Small Batch Brioche Jelly Doughnuts

5 from 2 votes

Small Batch Brioche Jelly Doughnuts

This small batch, easy-to-follow homemade brioche jelly doughnut recipe makes just 6 perfectly sweet, jam-filled doughnuts from scratch.

Prep Time1 10

Cook Time4

Rise Time1 30

Total Time3

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: French, Polish

Servings:

Calories: 486kcal

Author: Allison Ferraro

Equipment

Instant read thermometer
Stand mixer with a dough hook attachment (optional but very helpful)
Plastic wrap
Rolling Pin
3 inch round biscuit/cookie cutter
Large, deep pot (I recommend a 5-6 quart Dutch oven)
Spider skimmer (can substitute a roux whisk or large metal slotted spoon)
Bismarck or large round piping tip
Pastry bag (or gallon freezer bag)

Ingredients

Brioche Dough:

½ cup whole milk
1 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
1 large egg, room temperature
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon fine sea salt

Frying:

vegetable oil or canola oil, enough to fill about 2 inches in your pot (approx. 1.5 quarts)

Filling and Topping:

½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup fruit jelly, jam, or preserves

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the brioche dough.

Warm the milk to between 110ºF and 115ºF (43ºC and 46ºC ) either in the microwave or on the stove. Use a thermometer to check the temperature of the milk. It should be warm but not hot to the touch. Pour the warmed milk into the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl) and add the yeast.
Add the egg, melted butter, flour, sugar, and salt and mix until the ingredients are blended. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes (to give the flour time to hydrate).
Using the stand mixer's dough hook attachment, beat on medium speed until a sticky dough forms. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for another 5 minutes, or until the dough is soft and smooth. (NOTE: If not using a stand mixer with a hook attachment, knead the dough by hand for about 10 minutes, or until a soft and smooth dough forms.) Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it gently with your hands for 1 minute before gently forming the dough into a ball.
Transfer the ball of dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover the bowl with a clean dish towel. Place the dough in a warm spot and let it rise until doubled in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.
Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour or overnight.
Remove the dough from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before rolling out the dough.

Cut the doughnuts.

Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and, using a rolling pin, roll the dough until it's ½ inch thick. Use a 3 inch round cutter to cut 6 circles from the dough.
Place the circles of dough onto a lightly oiled baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet with a clean dish towel and place it in a warm spot until the doughnuts are puffed, about 30 minutes.

Prepare the fry oil.

While the doughnuts rise, prepare the fry oil. Add oil to a large, deep pot (I used a 5.5 quart Dutch oven) so that the oil is about 2 inches deep. Heat the oil over medium heat until it reaches 355ºF to 360ºF (179ºC to 182ºC). Use a candy thermometer or instant read thermometer to monitor the oil's temperature.

Prep your fry station.

Make sure you'll have all the items you'll need for frying nearby before you begin. Place a cooling rack over a baking sheet next to the stove (this is where you'll place the doughnuts when they come out of the hot oil). Gather a spider skimmer (you can substitute a roux whisk or large metal slotted spoon) to use for taking the doughnuts in and out of the oil. Pour the topping sugar onto a plate. If you choose, you can wear oven gloves while frying to protect your hands.

Fry the doughnuts.

Using a spider skimmer (or a similar tool), carefully add 2 of the cut circles of dough to the hot oil. (I like to place one dough circle onto the skimmer, lower the skimmer into the oil so that the doughnuts floats off of it into the oil, then remove the skimmer and repeat with the second doughnut.) Use the spider skimmer to carefully flip the cooking doughnuts every 30 seconds so that they brown on each side. Continue to cook the doughnuts until they are deep golden, about 4 minutes total (2 minutes total per side). Use the spider skimmer to lift the doughnuts from the hot oil, one at a time, and transfer them to the prepared cooling rack.
Let the doughnuts cool for 15 to 30 seconds before carefully tossing them in the sugar. Return the sugared doughnuts to the cooling rack to cool.
Repeat with the other 4 dough circles, frying 2 at a time.

Fill the doughnuts.

When all of the doughnuts have been fried and are cool enough to handle, it's time to fill them! Fit a pastry bag with a Bismark or large round piping tip, fill the bag with jelly, and pipe into doughnuts.
If you're using a Bismark piping tip, you can simply poke it into the side of each doughnut to fill them.
If you're using a pastry bag with a large round piping tip like I did, or if you're simply using a large freezer bag, here's how to fill the doughnuts:
- Carefully poke a paring knife into the side of each doughnut, pushing it about ⅔ to ¾ of the way through the doughnut. Move the tip of the knife slightly to one side and then to the other to create a larger cavity inside the doughnut without piercing the knife through the other side of the doughnut and without opening the hole that you poked in the one side too much.
- Fit a piping bag with a large, round piping tip and fill the bag with the desired jelly. Because of the jelly's smoother consistency, it's likely to run out of the end of the tip, so I found it helpful to place the bag upright in a tall water glass when filling so that the bottom of the glass would block the opening of the piping tip and keep the jelly inside.
- Stick the piping tip into the hole that you created in the side of the doughnut and gently squeeze the piping bag to pipe the jelly into the doughnut. Continue piping until the doughnut is slightly puffed up from the jelly (about 2 ½ Tablespoons of jelly per doughnut), then remove the tip.
To fill doughnuts without a piping bag, use the same process as above but substitute a plastic freezer bag for the piping bag. Fill the plastic bag with jelly, use scissors to snip a small corner off of the bottom of the bag, and stick that corner into the hole in your doughnut to fill it.
Repeat this process with the remaining doughnuts.

Notes

Storage: Doughnuts are best when fresh (within about 12 hours of frying), but leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Maintaining the oil's temperature while frying is key. If the oil is not hot enough, the dough will soak up too much oil before it cooks, leading to soggy doughnuts. If the oil is too hot, the outsides of the doughnuts will be deep golden while the dough inside will still be raw. A candy thermometer or instant read thermometer is critical for monitoring the oil's temperature while frying.

Fry oil can be used several times before it should be discarded. To save oil for a future use, let the oil cool to room temperature before straining out any crumbs or bits of dough in the oil, and return the oil to its container. Mark the container so that you know this oil is to only be used for deep frying. Store the oil at room temperature. If discarding the oil, let it cool to room temperature before returning it to its container and discarding the container.

Nutrition