These Long Johns are traditional pastries for breakfast. For a variety of flavors, flavor your glaze with chocolate or maple spread.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 6 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 31 mins |
| Servings: | 24 |
Ingredients
- 3 (.25 ounce) envelopes active dry yeast
- ½ cup warm water
- ½ cup shortening
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 cup canned evaporated milk
- 2 eggs, beaten
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 8 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 quart oil for frying, or as needed
- ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tablespoon water, or as needed
Instructions
- In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Set aside until bubbly, about 10 minutes. In a large bowl, dissolve shortening in 1 cup of boiling water. Cool to lukewarm.
- Mix evaporated milk, eggs, nutmeg, sugar, and salt into shortening and water. Stir in yeast mixture and one cup of flour until well blended. Gradually mix in remaining flour 1 cup at a time until dough is firm enough to remove from the bowl. Knead for about 5 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Let rest for 10 minutes.
- Roll dough out on a floured surface to 1/4-inch thick. Cut into strips 1-inch wide and 6 inches long. Place onto waxed paper, and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Heat oil in a deep fryer or large heavy skillet to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Carefully remove doughnuts from the waxed paper and place a few at a time in hot oil. Fry for about 3 minutes per side, or until light brown. Set over wire racks to drain. Drizzle with glaze.
- To make glaze, mix the confectioners’ sugar with enough water to make it able to drizzle in a long strand. Adjust amounts if necessary.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 577 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 43 g |
| Cholesterol | 19 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 212 mg |
| Sugars | 9 g |
| Fat | 43 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
These are AmAzInG!!! My husband is a big maple bar fan and loves them. I let them rise 3x as long as someone else recommended to do that and used canned coconut milk instead of evaporated milk because I didn’t have any. They turned out perfect! Best donuts I’ve ever made at home!
This is a dangerous recipe to have The first time I made these, I messed it up. The second time was a success!! I still added too much flour so next time I’ll try kneading the dough in the mixer. It’s a simple recipe and doesn’t take long. I added more nutmeg but still not sure I could taste it. Could probably use a little more sugar in the dough. I did cut them into 2 inch strips instead of 1 inch. We made a maple icing, filled them with pastry cream and topped with bacon. You have to add an extract or oil to the powdered sugar otherwise it doesn’t taste good.
Traditional long johns are light and airy. These were not. I let them rise an hour first then I let them cut them and shaped them and let them rise another 45min. They still were supper dense. Additionally they had a super yeasty taste which was more like friend bread and less like a donut. I don’t feel like these have enough sugar. I dressed them up and frosted anyway. The glaze they suggested is not good. It tastes like wet powdered sugar and not donut glaze. These were a good attempt but I probably will not make this recipe again. It needs work.
I added less flour as others said it was too dense. It was perfect!
These Long Johns came out wonderfully light and delicate…just let them rise long enough, dough rolled out very easily and they were delicious glazed with a vanilla glaze and filled with homemade peach jelly and homemade cherry-peach jam. My grandson, Liam, loved them as did the rest of the family. I used a vintage Houpt Bakery rotary Long John/Bismark cutter to cut them and it worked perfectly. Next time I have a request to glaze with chocolate and add sprinkles. Definitely worth the effort.
These did not work for me. I tried everything to get them to rise. They were like sticks. Sure wanted them to turn out, as my hubby loves long johns, and this is the only recipe I have found.
These were delicious and made a lot!! I loved how easy the dough was to roll out. Will definitely keep this recipe. Thanks!!
The first batch we followed recipe exactly. They turned out like cinnamon sticks. The 2nd time we let rise 3x size and cut wider and they turned out right. We find the glaze sticks better if you wait till they are a few hours cooled. Flavor is wonderful, even a bite without glaze is tasty. Better than store bought by far. I have attached photo.
these are just like down town . but I found that you must spray your wax paper with pam or what ever. if you don’t you will never get them off the wax paper without tearing them apart. also the frosting is great but I used only 1 tsp. of maple flavoring and that was perfect.after rolling out the dough I used a pizza cutter to cut them and that worked perfect.
My husband is a long John lover from way back when…so while he put the kids to sleep I made these and then he fried them up. He approved- he really liked them with chocolate frosting.
OMG, I pulled up this recipe while looking for a donut recipe and decided to give it a try even though there was no photo for me to know what I was really making.They are WONDERFUL.soft,cakie,delicate.I glazed half of the batch and frosted the top of half,My family just loved them.I will definetely be using this recipe ALOT>
Found them to be dense, needs to proof longer. Good when dipped in hot syrup and coated with coconut.
The were a bit dense. If I make the recipe again, I’ll allow more time for rising and I’ll add more spice. The nutmeg has great flavor but next time I think I’ll add a little mace or allspice, too.
I was looking for the long johns with the cream filling. However, I figured I’d try these and attempt to squirt some stuffings into it. Mine came out a little too dense for that, but as far as doughnuts go, they were good, especially with chocolate frosting. They could stand to have been wider to keep from rolling to the heavy side in the oil.