Fresh homemade mouthwatering doughnuts cooked until golden, tossed in sugar and filled with strawberry jam they are irresistibly soft and delicious. I'll show you how to make the most perfect jam doughnuts with this amazing failsafe recipe.
What's better than a soft, light and fluffy jam-filled homemade doughnut?
Nothing, that's what!
Once you learn this recipe the sky is your limit. You can fill the doughnuts with jam, custard, Nutella or any other filling that tickles your fancy. In fact, for an alternative to the standard fillings, do check out my recipe for Lotus Biscoff doughnuts, they are filled and glazed with Biscoff spread and are totally divine.
Jam doughnuts take time but the end result is worth it!
Granted making jam doughnuts takes time but if you follow the steps in this recipe you will end up with perfect yeast-risen doughnuts and you'll never want to buy packaged imitation doughnuts ever again.
I do understand that the prospect of making your own jam-filled doughnuts from scratch can seem a bit daunting. If you can make bread or a cake you can 100% make your own doughnuts.
Pinky promise!
How to make doughnut dough
To make the best yeast-risen doughnuts your dough will require a long proving and chilling process.
For perfect jam doughnuts, an overnight chilling in the fridge is essential for the following reasons:
- The cold temperature of the fridge slows down the activity of the yeast resulting in improved flavour.
- Chilling the dough makes it much easier to handle when it comes to shaping the doughnuts the following day.
The easiest way to make the dough is in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or in a bread machine on the dough setting. However, it is definitely possible to make these jam doughnuts by hand. I've done it without a stand mixer many times and enjoy the process of kneading by hand.
The ingredients for making jam doughnuts are actually very simple as you can see below.
Using a stand mixer
Step One: Put the water, flour, caster sugar, yeast, eggs and salt into a large bowl.
Fit the bowl to the stand mixer and use the paddle attachment to mix on medium speed for 5-8 minutes until the dough pulls away from the edges of the bowl and forms a ball.
Step Two: Leave the mixer on a medium speed and slowly add the butter a little at a time.
Beat well between each incorporation until the butter has disappeared into the dough. When all the butter has been added let the mixer run for a further five minutes until you have a smooth and very elastic dough.
Step Three: Cover the bowl with oiled clingfilm and leave to rise in a warm place for 2 hours – or until the dough has doubled in size.
When the dough has risen, punch the air out of it then re-cover with oiled clingfilm. Leave to chill in the fridge for 24 hours.
By hand
Step One: Add the water to a jug and sprinkle the yeast over the top with a pinch of the sugar. Mix together and set the jug to one side. The yeast mixture will form bubbles and look frothy after about 5 minutes.
Step Two: Put the flour, caster sugar and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter to the bowl and use your fingertips to rub the butter into the other ingredients until it resembles breadcrumbs (like when you make a crumble topping).
Step Three: Add the eggs and yeast mixture and use a wooden spoon to mix everything together to form the dough.
Step Four: Dust a surface with flour and turn out the dough onto it. Knead the dough for 10-12 minutes until you have a smooth and very elastic dough.
Step Five: Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough into it. Cover the bowl with oiled clingfilm and leave to rise in a warm place for 2 hours – or until the dough has doubled in size.
When the dough has risen, punch the air out of it then re-cover with oiled clingfilm. Leave to chill in the fridge for 24 hours.
How to shape the doughnuts
Once the dough has had 24 hours to chill in the fridge it will be well-risen. Doughnut dough is notoriously sticky but the long chill time will really help when you go to handle the dough.
The dough will need a third and final prove but first, you have to shape it. It will double in size at this stage, so it's important to leave enough room between each ball of dough on your baking trays.
I recommend preparing three large baking trays lined with floured baking paper. Aim to put five dough balls on each tray, leaving plenty of space between them.
Step One: Remove the dough from the fridge. Use kitchen scales to divide the dough into 15 pieces weighing 60 grams each.
Step Two: Use your hands to roll each piece of dough into a ball shape and place on a floured baking tray. Put 5 dough balls onto each tray leaving plenty of space between them. Cover each tray loosely with oiled clingfilm and leave to rise for 4 hours.
The dough balls will double in size.
How to fry doughnuts
Get ready for frying the doughnuts by preparing a large bowl filled with caster sugar (for tossing the hot doughnuts in). Put some paper towels on a plate beside where you will be frying the doughnuts (for draining the doughnuts).
