Fresh Homemade Jelly-Filled Donuts (2024)

Each of these fresh homemade jelly-filled donuts are deep fried to pillowy golden brown perfection, then dusted with powdered sugar for an extra special touch of sweetness. I fill them with strawberry jelly, but you can use any jelly you like!

Like my crumb cake donuts, these are yeast-raised brioche donuts, but they're a bit smaller — about half the size of a jelly donut you'd get at a bakery.

Never made donuts before? Don't worry! I've got all my best tips for using brioche dough for donuts, how to fill jelly donuts, as well as deep frying tips for beginners to guide you through the process.

I usually make these deep fried jelly-filled donuts along with my extra-crispy potato pancakes for Hanukkah (and because I can reuse the oil from the donuts to fry the potato pancakes), but they're honestly great all year round.

In Poland, jelly-filled paczki are served on Fat Tuesday, a tradition that has carried over in the United States, particularly in the heavily Polish-American communities in Michigan, where Fat Tuesday is officially known as "Paczki Day."

Whether you call these them Polish packzi, Jewish sufganiyot, German berliners, Italian bomboloni, or British jam donuts, lots of cultures agree: deep fried yeasted jelly-filled donuts dusted with powdered sugar are a real treat!

About This Recipe

The dough for these homemade jelly-filled donuts is my base brioche bread dough, plus the addition of vanilla for a more dessert-y vibe. So if you've made that, the first part of this jelly donut recipe will feel very familiar to you!

You could also use the softer version this dough from my brioche hot dog buns recipe which uses an extra egg yolk and milk powder to make even softer, fluffier homemade jelly donuts.

Another thing that makes these homemade jelly donuts unique is that they're quite a bit smaller than the giant pillowy jelly donuts you'd get at a bakery.

This is because I'm not the biggest fan of jelly-filled donuts in part because they're so huge and messy to eat. So these are my ideal size: three-bite jelly donuts. They're about twice the size of a donut hole, but half the size of a full-size jelly donut. The small size makes them much easier to eat quickly without making a mess!

Filling the jelly donuts is where things can get a little messy, but once you get the hang of it it's quite easy. The trick is to use a true jelly (not jam or preserves) and to open up the center of the freshly fried donuts with a paring knife to make room for the jelly.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Here's what you need to make these fresh homemade jelly-filled donuts.

Ingredient Notes

Here's what you'll need to make these homemade fried jelly-filled donuts with a powdered sugar coating! See recipe card for ingredient quantities.

• Jelly - I use strawberry jelly, but any fruit jelly will work. It's important that you use jelly and not jam or preserves here. Both jam and preserves have fruit bits in them, which makes them hard to pipe. Jelly, on the other hand, is made from fruit juice and will be easy to pipe.
• All Purpose Flour - No fancy flour needed! I use King Arthur Baking's all-purpose flour which has a slightly higher protein content which makes it a little chewier. If you're using store brand flour, you may see better results with a bread flour. But regular all purpose should work just fine!
• Milk - Whole milk works best —the fat content is an important part of this enriched dough.
• Large Egg - If you use a different-sized egg, you may find the dough stickier or drier than it should be. It will still work, you just may need to add more milk or flour in the initial mixing stages! In the U.S. a large egg (without the shell) weighs 57 grams (approximately 2 ounces).
• Honey - To sweeten the dough. You'll want to use a honey that has a flavor you really like here. Yum!
• Instant Yeast - Instant yeast is sometimes also called "rapid rise," "quick rise," or "bread machine" yeast. Active dry yeast can be used as well, see recipe notes for how to adjust.
• Vanilla Bean Paste - I like the concentrated flavor of a vanilla bean paste, but vanilla extract or the seeds from one vanilla bean pod will also work!
• Salt - I useDiamond Crystal Kosher Saltwhich half as salty as other brands. As long as you measure your salt by weight, it doesn't matter what brand or type of salt you use. If you're measuring by volume (teaspoons) cut the amount of salt in half.
• Unsalted Butter - Make sure your butter is softened truly to room temperature. The colder and firmer your butter is, the longer it will take to incorporate into the dough. If you use salted butter, cut the amount of salt in the dough in half or omit it entirely.
• Powdered Sugar - For dusting! This is also sometimes called "confectioner's sugar."
• Neutral Oil - For frying the donut holes. You'll want a neutral oil like canola oil, vegetable oil, peanut oil, safflower oil, or grapeseed oil.

• Soften the butter - The best way to soften butter to room temperature is to leave it out for 1-3 hours (or overnight if it’s very cold in your kitchen). If you don't remember to do that, you can microwave the wrapped stick of butter for 4-5 seconds per side.
• Warm the Milk - Microwave the milk in 10-15 second bursts in the microwave until it is warm to the touch but not hot (90°F).
• Bring the egg to room temperature - Submerge the egg in very hot water for 5-10 minutes.

How to Make Brioche Dough for Jelly-Filled Donuts

These donut holes are made from a basic brioche dough. Brioche dough is enriched with fat from butter, whole milk, and eggs, as well as sugar (or honey, in this case). The milk, eggs, vanilla, and honey are liquids, so they get mixed and kneaded with the dry ingredients first.

The softened butter is added in a second mixing stage because it's a solid fat; if added with the liquid ingredients, it would coat the flour and prevent it from absorbing them.

Psst! I've gone into more detail about brioche and how to troubleshoot it in mybrioche bread loafpost, and I recommend heading there to read more about it if it's your first time making brioche.

After mixing, before kneading.

After kneading, before adding butter.

After adding butter and kneading.

Finish by shaping the dough into a ball by tucking all the ends under so the top is nice and smooth and place it in a lightly greased bowl and cover it to rise.

Cutting & Frying Donuts

Turn the cool donut dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Try to get it all in one piece or as un-wrinkled as possible to make it easier to roll out smoothly.

It's okay if it's not perfect, or if you need to scrape a few stuck bits out of the bottom of the bowl and stick them onto it. It'll just make things a little easier for you if you can get it in one clean piece.

Use a rolling pin to gently roll out the dough. The butter in the dough will warm up as you work it, so dust in more flour (lightly) only if needed to prevent sticking.

Keep rolling until the dough is about a quarter inch thick all the way around, though it's okay if the dough is a little thinner in some spots.

Use a 2.25" or 2.5" round cutter to cut as many donuts out of the dough as possible. Keep them as close together as you can.

Arrange the donuts and any scrap dough on a lined sheet pan, cover, and let rise somewhere warm for 45-60 minutes.

It can be a little hard to tell when the donuts have completed their second rise because they're so flat. You're basically just looking for them to look a little puffy and airy, a little taller than they were when you first cut them.

Towards the end of this rise time, begin heating about 3-4 inches of oil in a large pot OR Dutch oven with a candy thermometer attached. Bring the oil to 350°F.

To check if the oil is ready, fry up a single sacrificial donut hole or donut to check for doneness —that will give you a sense of how long it will take for them to fry!

Working in batches, use a wire spider to lower about 4-5 donuts into the oil all at once.

Use a toothpick, paring knife, or the pointy end of a thermometer to gently poke any large air bubbles that appear.

Fry the donuts for 4-5 minutes total, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain a temperature of 350°F.

Flip the donuts every 30-60 seconds OR flip them once halfway through, around 2 minutes in.

Remove the donut holes to a sheet pan lined with paper towels and a wire cooling rack set inside it.

This allows any excess oil to drip off, and leaves room for air to circulate around the donuts so they don't get soggy.

Let the fresh donuts cool on the wire rack for at least 15-20 minutes before proceeding with the filling. You don't want to burn yourself on the hot donuts!

How to Fill Jelly Donuts

Before you begin filling the jelly donuts, you'll want to make sure there's space inside for the jelly to fit. You'll also want to have a paper towel nearby to wipe the tip of the piping bag clean and to wipe any overflow jelly off the donuts if needed.

Insert a paring knife into the side of the donut, then carefully rotate and wiggle it around inside to create a pocket.

Insert the tip of the piping bag into the hole and slowly pipe in the jelly as you withdraw the piping bag.

In an ideal world, every jelly donut will have the same amount of filling, but even when I make them I end up with some that have more filling than others.

One of the hardest things to learn when you're making a filled dessert like this is figuring out how much filling is actually inside when you can't see it. In pastry school we were taught to get a feel for the weight of the jelly inside the donuts.

If I'm being honest, I never quite got the hang of that. So I just do my best to feel like I'm applying the same amount of pressure for the same amount of time with each donut. And that's what you should do too.

If you're squeezing jelly into the donut and suddenly it all starts squishing out at the top, that's a good sign the donut is full!

Regardless of how much filling is actually in the middle, they'll all taste great. So don't sweat it if they're not all perfectly even; it's the taste that matters!

Once your donuts have been filled with jelly, lay them all flat on the cooling rack and dust both sides with powdered sugar. Start by dusting the bottoms, then flip them over so the prettier top side is facing up and dust that too.

That's it! Your homemade jelly-filled donuts are done and ready to serve.

Storage Notes

These jelly-filled donuts are best enjoyed within the first 2-4 hours after filling. Donuts are always best eaten while still fresh.

I don't recommend trying to store jelly donuts for later, though you can keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 24 hours if you really need to. They just won't be as good as if they were fresh, because the jelly will have absorbed into the dough, making them kind of soggy. But if you don't mind that, have at it!

12-Piece Set of Round Ring Pastry Cutters

A color coded set of round pastry cutters with the corresponding measurements on the lid. Great for cookies, donuts, biscuits, etc.!

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Practical Tips and Recipe Notes

• Always make more donuts than you need —you want a few extras in case something goes wrong with the frying or filling.
• Optional: Add 2 teaspoons lemon or orange zest to the dry ingredients when making the dough for a sweet, citrusy flavor.
• Use a stand mixer to make this donut hole dough. You cannot use a hand mixer to make brioche dough.
• If you have one of the tilt-head KitchenAid stand mixers, the motor may struggle with this dough; you may need to hold the bowl in place to make sure it doesn’t unscrew or come loose. You can always lower the speed and knead for longer if your mixer is struggling with the higher speeds. If you have a bowl-lift stand mixer, you'll still want to keep an eye on it the whole time it's mixing and kneading so it doesn't walk itself off the counter.
• You shouldn't need to go above speed 6 on your KitchenAid mixer at any point while you're making this dough. Most of the time speeds 2-4 are just fine!
• Room temperature = 72-75°F. If it's cold in your kitchen, the dough may need an extra 30-60 minutes to rise.I've been using this seed starting heat mat to help my dough rise properly in my cold kitchen. It's less than $15 and has a very gentle heat; I just put my mixing bowl or sheet pan right on top of the mat. It works beautifully.
• Don't discard the dough scraps! Fry them up at the end as a little snack for you.

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