Easy Doughnut Recipe for Four

This easy doughnut recipe makes four large, soft, bouncy, fluffy and utterly delicious jam doughnuts. Resistance is futile and licking of lips is mandatory.

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 easy doughnut recipe is really a base. The satisfyingly large balls of sweet fluffy bread can be filled as desired. And they can be rolled in sugar or glazed, if you are feeling that way inclined.

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

Why Make These Doughnuts

If I told you that this easy doughnut recipe produced four 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 jam would that win you over?

I thought so.

The dough is enriched with butter, egg, sugar and vanilla bean paste. And these additions really do take the base dough up several notches.

This recipe is ideal for 4 hungry (greedy) people, but the dough could be stretched to make 6 smaller jam doughnuts for more delicate appetites.

The bonus of a small batch doughnut recipe is that there are unlikely to be leftovers. Doughnuts do need to be eaten fresh, as in within hours, so there is little point in making too many to eat in one sitting.

This jam doughnut recipe can easily be doubled if you are feeding a crowd though.

Ingredients Notes

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

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 care when picking your filling. My jam had whole blackberries in it, so I needed to puree it, using a handheld blending stick, to ensure it could easily be piped into the doughnuts.

Step by Step Instructions

There are really three distinct stages to this easy 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

Step 1: Put the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, butter, egg and vanilla bean paste into a large bowl

Step2: Add the lukewarm milk

Step 3: Knead either by hand or in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook until the dough is smooth and elastic (around 10 minutes). The dough will start off quite loose but by the time it is fully kneaded it should be soft but not sticky. If it is too sticky during the kneading process, add a little more flour and continue to work the dough

Step 4: 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)

Step 5: When risen, knock back the dough and turn onto a lightly floured worktop. Divide into 4 equal portions (use scales for accuracy). 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 easy 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

Step 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 to 180C/ 350F

(Please refer to your machine instructions for details on oil requirements as all machines will differ).

Step 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

Time them as they cook and let them fry undisturbed for 2½ minutes, then flip them over and cook for a further 2½ minutes

Step 3: When the time is up they should look nicely browned. Remove using a slotted spoon, draining the oil and let cool slightly on kitchen paper

Repeat steps 2 & 3 with the remaining doughnuts.

Stage 3: Roll in sugar and Fill

Step 1: Prepare the jam by blitzing with a stick blender if necessary to break down any lumps of fruit (it needs to be smooth enough to pass through the piping nozzle without getting stuck. Once ready, spoon into a piping bag fitted with a specialist nozzle suitable for filling doughnuts

Step 2: 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. Set aside and cover the the rest of the doughnuts in the same way

Step 3: Stand the doughnuts on their sides (propping them up in a loaf tin or similar is ideal). Insert the nozzle approximately half way into the doughnuts and squeeze ¼ of the jam into each one. It should be easy to plunge the nozzle in, but use a thin knife, such as a filleting knife, to make a small incision if necessary.

Expert Tips and Frequently Asked Questions

Expert Tips

• Weigh the dough to ensure you get 4 (or 6) equal-sized balls. This will ensure they cook evenly
• It is best to cook the dough 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
• If making 6 smaller jam doughnuts, the cooking time will be reduced slightly - aim for 2 minutes each side
• Caster sugar or golden caster sugar are the best options for rolling the doughnuts in as they are soft and delicate
• Ring the changes in this easy doughnut recipe by flavouring your sugar - vanilla-infused sugar is wonderful. Alternatively, mix a little cinnamon into your sugar before rolling the doughnuts
• Stand the 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

Frequently Asked Questions

As these jam doughnuts contain egg, milk and butter they are not easily adapted to suit a vegan lifestyle. If you are looking for a vegan alternative, try these. And if you are hoping to make some gluten-free doughnuts, these ones look good to me.

More treats featuring a jammie centre:

• Custard Creams Biscuits with a Jammie Centre
• Almond Frangipane Tart with Blackberries
• Easy Vanilla Sponge Cake
• Peanut Butter Flapjack

If you tried this recipe please give it a rating below. Don’t forget to share your creations with me on Instagram too - I love to hear how you've got along. Use #littlesugarsnaps and tag me @jane_littlesugarsnaps.