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Your February needs these Easy Chocolate Heart Doughnuts.
Valentine’s Day or not, your month needs these easy and fun doughnuts. For one (and most importantly), this is a month of celebration. As a lot of you have already seen, my brother Red won his first Olympic Gold medal in South Korea this past Sunday. I have never been so happy for someone in my entire life. I have said this time and time again, but that kid is truly one of my favorite people, and I could not be happier for him. Watching him compete and take Gold in his final run will be a moment I will never, ever forget. I just cannot express how happy and proud I am. Red is currently on a media whirlwind tour and traveling from South Korea, to LA, then to NYC for press…including Late Night with Jimmy Kimmel (tonight), so be sure to keep an eye out for him. America is about to get to know Red Gerard real well.
I have so much to share about this incredible experience and cannot wait to put it into a post for you all. I’m flying home to Colorado with some of my family tomorrow, and will gather up photos to put a post together for you all on Friday. Be on the look out!
If you’re looking for instant updates, check out Instagram where I’ve been posting plenty about our time here in South Korea.
In the meantime, let’s celebrate both this huge win for my brother and Valentine’s Day with these easy chocolate heart doughnuts. FYI…if Red could have gotten his hands on these, he would have loved them!
I’m not usually that big on making homemade doughnuts (I hate frying things), but on certain occasions I’m all for it. For such a long time I’ve had this heart doughnut in my head and when I finally made them, I fell in love with them! As did my mom…it was actually one of those moments I live for…when she rolls her eyes back, gets this dreamy look and declares how incredibly delicious something is.
Not only are these doughnuts super cute, but they are SO GOOD.
I mean, are you looking at them?
This is a simple doughnut dough, stuffed with a light whipped Nutella filling, and dusted with a little sugar for good measure.
Simple and delicious. Not sure much can beat sinking your teeth into one of these doughnuts. They’re definitely a decadent treat, but so worth it.
As I said, I kept the dough recipe pretty simple and the filling even simpler. The doughnuts can be made and ready in under two hours, shorter if your kitchen happens to be extra toasty and warm (the warmer the kitchen, the faster the doughnuts will rise).
I used small and medium heart-shaped cookie cutters to create a couple different sized doughnuts. I fried the doughnuts and then stuffed them with a whipped Nutella filling for an extra sweet, almost mousse like, filling. It’s unreal how good each and every bite is.
If by chance you don’t love the taste of Nutella, you can use melted semi-sweet chocolate in place.
If there was ever a doughnut to make at home, this is it. Make them for Valentine’s Day, make them to celebrate with my family and I, or make them just because you want a really good homemade doughnut!
Either way make them. Your week needs a good, chocolatey treat, it really does.
Easy Chocolate Heart Doughnuts
Servings: 12 doughnuts
Calories Per Serving: 302 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups warm milk
- 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 eggs
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
Chocolate Glaze
- 1/2 cup Nutella
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- 1. In a large mixing bowl (I like to use my stand mixer), combine the warm milk, yeast, butter and egg, mix a little to combine and then add 4 cups flour and the salt. Knead the dough, using a dough hook or your hands, until the dough comes together and is smooth, about 3 minutes with a mixer, and 5-10 by hand. If the dough seems too sticky, add the remaining 1/4 cup flour. The dough should come together, but be slightly sticky to touch. Grease a large bowl and place the dough ball inside. Cover the bowl and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, at least 30 minutes.2. To fry the doughnuts, line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the dough to a 1/2-inch thickness. Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out the hearts. Arrange the doughnuts on the prepared baking sheet, leaving at least 1 inch between doughnuts. Cover the doughnuts loosely with plastic wrap while the oil heats.3. In a heavy-bottomed large pot or deep fryer, heat at least 2 inches of oil until a deep-fry thermometer registers 350 degrees F. Working in batches, use a slotted metal spoon or spatula to carefully place the doughnuts in the hot oil. Fry, flipping once, until light golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side. When done, transfer to a wire rack to cool. Make sure to return the oil to 350 degrees F. between batches.4. To make the glaze, mix together the Nutella, heavy cream, and vanilla until smooth and combined. Spoon the chocolate into a pastry bag fitted with a tip or just use a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off. Pierce the base of each cooled doughnut with the piping tube (or us a knife) and pipe a little filling into each doughnut. Generously sprinkle each doughnut sugar. Enjoy!
