How to Make Raised Doughnuts
And if they happen to be filled with jam, so much the better! Homemade yeast doughnuts are so light they practically float on air, which makes it possible for me to inhale about half a dozen on a good day. Don’t try that at home, kids. I’m a professional.
Good yeast doughnuts start with a sponge, made the day before and rested overnight for flavor development. The complete recipe is here. On doughnut-making day, this is what your sponge should look like:
Combine that with all other ingredients save for the butter and mix for 10 minutes, scraping every three minutes or so, until a very sticky dough forms, about like so:
Now add the butter about a tablespoon at a time as the mixer runs. Scrape every so often to make sure all the butter is incorporated.
Nice thumb, moron! Put the dough into a greased bowl…
…and let rise about an hour, until doubled. About like so:
Transfer the dough to a board that’s been lightly dusted with flour…
…then roll your dough out into a 1/4″ sheet.
Using a 3 1/2″ cutter, cut the dough into rounds, wadding up the scraps and re-rolling until all the dough is used. You should have 12-14 rounds. If you’re making regular ring-shaped doughnuts, use a smaller cutter to punch out the holes.
Lay the rounds back onto the towel-lined sheet pan…
…and cover with greased plastic wrap.
Proof for 30-45 minutes until the rounds are about twice their original thickness. In other words, puffy, but not overly so, about like this:
Fry them in 360-degree oil for about 45 seconds on a side. While they’re still warm, roll them in extra fine sugar to coat.
And fill them with the jam of your choice by squirting about two teaspoons into them with a pastry bag fitted with a Bismarck (#230) tip. Don’t get carried away with this step. A little jam goes a good long way. Squeeze until you can feel the doughnut get slightly heavier, then stop.
These are amazing eaten warm, but will keep just fine in a box at room temperature for up to 24 hours.
Yes indeed. I’m making these today. well. Tomorrow. Coz of the sponge… another great recipe, Joe!
PS glad to hear you’re back on deck, these tiny bugs sure can knock us so called “advanced” species around 😀
Can’t they just? Just being back to normal is making me feel like Superman! Let me know how the doughnuts turn out!
Hi Joe, thought I wld let you know that I used unbleached plain flour (I live in the UK where bleached flour is a no no) in your raised doughnut recipe. I was pleasantly surprised how soft and fluffy and delicious the finished product came out – and I didn’t even overnight the starter. Does that mean that it will taste even better if I followed your recipte to a T?! 😀
Bleached flour will just give you a doughnut that’s a bit more light and fluffy. Nothing wrong with what you’re doing. So glad they worked! But the sponge will definitely improve them!
Thanks for he email!
– Joe
I made these today (the sponge last night) and they are wonderful. I’ve been a social, good sport, doughnut imbiber, but I never really liked them. They are usually so cloyingly sweet and so greasy that they made me really queasy. But this past weekend I had the worst doughnuts I’d ever, EVER, eaten and decided I’d had enough, I would make them myself. And…thanks to you, I did. These were excellent. Of course being a novice to doughnut making, several were a little misshapen, but they were still light and fluffy and I swear, I could not taste any oil..at all. I’m so impressed with this recipe. It’s a brioche type dough, isn’t it? Whatever..it’s delicious.
I got 8 doughnuts and 6 (raspberry) jelly doughnuts from the recipe. I found a glaze recipe from Betty Crocker, and dunked them all in chocolate glaze. It’s really good with the raspberry.
I may not make them every 2nd weekend..but I will make them again and at least now I know they don’t all have to taste like bakery doughnuts!
Hello Susan!
So glad these worked for you. They are a brioche variant, but then pretty much all yeast-raised doughnuts are part of the brioche family. As you can probably tell, doughnuts are important to me. I worked very hard on the recipes and I’m always delighted when I hear that they’ve worked so well. May you have a long and fruitful doughnut-making career!
Cheers,
– Joe
I just discovered your site and I have to say: OMG YOU ARE AMAZING! I can’t wait to try these donuts. They look gorgeous.
Let me know how they go, because I love, love, love doughnuts!
Cheers,
– Joe
Hi Joe! I just made these, they were delicious. I’m wondering why most of mine turned out hollow inside. Was it because my dough needed more resting time, or it rested for too long? I would love to perfect these! Thank you for the recipe!
Hey Julisa!
Great news on the doughnuts! If they have bigger holes than you want, then too much proofing time is definitely the culprit. Cut down the duration of the final rise before frying and you should get the result you’re after!
Cheerio,
– Joe
Oh, yeah! I only wish I had seen this sooner. I would be inhaling my own half dozen right now. Just kidding. I have seriously been thinking about making raised doughnuts for quite sometime, and just haven’t settled on a recipe to try. Until now. Thanks!
Let me know how they go, Laurel!
– Joe
Hi Joe, not for nuttin but did i miss something, i see the pictures and all but i cant find the recipe, please let me know if you posted it somewhere as i think they are the best ones i have seen yet and really want to make them.
Thanks
Tony.
Hey Tony!
You must have arrived via google search. I added a link to the recipe in the post, go back and have a look!