Half fill a heavy-based pan with sunflower oil. I used 2 litres but this will vary depending on the size of your pan. Use a thermometer to get the temperature of the oil to 180ºC (350ºF).
It's important to get the oil to the correct temperature because if it's too hot the doughnuts will cook too quickly and will be raw in the middle. If the oil is too cold the doughnuts will soak up too much oil and become very greasy.
If you don't have a thermometer you can test the oil by dropping in a small piece of dough. It should take about 30 seconds to crisp. If it crisps immediately the oil is too hot if it doesn't crisp after 30 seconds the oil is too cold. Wait a bit longer then test the oil again.
Use scissors to cut the baking paper the doughnuts are sitting on into individual squares. This makes it much easier to transfer them to the hot oil without deflating them.
Very carefully place the doughnuts into the hot oil, three at a time. You can use a floured spatula to do this if you don't want to do it by hand. Cook for two minutes on each side until golden. The doughnuts will bob about in the oil so you might need to use a spatula to hold them down.
As soon as the first batch of three doughnuts has cooked on each side, remove them from the oil using a slotted spoon and drain them on the paper towels. Put the hot doughnuts straight into the bowl with the caster sugar and toss them coating them all over in the sugar. Set aside to cool. Repeat with the remaining doughnuts.
How to fill jam doughnuts
Filling jam doughnuts can be a bit tricky because obviously, you can't see inside the doughnut! You will have to try and judge how much filling to put into each one. The doughnuts will feel plump and heavier when the jam is put in.
Fit a piping bag with a doughnut nozzle, or, if you don't have one you can use any nozzle with a small hole in the end. If you don't have any nozzle at all you can just snip the end off the piping bag.
Fill the piping bag with strawberry jam.
To fill the doughnuts using a doughnut nozzle, insert it anywhere on the white line (between the fried top and bottom) pipe the jam until you feel the doughnuts swell and get heavy. Aim for about 1 tablespoon of jam per doughnut.
The below image demonstrates filling fresh doughnuts with Biscoff spread but you get the idea!
If you don't have a nozzle, use a pair of scissors to cut a hole in the white line of the doughnut, then insert the piping bag and squeeze the jam into the doughnut.
Amy's top tips for making perfect jam doughnuts
- Doughnut dough is very sticky. Don’t be tempted to add more flour – the proportions of the recipe are correct.
- The dough has to be chilled for 24 hours or you will not be able to handle it.
- Lightly flour your hands before shaping the doughnut balls and don’t handle the dough too much.
- Use a gentle cupping motion to roll the dough into balls.
- Leave plenty of space between each dough ball on the baking tray as they will double in size (at least)
- Don’t forget to flour the baking trays and oil the clingfilm or the dough will get stuck.
- Cut the baking paper into individual squares before transferring the dough to the hot oil.
- Try not to handle the dough too much before putting it into the oil or it will deflate.
- Check the temperature of the oil is staying at 180ºC. If it’s too hot your doughnuts will be raw in the middle. If it's too cold the doughnuts will soak up oil and become dense and greasy.
- If you don't have a thermometer you can test the oil by dropping a small piece of dough in. It should take about 30 seconds to crisp and turn golden.
- The doughnuts will bob about in the oil so use a spatula to hold them down while they are frying on each side.
- Please be very careful at the frying stage and use a thermometer.
- Toss the doughnuts in caster sugar while they are still hot.
- When filling the doughnuts aim for about 1 tablespoon of jam per doughnut.
Frequently asked questions and answers
There is 12 grams of sugar (from the caster sugar and jam) in each doughnut from this recipe.
In this recipe, there are 260 calories in one jam doughnut.
You can substitute the strong white bread flour for plain flour. Bear in mind, the stronger flour has a higher protein content and the extra gluten will yield a more elastic structure.
As a substitute for fast action yeast, you can use 10.5g dried yeast or 21g fresh yeast.
You will find it extremely difficult to handle the dough if it hasn't been sufficiently chilled. I would not recommend you skip the overnight chilling.
Doughnut dough is notoriously very sticky. It is not easy to handle but chilling overnight will help immensely. When you are shaping the dough into balls with your hands, lightly flour your hands in-between shaping each ball.
This recipe is suitable for vegetarians as it doesn't contain any meat products.
These jam doughnuts are not vegan because they contain eggs and butter.
Yes, you can use a large heavy-based pan filled half-way with oil.
These jam doughnuts will freeze well for up to three months.
