when they come inside our body. Doughnuts are a health concern in Canada where each person eats more doughnuts per year than any other country.

Pictures

Traditional Polish "doughnuts"
Doughnuts from the Czech Republic
Frosting and colored sprinkles on doughnuts
Doughnuts being cooked in a deep fryer
Glazed doughtnuts being made at a Krispy Kreme factory

Images for kids

A variety of doughnuts
Doughnuts in a display case at a coffee shop
An animated sucrose molecule, which is a disaccharide, responsible for the sweetness of a doughnut
Balushahi from India
An-doughnut filled with red bean paste from Japan
Buñuelos with ube filling from the Philippines
A Finnish lihapiirakka
German Berliner
An Italian zeppola
Oliebollen: Dutch doughnuts
Polish pączki
Ukrainian pampushky filled with sour cherries
Fried "Rosquillas" from Asturias, Spain
Two shop-bought lightly glazed yum-yums on a plate. On average they are 12–14 cm (4.7–5.5 in) in length.
Puntarenas' cream-filled doughnuts
Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts
Powdered, glazed and chocolate doughnuts from a variety pack sold at supermarkets
Donuts being sold
Elegant doughnut served at a wedding breakfast in Miami Beach
Chocolate-frosted doughnut
Zoolbia and bamiyeh
Israeli sufganiyot in a wide variety of toppings at a bakery in Tel Aviv, Israel
South Korean policemen eating doughnuts; policemen liking doughnuts is a common stereotype in some places.
New York police officers in a Dunkin' Donuts in the East Village

Doughnut facts for kids

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