Rice donuts made with sweet potatoes and glutenous sweet rice flour. These Korean style sweet potato rice donuts are easy to make with just a few ingredients and yields soft and chewy texture. You can make them gluten-free donuts if you omit the wheat flour in the recipe.

Rice donut made with sweet potato and sweet rice flour.

“Can we say delicious???? OMG! These sweet potato donuts are SO GOOD!!! Made this for my church and everyone loved them and couldn’t stop eating them. These are very addicting. Thanks Holly!”

ESTHER

I recently decided to venture into making Korean-style sweet potato rice donuts, which I don’t do very often. Let me tell you, these little rice donut treats turned out to be pure chewy, doughy bliss.

All it took was a mixture of sweet potatoes and rice flour, some frying action until they turned a beautiful golden hue, and a generous dusting of cinnamon sugar.

Sweet Potato Rice Donuts have soft and chewy texture inside.

As I savored each bite, I couldn’t help but pair them with a cup of warm Korean barley tea for the perfect afternoon indulgence. Along with Korean twisted donut (kkwabaegi), these rice donut is another popular Korean desserts.

And guess what? When my son came home from school and took his first bite, his enthusiastic thumbs-up gesture said it all – these donuts were a hit!

Rice donuts made with sweet potato

Korean sweet potatoes and glutenous rice flour to make rice donuts.

The Magic of Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes take the center stage in this recipe, infusing the donuts with their natural sweetness and adding a touch of earthy flavor. Not only do they provide a vibrant orange hue, but they also contribute essential nutrients, making these donuts a guilt-free indulgence.

Optional all-purpose flour

To make these rice donuts, you’ll need Korean sweet potatoes (or Japanese sweet potatoes) and glutenous rice flour. However, to further enhance the texture and achieve a fluffy bite, I also incorporate a small amount of all-purpose flour into the mix.

The addition of all-purpose flour helps create a lighter and airier donut that is sure to be delightful.

To make gluten-free rice donuts: Omit the wheat flour if you want them to be gluten-free. Your donuts will have chewier texture like mochi and still delicious!

Use any type of milk

This recipe is incredibly versatile and forgiving. Feel free to use regular cow’s milk or explore alternatives like almond milk, soy milk, or oat milk to suit your dietary needs. While the taste may be subtly influenced, rest assured that these variations will still result in delicious rice donuts.

Ingredients list

  • Sweet potato: providing natural sweetness and vibrant color to the donuts.
  • Rice flour: essential for the chewy texture
  • All-purpose flour: optional for gluten-free; can be used to enhance the texture, but can be omitted for a gluten-free version
  • Baking powder: to help the donuts rise and achieve a light and fluffy texture
  • Salt : enhance the overall flavor of the donuts
  • Milk: adding moisture and richness to the dough.
    • Feel free to substitute regular milk with any alternative milk of your choice such as almond milk, soy ilk or oat milk, to accommodate your dietary needs.
  • Sugar: sweetening the donuts and balancing the flavors
  • Cinnamon: a delightful spice that adds warmth and aromatic flavor to the coating

How to make Sweet Potato Rice Donuts

Cook sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes cooked and peeled

Cook the sweet potatoes using any method you prefer: boiling, steaming, microwaving, or baking in the oven.

Cooked sweet potatoes are mashed.

Peel the potatoes and mash them without mercy.

Prepare Rice donut dough

Glutenous rice flour and sugar to make rice donuts.

In a large bowl combine rice flour, 1/3 cup of wheat four, sugar, baking powder and salt. Omit wheat flour if making gluten-free rice donuts.

Mashed sweet potatoes and rice flour mixed by hand

Add the mashed sweet potatoes to the rice flour, and start rubbing them together with your hand.

Sweet potato and rice mixture rubbed with hands.

You will soon see them forming fine crumbs.

Milk is added to the sweet potato and rice flour mixture to make rice donuts.

Add the scalding hot milk, about 3/4 cup first. The amount of milk varies depends on the moisture level of your sweet potatoes.

The sweet potato donut dough mixed with a spoon.

Mix with a spoon. Add more milk, if needed, and start kneading by hand.

