Looking for some fun activities to do with your kids this summer? I’ve enjoyed 22 summers with kids (and counting!), so I certainly have a few ideas to share! Stay tuned during the next few weeks as we provide all kinds of suggestions for making your summer with your kids meaningful. (Subscribe here so you won’t miss out!) Today’s idea: Make Donuts. Who can say no to that?
Here’s what’s great about making donuts with your kids (besides the fact that everyone gets to eat donuts!):
This activity gives you a chance to help your kids learn more about reading a recipe, measuring ingredients, rolling, cutting, and kitchen safety. Our favorite recipes are listed below!
Looking for more help as you pull your kids into the kitchen with you?
- Grab our new and improved Teaching Your Kids to Cook eBook!
- Here’s our Kids in the Kitchen discounted eBook collection.
- This Kids Cook Real Food eCourse is fantastic! It is well worth the investment for all that it offers to your family!
- Our Chocolate Covered Kids Cookbook and Resource Pack is filled with helpful tips, instructions, and of course, recipes!
And if you really want to go all in and teach your kids to cook this summer, I encourage you to invest in Katie Kimball’s Kids Cook Real Food eCourse. I used this course with Malachi and plan to use it with Bonus Boy too. It is FANTASTIC!!! Get the details here.
Make Donuts ~ Read a Book
Summer is an awesome time to spend more time reading fun books with your kids!
Have you read Homer Price? It’s a great read-aloud for your family! There’s a great chapter in the book about Homer making donuts with his uncle’s donut machine – SUCH a fun chapter! The donuts got out of control!! After you read that chapter, you’ll have no choice but to get into the kitchen and make donuts with your kids!
Here are a couple pictures of my four oldest boys enjoying the donuts we made after reading Homer Price many years ago. Aw, they were so little! (And Malachi was apparently playing dress-up too!)
He’s 14 now. But he still loves donuts.
Ready for some Donut Recipes? Here’s a classic favorite of ours!
Summer Activity with the Kids: Make Donuts
- 3 ¼ cup whole grain flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅔ cup sucanat or brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅔ cup milk
- ¼ cup melted butter
- Oil for frying (I use palm shortening or coconut oil)
- Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Stir in eggs, vanilla, milk and melted butter.
- On a floured surface, roll dough to ½ inch thickness.
- Cut with donut cutter, biscuit cutter, or cookie cutters.
- Heat oil in skillet or electric skillet (enough oil to cover the bottom of the skillet about ¼ inch).
- Place donuts into the hot oil to fry for 2-3 minutes on each side.
- Remove from skillet and place on a paper towel lined plate.
- Sprinkle a mixture of sugar and cinnamon, or powdered sugar over the hot donuts.
Want to make your donuts even healthier? How about adding a veggie – without anyone noticing? Whole Grain Pumpkin Donuts for the win! Truly, when you add pumpkin puree to donuts it not only adds nourishment but adds moisture and delicious flavor too! Find the recipe here:
Whole Grain Pumpkin Donuts
Need a little frosting for your donuts?
Here’s a high-sugar chocolate recipe. I will provide this recipe for you, but I will not be held responsible for giving your kids a sugar high. ;)
Simple Fudge Frosting
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup cocoa
¼ cup butter
¼ cup water
½ t. vanilla
Stir powdered sugar and cocoa together in a bowl. In a small saucepan, melt butter. Add water and bring to a boil. Pour boiling water and butter into powdered sugar and cocoa. Add vanilla. Beat with hand mixer until frosting is combined.
How about a donut glaze that is much lower in sugar!
Orange Honey Glaze
2 teaspoons orange juice concentrate
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons honey
Whisk ingredients together on the stove until smooth. Drizzle over warm donuts!
Get out the Cookie Cutters!
Regular circle donuts and donut holes are fine. But we can make donuts even more fun when we use cookie cutters to make them into fun shapes! Any cookie cutters will do. Make stars during the Fourth of July. Make animal shapes after a visit to the zoo. Make hearts and deliver them to someone you love. Oh the fun you can have!
You might also consider baking your donuts in a cool silicone donut making mold.
Share with Others
Did you see the sentence above about using a heart-shaped cookie cutter to make heart-shaped donuts to share with someone you love?
One of the best ways to spend time with your kids this summer is to SERVE others with them. Perhaps one way you can serve together is to make donuts and deliver them to someone who could use the blessing of friendship and fellowship!
Ready to have some summer fun with your kids? Head into the kitchen and make donuts! Take pictures and let us know how it goes!
Can these be frozen after frying?
Hey Elle!
It would probably be best to freeze them uncooked (Laura wrote a post about that here: https://heavenlyhomemakers.com/make-ahead-pumpkin-donuts-how-to-cook-fresh-donuts-in-minutes).
But if you do try freezing them after they are already fried, let us know how they turn out!
-Bethany (HH Team)