You can follow this recipe up to the third prove stage then put the baking trays in the oven at 180ºC for 12 minutes (instead of frying the doughnuts). When baked, brush the doughnuts in melted butter, roll in sugar and fill with jam. The jam doughnuts will not be anywhere near as good as the fried version and you will end up with more of a sweet bun than a freshly cooked hot doughnut but it is possible to bake them!
They will still be edible the day after frying but they really are best eaten on the day they're made!
More dough recipes you'll love
How to make jam doughnuts
Incredible homemade jam doughnut recipe. Irresistibly soft, melt-in-your-mouth delicious jam doughnuts tossed in sugar and filled with strawberry jam. This recipe is easy to follow and has loads of tips and tricks for making perfect doughnuts every time!
Ingredients
- 150 g water
- 500 g strong white bread flour
- 60 g golden caster sugar
- 7 g fast-action dried yeast
- 4 medium eggs
- 2 tsp salt
- 125 g unsalted butter
- 2 litres sunflower oil, for frying
- caster sugar, for tossing
- 250 g strawberry jam, for filling
Instructions
- Put the water, flour, caster sugar, yeast, eggs and salt into a mixer bowl. Use the paddle attachment to mix on a medium speed for 8 minutes until the dough pulls away from the edges of the bowl and forms a ball.
- Leave the mixer on a medium speed and slowly add the butter a little at a time, beating between each incorporation. When all the butter has been added let the mixer run for a further five minutes until you have a smooth and very elastic dough.
- Cover the bowl with oiled clingfilm and leave to rise in a warm place for 2 hours – or until the dough has doubled in size.
- Punch the air out of the dough then cover with oiled clingfilm. Leave to chill in the fridge for 24 hours.
- After 24 hours remove the bowl from the fridge. Use kitchen scales to divide the dough into 15 pieces weighing 60 grams each.
- Prepare three baking trays lined with floured baking paper.
- Using your hands roll each piece of dough into a ball shape and place on a floured baking tray. Put 5 dough balls onto each tray leaving plenty of space between them. Cover each tray loosely with oiled clingfilm and leave to rise for 4 hours.
- Prepare a large bowl filled with caster sugar (for tossing the hot doughnuts in).
- Fill a heavy-based pan with sunflower oil. Use a thermometer to bring the oil to 180ºC.
- Cut around the kitchen paper so that the dough balls are on individual pieces of paper (this makes it much easier to transfer them). Very carefully peel away the baking paper and place the dough into the hot oil taking care not to deflate it. You can use a floured spatula to lower the dough into the oil.
- Depending on how big your pan is, fry in batches of three for two minutes on each side or until golden brown. You may need to use a spatula to hold the dough balls in the oil because they will bob about and float to the surface.
- Remove from the pan and drain on a kitchen paper then immediately coat all over with caster sugar. Set aside to cool. Ensure the oil temperature is maintaining 180ºC before you fry the next batch.
- Continue until all the doughnuts have been fried and tossed in caster sugar.
- Fill a piping bag fitted with a doughnut nozzle (or similar) with the strawberry jam. Pierce the doughnut on the white line in between the fried top and bottom and squeeze the piping bag to fill each doughnut until plump. If you don't have a doughnut nozzle, make a small cut with a pair of scissors in the white line then slide the piping bag in and fill.
Notes
Please check the post above for information relating to making the dough by hand :)
- Doughnut dough is very sticky. Don’t be tempted to add more flour – the proportions of the recipe are correct.
- The dough has to be chilled for 24 hours or you will not be able to handle it.
- Lightly flour your hands before shaping the doughnut balls and don’t handle the dough too much.
- Leave plenty of space between each dough ball on the baking tray as they will double in size (at least)
- Don’t forget to flour the baking trays and oil the clingfilm or the dough will get stuck.
- Cut the baking paper into individual squares before transferring the dough to the hot oil.
- Try not to deflate the dough before putting it into the oil.
- The doughnuts will bob about in the oil so use a spatula to hold them down while they are frying on each side.
- Check the temperature of the oil is staying at 180ºC. If it’s too hot your doughnuts will be raw in the middle.
- Please be very careful at the frying stage and use a thermometer.
This recipe was adapted from Justin Gellatly you can buy his book Bread, Cake, Doughnut, Pudding: Sweet and Savoury Recipes.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 15 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 260Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 320mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 1gSugar: 12gProtein: 5g
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