History

Pennsylvania Dutch doughnut traditions go back to the 18th century, when the Amish and Mennonite communities of Lancaster County developed dense, lard-fried yeast doughnuts. Beiler's Doughnuts, run by a Lancaster Amish family at Reading Terminal Market since 1989, sells the canonical Philadelphia version. Federal Donuts and Five Daughters Bakery have built modern Philadelphia doughnut shops but the Beiler's hand-cut, hand-glazed Amish original remains the city's reference.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Egg

Make it at home

Yield 12Hands-on 45 minTotal 3 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 500g bread flour
  • 10g instant dried yeast
  • 80g caster sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 240ml warm whole milk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 60g unsalted butter softened
  • 1L lard or vegetable shortening for frying (lard is canonical)
  • For the maple glaze: 300g powdered sugar, 60ml pure maple syrup, 30ml whole milk, pinch of salt
  • For the chocolate glaze: 200g semisweet chocolate chopped, 60ml heavy cream, 30g butter
  • For the raspberry cream filling: 200ml heavy cream whipped, 100g raspberry jam

Method

  1. Combine flour, yeast, sugar, salt and nutmeg. Add warm milk, eggs and soft butter. Knead 10 minutes to a smooth elastic dough.
  2. Cover and prove 1.5 hours until doubled.
  3. Roll the dough on a floured surface to 1.5cm thick.
  4. Cut 8cm rounds with a doughnut cutter, keeping the cut holes for separate frying. (Or cut full rounds for filled doughnuts.)
  5. Place on lined trays, cover loosely, and prove 30 to 45 minutes more until puffy.
  6. Heat the lard in a deep heavy pan to 175C.
  7. Fry the doughnuts in batches of 3, 90 seconds per side until deep golden. Lift to paper towels.
  8. For the maple glaze: whisk all ingredients to a smooth pourable glaze.
  9. For the chocolate glaze: warm cream and pour over chocolate; stir to smooth, whisk in butter.
  10. Dip the warm doughnuts in either glaze, return to a rack to set.
  11. For the filled raspberry version: fold the jam through the whipped cream. Use a piping bag with a long nozzle to inject 2 tablespoons into the side of each whole (unholed) doughnut. Dust with icing sugar.

Tip from the editors. Lard is the canonical frying medium for Amish doughnuts and gives a flavour vegetable oil cannot match. The Beiler's signature is a thin maple glaze.

Where to eat philly amish doughnuts

Philly Amish doughnuts in Philadelphia

Beiler's Doughnuts ★ 4.5

$ Dutch

Beiler's Doughnuts in Philadelphia is the Pennsylvania Dutch Reading Terminal Market bakery since 1984, with hand-cut yeasted doughnuts for 3 dollars.

TryHand-cut yeasted doughnut

Directions

Reading Terminal Market ★ 4.8

$ Market

Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia is the 1893 enclosed public market under the old Reading Railroad train shed at 12th and Arch, with 80 vendors.

Directions

Isgro Pastries ★ 4.0

$ BakeryItalian-American pastries and biscottiWalk-in only

Isgro Pastries in Philadelphia is the 1904 Italian Market pastry counter on Christian Street, with cannoli filled to order and rainbow cookies the size.

Worth the queueCannoli

Directions

Termini Brothers Bakery ★ 4.6

$ BakerySicilian-American pastry and cannoliWalk-in only

Termini Brothers Bakery in Philadelphia is the 1921 South Philly Sicilian-American bakery at 8th and Tasker, with cannoli filled to order and a sugar-dust.

Worth the queueHand-filled cannoli

Directions

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