Calling all red velvet cake fans! Perfect for this St Valentine’s Day, red velvet heart donuts. After everyone loved our heart Nutella donuts from last year, we decided to bring a red velvet-style donut for everyone.

This red velvet donut is stuffed with Nutella. This is the recipe you need; you’ll find all the tips, safety tips for frying donuts, and a recipe provided in cups and grams.

Hello! We are sharing a new recipe after breaking a promise made 2 days ago. I know she mentioned posting a recipe every day, and trust me, I tried, but I just had absolutely no time to write it. It takes me about 3-4 hours every time to write the recipe, and I wanted to go to sleep. Since we didn’t share a recipe yesterday, we are going to share two recipes today.

Today is day 2/327 of one recipe every day.

About Red Velvet Donuts

So many people are obsessed with red velvet, and for a good reason. This recipe combines a classic donut recipe with red velvet flavor and is stuffed with Nutella.

It has a perfectly fluffy texture, it’s soft like a cloud, and every bite feels magical. And if you are tired of stale homemade donuts after a day, I bring the perfect tip. (shared in the tips and tricks section).

Red velvet is not only a food coloring, chocolate-flavored dessert, it’s also so much more than that, it’s a pH chemical reaction between natural, non-alkalized cocoa powder and an acidic ingredient like buttermilk and vinegar. This reaction will turn the dessert reddish.

Add this to your shopping list!

Milk: it must be lukewarm to use.

Active dry yeast: make sure it’s fresh. I recommend you keep it in the fridge after you open it so it lasts longer.

Granulated sugar: It helps activate the yeast and also sweetens the dough.

Egg: room temperature.

Red food coloring: depending on what brand you use, you’ll need more food coloring or less.

Cocoa powder: non-alkalized cocoa powder.

Vinegar

All-purpose flour: gives structure to the donut.

Nutella: You can use any chocolate hazelnut brand you like.

Butter: room temperature unsalted butter.

Salt: enhances the flavor of the dough.

Vegetable oil: I personally prefer using sunflower oil, but you can use any other neutral oil, like canola oil or grapeseed oil.

Safety tips for frying

I think it’s always very important to know about safety tips before you use hot oil. Oil gets to a very high temperature and can be dangerous, so it’s always important to be extra safe.

It’s very important that you pay all your attention to the task you’re doing. Make sure you are not distracted by the phone or any other activity.
Don’t throw the donuts from far; if you don’t feel comfortable getting close to the oil, slowly and carefully drop the donut using a slotted spoon. Outside of the oil, put the donut on top of the spoon and slowly put it into the oil, then remove the spoon and let it fry.
Check the oil temperature with a food thermometer.
If by any chance the pan lights on fire, don’t panic. Turn off the stove. Grab a lid, and quickly cover the pan. NEVER try to stop the fire with water, as it will spread very quickly and burn your whole kitchen.
Don’t fry the donuts wearing highly flammable clothing.

I think it’s very helpful to know what to do in case of a moment of panic. Always stay safe, and nothing bad will happen.

Donut dough tips

As someone obsessed with donuts, who’s made so many donuts in her life, I can give you some advice on making the best red velvet donuts.

Knead the dough slowly. I set my mixer at one and knead for about 18 minutes. After that time, I add the butter, cut into small squares. It makes the dough so soft and fluffy.
Make sure the dough proofs in a warm environment. I set my Brod & Taylor dough proofer to 82F, 28C, and let it proof for 1h and 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Make sure the hearts are not too thick or they will burn on the outside and be undercooked on the inside.
Even though this is a Valentine’s Day recipe and we are making heart-shaped donuts, you can do any shape you want or even any filling.

Grab the right tools!

Mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl, to combine the ingredients
Spatula or whisk, to mix the sponge ingredients
Stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, knead the dough easily
Dough proofer (optional, highly recommended if you love baking dough)
Rolling pin, roll out the dough to then cut into heart-shaped donuts
Heart-shaped cutter, to make the heart shape
Tray with parchment paper, to proof the donuts
Slotted spoon, to remove, flip, and or put the donuts into the oil
Food thermometer, fry them at the right temperature
Big pot or fryer, to fry them
Cooling rack, drain the excess oil to avoid eating oily donuts
Piping bag and piping tip

Elaborations in this dessert, and order

Prepare the dough
Knead, proof, shape
Proof
Fry the donuts
Coat them with granulated sugar
Fill them with Nutella

How do you make heart donuts for Valentine’s Day?

Start by preparing the sponge, mixing warm milk, yeast, and sugar to feed the yeast. You will see how the mixture turns foamy after about 10 minutes.

Add the rest of the dough ingredients, minus the butter. After the first kneading, add the butter and knead again.

Proof the dough and watch it double in size.

Roll out the dough, cut heart shapes, proof again, and fry! After you fry the donuts, you need to drain the excess oil. You can use a cooling rack or kitchen paper towels to dry the excess.

Coat them with sugar right after, so it can stick to the donut.

Grab a piping bag fitted with the right tip and fill it with Nutella. Fill each one of the donuts, making a hole first.

Different fillings for red velvet donuts

We love a classic chocolate-red velvet combination in the archersfood kitchen. That’s why we went with Nutella. A classic loved by many. Here is a list of more fillings you can add to your red velvet donuts.

Going with the chocolate theme, so many people love a white chocolate-red velvet combination, and they’re not wrong. Choose any white chocolate spread from the grocery store or prepare a quick white chocolate ganache.
Any berry jam. Strawberry, forest fruits, raspberry…those are amazing choices that pair perfectly with red velvet.
Pastry cream. I personally love preparing and eating pastry cream. It’s soft, delicate, and it goes with anything.
Cheesecake filling. A delicious cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla bean combination will make this a delicious treat.

How to keep a homemade donut fresh longer

I would always hate eating a leftover donut, especially a homemade one, because they always turn dry, dense, and lose so much quality in just 5 hours of being made. That’s why, me, I went on a ‘donut freshness investigation.’

What did I learn from that? If you make a donut, and you freeze it after maybe 3 hours of it being made, and then whenever you want to eat it, you microwave it until thawed, you will have a donut that will taste like if you just fried it.

We recently tried it when making maple-glazed donuts, and I was eating a fresh donut every day.

How to store a red velvet heart donut

As we mentioned earlier, there’s nothing better than freezing it and microwaving it before enjoying it. Here is how you should do it, so it stays fresh longer:

After you fry the donut, drain the oil, fill it with Nutella, and coat it with sugar.
Let it cool down slightly.
For every donut you’re not going to eat the same day, you want to put it in a prepared tray with parchment paper. Make sure to leave some distance between them. Freeze them for 5 hours or until frozen.
Place all the donuts in a freezer-safe container. Make sure you add the name of the food and the date you made it.
It stays fresh for up to 3 months if stored properly.

If you tried this recipe, make sure to let me know in the comments! Share your pictures on social media and tag us! You can find us on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and if we recover our hacked Facebook account, you can find us there too!

We are thinking about making a giveaway, so let us know what you think or what you’d like to win. Thank you so much for trusting our recipes. I’ll see you later with another delicious recipe!