I’m sure you’ve heard about the “Cronut” craze created by Dominique Ansel Bakery. I have never had one, that is, until I made my own version. And if you haven’t had one, well there’s no need to wait, you can make your own version too.

The truth is I have been dreaming about Cronuts since I first heard of them. Those flakey layers of the sweet puffed pastry dough, fried and then drizzled with a sugary glaze. Sounds like a little piece of heaven, right?

But waking up at 3:00am, to be in the city by 5:00am, to stand in line for 3 hours for 2 Cronuts (the limit) seemed impossible.  So the only other logical solution was to make them.

I adapted this recipe from Food52 by Dinner with Julie, it’s really good. I made minimal changes to Julie’s recipe by replacing regular butter with raspberry butter (recipe below), and I made these in the shape of donut holes, hence the name “Holessants”. I opted for a raspberry glaze to compliment the flavors.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Raspberry Butter

1 cup butter, use a good quality butter

8 raspberries

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Puree and strain raspberries so there are no seeds. (I ended with 1 tablespoon raspberry puree). Whip the butter, flour and raspberry puree on medium speed for 2 minutes. Set aside for pastry dough.

Raspberry Glaze

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

8 raspberries pureed (I ended with 1 tablespoon raspberry puree)

In a bowl combine together all of the ingredients. Whisking the sugar, raspberry jam, heavy cream, vanilla paste and pureed raspberries until you reach a nice thick consistency. Set aside for dipping the donut holes – “Holessants”.

Pastry Dough (I followed the recipe by Food52 & Dinner with Julie)

3/4 cups milk, warmed

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup raspberry butter, room temperature

Grapeseed oil for frying (you’ll need 2 inches of oil in a heavy pot)

In a large bowl, stir together the milk and yeast. Stir in the sugar, eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add 1 cup of the flour and the salt, then gradually add another 2 1/4 cups of the flour, stirring and then kneading for a few minutes, until it’s smooth and elastic, and still a little tacky. Transfer to a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap; chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, take the chilled dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.  Roll into a rectangle that is about 13″x18″ and 1/4″ thick. Spread the raspberry butter evenly over the dough, then fold it as you would fold a letter, in thirds. Cover the dough in plastic wrap and put it back into the fridge for 30 minutes.

Pull the dough out and lay on the countertop, with the open sides to the left and right. Roll it out into another 13″x18″ rectangle, 1/4″ thick. Fold the left third over the middle, then the right third over the middle. Chill the dough for another 30 minutes.  Roll, fold and refrigerate the dough two more times, so that you’ve done it four times total. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Roll out the pastry dough, then cut out the donut holes, set aside until the oil is ready.

In a heavy pot (or deep fryer) heat a couple inches of oil to about 350F. Cook the donut holes in batches, I used a cast iron oven and cooked 6 donut holes at a time, flipping as necessary until deep golden.  You don’t want to crowd the pot, it can cool down the oil.  Transfer to a baking sheet lined with paper towels.

While the donut holes are still warm, dip into the raspberry glaze and set on a wire rack to set. This recipe makes approximately 35 donut holes. I bought wrapping paper to make those cute holders for the Holessant. I lined them with paper towels, but the oil leaked through, so wax paper may be a better way to go, unless you don’t mind a couple of spots.

These are great for birthdays, holiday parties or if you just want to eat them all on you own. I won’t tell. If by any chance you’re obsessing, like me about the Cronut craze, this is the perfect recipe to get your fix. I hope you like them and Happy National Hot Donut Day, it’s today!