IHave you ever made homemade donuts? I don’t think there is anything quite like a freshly fried, warm donut dripping with glaze. What makes these Key Lime Donuts extra special is the tart creamy key lime curd oozing out with each bite. These are a challenging but really delicious culinary project and I hope you try them!

Ingredients needed to make Key Lime Donuts:

For the Donuts:

• All-purpose flour
• Yeast
• Milk
• Eggs
• Butter
• Sugar
• Melted butter
• Oil for frying 

For the Key Lime Curd Filling:

• Fresh key lime juice or bottled key lime juice
• Key Limes for zest
• Granulated sugar
• Eggs
• Unsalted butter, cubed

For the Glaze:

• Powdered sugar
• Fresh key lime juice
• Fresh key lime zest

Supplies needed for Key Lime Doughnuts:

• Large Bowl
• Large pot for frying
• Pastry bag
• Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
• Deep-fry thermometer, candy thermometer, or deep fryer
• 3 inch diameter biscuit cutter
• Slotted spoon for lifting donuts out of the oil
• Paper towels for lining donut plate

The Process:

1. Mix the warm milk with the yeast and stir to combine. Add the sugar and wet ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer and mix. Slowly add the remaining dry ingredients until you’ve got yourself a nice, smooth dough. Let it rise in a warm place for about 60 minutes until it’s doubled in size.
2. Once your doughnut batter is all puffed up, roll it out and cut it into 3 inch rounds. Then, let them rise again for a bit while you heat up some oil in a Dutch oven.
3. When the oil reaches 375F, fry the donuts until they are nice and golden brown, about 1 minute per side. 
4. While your donuts are cooling, let’s whip up that key lime curd filling. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the key lime juice, sugar, and eggs over medium heat. Stir in the butter and keep whisking until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Let it cool completely.
5. Once your donuts and key lime curd are cool, it’s time to fill them. Use a small knife or thin wooden spoon handle to make a little slit in the side of each donut, then fill a piping bag with the key lime curd and pipe it into each one.
6. Now for the glaze- Whisk together the powdered sugar, 1-2 tablespoons of key lime juice, and fresh lime zest until smooth – adding a little milk as needed. If you want a very tart flavor don’t add much lime juice- add more for a more mellow glaze. Add a little more liquid as needed until your glaze is the right consistency.
7. Dip each donut into the glaze and let them hang out on a wire rack to set.

Looking for a simple glazed donut recipe? Skip the filling and lime in the glaze- this is a perfectly simple recipe that rivals Krispy Kreme! 

I can’t find Key Limes, can I use regular limes?

Yep! Just sub the key lime juice and zest for regular. 

Want to make Key Lime Pie Donuts?

Dust the tops of the donuts with graham cracker crumbs!

​Clearly Key Lime Pie is one of my favorite desserts and flavor combos- other Key Lime Recipes here:

Easy Key Lime Pie

Key Lime Pie Cake

Key Lime Cheesecake

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Key Lime Donuts

Yield: 2 dozen donuts

Print

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2 1/4 teaspoons (one package) yest
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough
• oil for frying. (I suggest canola, vegetable, peanut or grapeseed,) plus more for oiling the bowl

For the curd:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons key lime zest
• 1/2 cup key lime juice*
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons,) unsalted butter cut into cubes

For the glaze:

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons key lime juice
• milk as needed
• Lime zest

Instructions

For the donuts:

1. Warm the milk and combine it with the yeast, stirring lightly. Let it sit for 5 minutes or until it foams up a bit.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the eggs, melted butter, sugar, and milk mixture. Mix on medium- high speed until well mixed and smooth.
3. Add the salt, and 2 cups of the flour and mix until combined, then switch to the dough hook attachment.
4. Add the remaining flour and mix until dough pulls away from the bowl. If dough feels sticky, add more flour, 1-2 tablespoons at a time, until soft and smooth.
5. Oil a bowl and place dough inside, cover loosely and allow to proof in a warm place for an hour or until doubled in size.
6. When dough has completed the first proof- punch it down a bit and roll to 1/2 inch thick. Cut out desired donut shapes. For filled donuts I used a 3.5 inch diameter biscuit cutter and then punched holes out with a large piping tip for regular donuts. You can re-roll the scraps, but try not to overwork the dough and let it rest for a few minutes between rounds to let it puff up a little bit.
7. Place cut donuts on a lined cookie sheet an inch or so apart and cover loosely again, proofing in a warm place for another 45-60 minutes.
8. While donuts are proofing make your filling and glaze

For the curd:

1. In a small saucepan combine the sugar, eggs, zest, and juice. Heat on medium-high and stir constantly, until mixture becomes thick, coating the back of your spoon, about 10 minutes.
2. Remove from heat, add butter, and stir until smooth. Pour into a heat safe bowl or jar and pop it in the fridge until ready to use.