Sweet potato rice donut dough kneaded by hand.

Knead the dough until it forms a bread dough-like consistency, about 1 minutes. Rice doesn’t have any gluten so you don’t need to knead them long.

Sweet potato rice donut balls.

Roll them into 1 to 1 -1/4 inch size balls.

Deep-fry sweet potato rice donuts

Sweet potato rice donuts. balls deep-fried in hot oil.

Heat oil but not overly hot. You want to fry these balls a little lower temperature than usual deep frying recipes. If the oil is too hot, it will burn the outside while the inside is still raw.

rice donut balls deep-frying in hot oil.

You need to roll them around in oil with a metal utensil so they can be browned evenly.

Sweet potato rice donut balls are deep frying in oil to golden brown.

Pro Tip: When deep frying, you can tilt your stir-fry pan to one side, creating a deeper oil space. This nifty trick allows you to use less oil while still ensuring adequate pan coverage. It’s a simple technique that helps save oil without compromising on the frying process.

Sweet potato rice donut deep-fried to golden brown and crisp.

Keep rolling in oil, about 5 minutes, until they form a brown crust outside.

Sweet potato rice donut is deep-fried to golden brown and strained from the oil.

Done! Your rice donuts have been perfectly fried. Carefully remove them from the pan and transfer them to a plate lined with paper towels. This will help absorb any excess oil residue from the surface.

By the way, did you know that rice doesn’t absorb as much oil as wheat when deep frying? It’s quite remarkable!

I wish I had taken a picture to showcase the before and after status of the oil level in the pan. Unlike wheat flour donuts, rice donuts have significantly lower oil consumption. Isn’t that divine?

Cinnamon sugar coating

Sweet potato rice donuts coated with cinnamon sugar.

When the donuts are still hot, roll them in a generous amount of cinnamon sugar, ensuring they are evenly coated all over.

Sweet Potato Rice Donuts showing the soft and sticky texture inside.

Serving Suggestions

While they can be enjoyed immediately, I personally prefer to let them cool to room temperature. As they cool, the chewiness of the donuts develops even more, creating a delightful texture that is simply irresistible.

More Korean Desserts You Might Like

Sweet Potato Rice Donuts are great afternoon treats with a cup of tea.
Sweet potato donuts are coated with cinnamon sugar and served with a tea.

Sweet Potato Rice Donuts

Korean rice donuts made with sweet potato and rice flour! These sweet potato rice donuts are soft and chewy, and coated with cinnamon sugar. Makes 3 dozens
5 from 4 ratings

Ingredients

  • 3/4 lb (340 g) sweet potato, cooked and peeled
  • 2 cup (250 g) sweet rice flour (chapssal-garu), glutenous rice flour
  • 1/3 cup (40 g) all-purpose flour, can omit for gluten-free
  • 1/3 cup (65 g) sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1-1 1/3 cup (240-320 ml) hot milk, almond milk, soy milk, or oat milk
  • oil , for deep-frying

For the cinnamon sugar

  • 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

Equipment

Instructions 

  • Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Mash sweet potato and add to the flour mixture and rub together until the flours become fine crumbs.
  • Slowly add hot milk (1/4 cup of milk each time) to the mixture and mix together with a spoon first, then using hand bring the dough together to form a ball shape. The amount of milk depends on the moisture level of your potatoes. It should resemble the bread dough consistency.
  • Make them into 1-inch balls with the dough. Set aside and cover with a towel.
  • Heat oil in a wok or fryer over medium low temperature. Drop a few dough balls and start rolling with a metal utensil to brown them evenly, about 5 minutes. Make sure your oil is not too hot. About 145ºC is ideal temperature.
  • Transfer the donuts to a plate lined with paper towel to remove extra oil on the surface. Roll the donuts in cinnamon sugar and coat evenly. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Calories: 408kcal, Carbohydrates: 90g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 2g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 5mg, Sodium: 356mg, Potassium: 260mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 28g, Vitamin A: 6098IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 86mg, Iron: 1mg
Did you make this recipe?Tag @beyondkimchee on Instagram. I love to see your masterpiece.