Cheers,
– Joe
Joe, any possibility of a yeast-raised baked donut that doesn’t need a special pan?
Hey Ted!
You can try baking them as they are. The yeast doughnuts should puff up pretty well in the oven. Just paint on a little egg wash for some shine!
– Joe
Mr joe,your doughnut is really amazing but can’t find your recipe please.
Hi Doris! You must have arrived via google search. Head back to the post and you’ll find a text link in the first couple of paragraphs that I just added. All my recipes are indexed in the menus on the left side with the recipes at the bottom.
Have fun!
– Joe
Hi Joe,
I have a question for you. If I want to make yeast doughnuts ‘to order’, what is the best way to do that? I’m thinking of doing this as a business. Should I proof them, refrigerate and then fry as needed?
Please advise.
Thank you so much!
Sharon
Hey Sharon!
Very interesting idea! I’d suggest refrigerating them right after you cut them, then just proof and bake as needed.
Best of luck!
– Joe
Hye Joe!
Just wna thank u soooo much for this recipe! I usually google image until i find the right type of photo for the recipes i want. So i did that, saw yours and immedietly clicked on it. 😉 made it and i loveeeee the texture and taste sooo much, i couldnot even find this kind of taste elsewhere. But i have a problem in cooking them, it became too brownish. I thought if turning the heat down a bit will do just fine but the insides kinda sticky. So to make sure its edible for me, i hve to cook it until it turned brown. But its unappealing to serve. 🙁 could u tell me where i did wrong? Thank you
Hi Zara!
My suggestion is to try smaller doughnuts and cook them at a slightly lower temperature. That should solve the problem. Is that possible for you?
Bent thanks for the generous compliments. I worked hard on the recipe!
Cheers,
– Joe
can i substitute powdered milk with just milk? please advice. i need to make these donuts immediately and powdered milk is what i dont have.
Hi Divine!
Just skip the milk powder, it just a tenderizer in this case. It’ll still work fine!
– Joe
I’ve been making cake doughnuts for the last few months and wanted to go back to yeast doughnuts for a day.
I attempted these yesterday and made some really big mistakes due to being impatient. I was really impatient and warmed the oven up to help with the proofing because it is cold right now and didn’t know if I would get them to rise much. Let’s just say I will not make that mistake again.
Ah yes, ovens aren’t very good proof boxes. Even turned all the way down they’re hot enough to kill yeast before it rises as you just found out. Butter luck next time…keep me informed!
– Joe
I might get kicked out of a forum like this but i want a different type of filling all together… You see, i am one of those weirdos who doesnt really care much for doughnuts very much. I do enjoy an occasional ‘old fashioned’ sour cream doughnut, or i can eat a plain cake doughnut once in a while. The only doughnut i really ever crave is a cream filled one… Not the custard but the whipped (i am assuming shortning based) sweet fluffy white tastless cream. Dip just a thin chocolate coating on that and i am in heaven. The problem, i cant seem to find a good recipe for it (the cream that is.). Any help would be beyond amazing. I am a new reader and cant put the talet down at night.m loving this blog!
Dave in denver.
Hehe…hey Dave! Glad to have you aboard! That’s a great question. What you generally have there is an American buttercream:
http://joepastry.com/category/pastry-components/buttercream/american-buttercream/
…that’s been whipped like crazy so it’s extra light and fluffy. Normal versions are all shortening, mine has half butter for better flavor — but you can do as you wish! Let me know what you think!
– Joe
Hi Joe,
I tried this recipe and it was amazing! However I would like a more buttery taste. I want to add more butter to the recipe, how should I alter the recipe?
Candice 🙂
Hey Candice!
The dough can handle more butter that the recipe calls for, so that’s a good place to start…try three ounces of butter and see what you think. It could probably handle one more ounce beyond that. But here’s another thought: use browned butter instead of regular soft butter for the overage. It’ll heighten the taste and may provide the extra oomph you’re looking for. Let me know how it goes!
– Joe
I tried making donuts they raised but when I went to put in the oil they deflated and they just stayed flat and fried that way in oil didn’t poof up when fried. Did I let them raise too much. Also in a bakery where I used to live they had a light white cream filling in their donuts. Do you know what this filling could of been?
I come from the Czech Republic and learnt to make raised doughnuts from my grandmother. The ingredients are about the same but the method is different – no overnight rise, but more importantly: they are filled with jam before being fried. If you’re interested, I posted the recipe here: http://www.growntocook.com/?p=3385
I very much enjoy reading your blog!
Hi Vera!
Thank you very much! I have indeed seen that technique before. The thing I like about it is that you get as much doughnut on top of the jam as you get below. The conventional (America) way, all the jam usually ends up close to either the top or bottom crust, which is nowhere near as pleasant. Thank you very much for the comment!
– Joe
Hi Joe, I have enjoyed reading your page and wondered if you have a recipe that could be used for commercial purposes? I have been using a premix here in Australia but would love to make a recipe from scratch. I usually do batches of 5kg dry mix. Your donuts look amazing but I wouldn’t be confident in scaling it up. Any advice you could help me with would be appreciated. Thanks Debbie