Congratulations to Red! You and your family must be over the moon with excitement and pride! I was reading the Time article and saw that they mentioned (and linked to) your blog… http://time.com/5143432/red-gerard-gold-medal-run. I love the title of the article! Not going to type it here, but apparently they think your family likes to drop f-bombs. 😀
Thank you! We are SO happy!
These look yummy! Congratulations to Red! I was at the watch party at The Market in Rocky River OH to see him nail his last run and win the GOLD! The place went wild, of course, with so many of your family and friends there! So much fun! Safe travels Gerard family!
Thank you so much Karen!
A million congratulations to Red!! We were rooting for him here in CT and we’re so happy for you and your family. I can’t wait to see your post with all the photos from South Korea! Hugs 🙂
Thank you Sarah!
The Chicago news had an article about Red and the headline was “The Gerard Family Can’t Stop Partying” and it made me laugh. Congratulations to him and your family!
Haha that is too funny! Thank you Sarah!
These look absolutely perfect and love the photos so much!!! <3 Also, huge congratulations to your brother on that amazing achievement!
Thank you Lili!
Aww, these are too adorable and love love the shapes.
Thank you Asha!
I am so happy for you and your family and Red. Getting to pray for him made me so happy to get to see how awesome of a snowboarder he is. You must be so excited. I bet your parents could write a book on how to help kids be successful in life! And you all seem so humble and kind and sweet! I am glad God is keeping the Olympics and America safe and blessing us with people like your family! Keep up the great work Tieghan! P.S. I am making your Vanilla Bean Christmas cookies( with Valentines decorations of course) for Valentines with my niece and nephew tonight. Can’t wait to eat them!
He could not be more deserving of this win! My family and I are so happy for him and I am so glad you are too! Thank you Lisa!
A huge congratulations to Red!!! It was thrilling to watch him ride his snowboard. Made me feel so exhilarated and downright happy with pride. It is really something how creativity runs in the Gerard family. Super inspiring!!!
Thank you so much!
Congrats again on your brother’s win! Super happy 🙂 The doughnuts will make my little one so happy! Could we bake these?
Hi! I have not baked them, so I really can’t say. I will say that I think frying is best, but if you wanted to bake I would try baking at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
So excited for your family!
Thank you Tracy!
Congrats on Red winning the Olympics! I bet it makes your family’s time there even more special. And what a beautiful recipe for today!
Thank you!!
Thank you for this beautiful Valentine’s Day recipe in the midst of all that’s going on. Annnd thank you for sharing your Olympic experience. It was so fun to watch Red and your family and say ” I know them”…..well you know! We hear and see so much of Shaun White and Lindsay Vonn etc. leading up to and the beginning of the games like the parade. Now the world can’t get enough of Red and intrigued with you all. So beyond exciting.
Thank you so much Susan!
I think this is one of your best ever recipes, Tieghan! They’re so creative and cute. The photos are lovely too… as always. I am not a big fan of frying stuff either, but as you say, these are worth it. Congrats again to Red. What an exciting time for your family!
Thank you so much Natasha! I am so glad you like this and we are so proud of him!
Looks delicious
Thank you Janet!
Congrats again to Red! I’m so happy and excited for him and your family. Watching him win that gold was just amazing.
And omg! These heart shaped donuts are just sooo cute. And filled with Nutella? I can’t wait to give these a try.
Thank you Andrea!! I hope you love these!