For the glaze:

1. Whisk together the powdered sugar, lime juice, zest and a little milk as needed, using more or less depending on how thick you'd like your glaze to be. If it gets too thick or hard before you're ready to use it, you can whisk it rapidly to smooth it out.

Frying donuts:

1. Heat oil in a dutch oven or heavy bottomed pan. Clip on a candy thermometer if you have one and adjust your heat until the oil reaches about between 365F-375F** (While the oil is heating, prep some plates/cookie sheets with paper towels to place the donuts on after they are done.)
2. When oil is ready, use a spatula to slide a donut into the oil. (You may want to fry one at a time until you get the hang of it. When the bottoms are deep golden (45 seconds or so,) use a slotted spoon to flip the donut and fry the other side. Place finished donuts on the paper towel-lined plates and continue frying the rest.
3. When donuts are cool enough to handle, fill a pastry bag with key lime curd, make a little hole in one end of the donut using a chopstick and fill the donuts. Dip the tops into the glaze and let it dry on a wire rack.

Notes

*If you can't find key limes, regular limes will work
**I used a candy thermometer but any instant read cooking thermometer will work. When the oil is too cool, the donuts may end up greasy and oily. I found 370F to be the sweet spot.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

Continue to Content

Key Lime Donuts

Yield: 2 dozen donuts

Print

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2 1/4 teaspoons (one package) yest
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough
• oil for frying. (I suggest canola, vegetable, peanut or grapeseed,) plus more for oiling the bowl

For the curd:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons key lime zest
• 1/2 cup key lime juice*
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons,) unsalted butter cut into cubes

For the glaze:

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons key lime juice
• milk as needed
• Lime zest

Instructions

For the donuts:

1. Warm the milk and combine it with the yeast, stirring lightly. Let it sit for 5 minutes or until it foams up a bit.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the eggs, melted butter, sugar, and milk mixture. Mix on medium- high speed until well mixed and smooth.
3. Add the salt, and 2 cups of the flour and mix until combined, then switch to the dough hook attachment.
4. Add the remaining flour and mix until dough pulls away from the bowl. If dough feels sticky, add more flour, 1-2 tablespoons at a time, until soft and smooth.
5. Oil a bowl and place dough inside, cover loosely and allow to proof in a warm place for an hour or until doubled in size.
6. When dough has completed the first proof- punch it down a bit and roll to 1/2 inch thick. Cut out desired donut shapes. For filled donuts I used a 3.5 inch diameter biscuit cutter and then punched holes out with a large piping tip for regular donuts. You can re-roll the scraps, but try not to overwork the dough and let it rest for a few minutes between rounds to let it puff up a little bit.
7. Place cut donuts on a lined cookie sheet an inch or so apart and cover loosely again, proofing in a warm place for another 45-60 minutes.
8. While donuts are proofing make your filling and glaze

For the curd:

1. In a small saucepan combine the sugar, eggs, zest, and juice. Heat on medium-high and stir constantly, until mixture becomes thick, coating the back of your spoon, about 10 minutes.
2. Remove from heat, add butter, and stir until smooth. Pour into a heat safe bowl or jar and pop it in the fridge until ready to use.

For the glaze:

1. Whisk together the powdered sugar, lime juice, zest and a little milk as needed, using more or less depending on how thick you'd like your glaze to be. If it gets too thick or hard before you're ready to use it, you can whisk it rapidly to smooth it out.

Frying donuts:

1. Heat oil in a dutch oven or heavy bottomed pan. Clip on a candy thermometer if you have one and adjust your heat until the oil reaches about between 365F-375F** (While the oil is heating, prep some plates/cookie sheets with paper towels to place the donuts on after they are done.)
2. When oil is ready, use a spatula to slide a donut into the oil. (You may want to fry one at a time until you get the hang of it. When the bottoms are deep golden (45 seconds or so,) use a slotted spoon to flip the donut and fry the other side. Place finished donuts on the paper towel-lined plates and continue frying the rest.
3. When donuts are cool enough to handle, fill a pastry bag with key lime curd, make a little hole in one end of the donut using a chopstick and fill the donuts. Dip the tops into the glaze and let it dry on a wire rack.

Notes

*If you can't find key limes, regular limes will work
**I used a candy thermometer but any instant read cooking thermometer will work. When the oil is too cool, the donuts may end up greasy and oily. I found 370F to be the sweet spot.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram