Sugared Jam Doughnuts

This recipe for jam doughnuts makes 6 large, soft, bouncy, fluffy and utterly delicious sugared doughnuts oozing with jam. Resistance is futile and licking of lips is mandatory.

If you enjoy sticky bread-based treats don’t miss my lemon buns or my currant buns.

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Jam doughnuts are the ultimate food hug in my view. Totally indulgent, utterly sumptuous and more or less impossible to resist. They are a fantastic pick-me-up food to serve when spirits need raising.

My recipe for these easy sugared doughnuts is really a base. The satisfyingly large balls of sweet fluffy bread can be filled as desired or left unfilled. And they can alternatively be glazed rather than being coated in sugar.

Messy fingers and sticky lips are a given though. That’s all part of the fun of eating jam doughnuts, right?

Fill these doughnuts with your favourite jams or curds. Try cherry jam, lemon curd or passionfruit curd.

Why you’ll love these doughnuts

If I told you that this easy jam doughnut recipe produces 6 large, light, bouncy and fluffy balls of sweet, vanilla-infused bread that is rolled in soft sugar before being pumped full of sweet and sticky oozing jam would that win you over?

But there are more reasons to make these sugared doughnuts:

• Freshness – homemade doughnuts can be eaten at their freshest – within a few hours of making (all fried doughnuts go stale very quickly)
• Quality ingredients: the dough is enriched with butter, egg, sugar and vanilla bean paste. These additions really do take the base dough up several notches
• Filling choices – you choose what they are filled with or you can leave them plain
• Size – you can make mini doughnuts perfect for dipping into sauces if you want to turn them into a fun sharing dessert
• Small batch doughnut recipe – this recipe makes 6 fluffy doughnuts so there are unlikely to be leftovers. As fried doughnuts do need to be eaten on the day they are made there is little point in a recipe that makes too many to get through
• Feed a crowd – that said, this jam doughnut recipe can easily be doubled if you are feeding more people though

Ingredients notes

The ingredients used in this easy jam doughnut recipe are common pantry staples.

I’ve used bread flour (strong white flour) in this recipe as the yeast reacts well with this higher-protein flour. It gives the dough elasticity and helps trap pockets of air, resulting in soft, light, airy and bouncy doughnuts. Plain flour is not a suitable substitute in this recipe.

I always use fast-action dried yeast (aka instant yeast or rapid yeast) in my bread recipes. I find it stores well and gives consistent results when I use it. Feel free to substitute in fresh yeast if preferred though (take a look at this article explaining how to make the substitution)

To create a tasty enriched dough do use butter rather than baking margarine for this recipe. If you do not have vanilla bean paste then extract is fine to use instead.

Use any flavour thick jam you fancy, but ensure it is smooth enough to be piped (I had to puree mine using a stick blender).

Step by step instructions

There are really three distinct stages to this jam doughnut recipe:

1. Make the dough
2. Fry the doughnuts
3. Roll them in sugar and fill

Let’s take a more detailed look at each stage in turn.

Stage 1: Make the Dough

1. Put the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, butter, egg, vanilla bean paste and lukewarm milk into a large bowl
2. Knead either by hand or in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook until the dough is smooth and elastic (around 10 minutes)
3. Lightly oil a clean bowl and transfer the dough to it. Cover with a tea towel and leave somewhere warm (but not hot) to rise until doubled in size (around 2 hours when air temperature is 20C/ 68F)
4. When risen, knock back the dough and turn onto a lightly floured worktop. Divide into 6 equal portions (around 80g each – use scales for accuracy)
5. Roll each piece of dough into a neat ball, then leave on the worktop, covered with the tea towel for another 45-60 minutes until doubled in size

Stage 2: Deep Frying

This sugared doughnut recipe does require the dough to be deep-fried. By far the safest way to do this is to use a thermostatically controlled deep-fat fryer. The following instructions assume you are using one too

1. When the dough is almost risen for the second time turn on the deep fat fryer, add sufficient oil to fry the doughnuts and heat to 180C/ 350 (Please refer to your machine instructions for details on oil requirements as all machines will differ)
2. When ready, fry the doughnuts two at a time to avoid overcrowding the pan. Simply slide each doughnut carefully into the oil to avoid splashes
3. Time them as they cook and let them fry undisturbed for 2 minutes, then flip them over and cook for a further 2 minutes
4. Remove using a slotted spoon, draining the oil and let cool slightly on kitchen paper
5. Repeat steps 2, 3 & 4 with the remaining doughnuts

Stage 3: Coat in sugar and Fill

1. If necessary blitz the jam with a stick blender to break down any lumps of fruit
2. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a specialist nozzle suitable for filling doughnuts
3. Put your sugar onto a large plate or a flattish bowl. Take a still hot doughnut and roll it in the sugar until fully coated. Repeat with the rest
4. Insert the nozzle approximately half way into the sugared doughnuts and squeeze jam into each one

Expert tips

• Weigh the dough to ensure you get 6 equal-sized balls. This will ensure they cook evenly
• It is best to cook the doughnuts in pairs to avoid overcrowding and lowering the temperature of the oil too much
• Use a timer to keep check of how long your doughnuts have been cooking for. It is very easy to misjudge without one
• Caster sugar or golden caster sugar are the best options for rolling the doughnuts in as they are soft and delicate
• Stand the sugared doughnuts up in a tin or flat bowl before filling with jam. It is so much easier to fill them this way as you have both hands free. If they are lying flat on a worktop, one hand will always have to hold the doughnut still
• Use a specialist piping nozzle to fill the doughnuts. It will still be a messy business, but this inexpensive bit of kit will make your doughnut-making life that much easier
• Remember to puree any lumpy jam with a stick blender. Large pieces of fruit will clog up the piping nozzle
• As these sugared doughnuts contain egg, milk and butter they are not easily adapted to suit a vegan lifestyle. If you are looking for a dairy-free and eggless vegan alternative try these
• And if you are hoping to make some gluten-free doughnuts, these look good to me

The best jam to use and alternative fillings

The best type of jam to use to fill these sugared doughnuts is thick so it stays inside of the doughnut rather than spilling out. It should also be a relatively smooth jam to avoid it getting stuck in the nozzle as it is injected into the doughnuts (blitz it with a stick blender if necessary). In fact, American style jelly (smooth jam with no chunks or seeds) is ideal.

As for the flavour, raspberry jam is traditional, but really, plump for any variety that takes your fancy. They are, after all, your doughnuts. And if jam is not what you are craving, consider the following fillings instead:

• Custard – again, it should be thick, not runny. Creme patissiere is ideal
• Chocolate custard – like this one
• Coffee custard – like this pastry cream
• Apple – try blending an applie pie filling until smooth
• Vanilla cream – whip double cream with a little icing sugar and vanilla bean paste
• Jam and cream
• Curds – lemon, lime, orange, raspberry, passionfruit – there are so many options

And rather than coating these jam doughnuts in plain sugar, try mixing in a little vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin spice or chai spice to elevate that sweet outer layer.

What to do with stale jam doughnuts

I know it’s unlikely, but if you do find yourself with a few of these delicious sugared doughnuts leftover there are a few things you can make with them. Try using them up in the following clever recipes:

• French toast
• Bread pudding
• doughnut trifle

And if you really want to eat the stale doughnut just as it is try heating it for 15 seconds in the microwave. It will be slightly revived. You could also chop it up and pour some vanilla custard over the top for an instant pudding.

More treats featuring a jammie centre