Sweet Potato Rice Donuts

posted by Hyegyoung K. Ford on Sep 23, 2012 (updated May 15, 2023) 88 comments »

5 from 6 ratings

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.

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!

Notes on Key Ingredients

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

Korean Sweet Potatoes: These purple skinned sweet potatoes infuse 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.
Rice flour: This is the key to the donut’s signature chewy bite. Unlike wheat flour, rice flour creates a tender, mochi-like texture that makes Korean sweet potato donuts unique.
Optional all-purpose flour: Adding a small amount of wheat flour lightens the dough, giving the donuts a softer, fluffier bite alongside the chewiness from rice flour. If you prefer a gluten-free version, simply leave it out — the donuts will turn out chewier, with a mochi-like texture that’s equally delicious.
Milk: 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.

How to make Sweet Potato Rice Donuts

Cook sweet potatoes

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

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.

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

Deep-fry the 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 are fried to perfection. Lift them out carefully and place them on a paper towel–lined plate to drain any excess oil.

Here’s a neat fact: rice flour absorbs noticeably less oil than wheat flour when deep-fried. That’s why rice donuts feel lighter and less greasy while still crisp on the outside. It’s one of the reasons I love making them — you get all the indulgence without the heaviness.

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.