You can’t do much better than warm, homemade doughnuts right from the fryer. My jelly doughnuts with strawberry jam are just the place to start.
I can’t express how excited I am to finally have a real, fried doughnut recipe on my site! It’s been a long time coming. That’s not to say that my Baked Matcha Glazed Doughnuts or Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze Doughnuts aren’t worth trying, because they totally are! But lets face it, baked and fried aren’t the same thing. A fresh out of the fryer doughnut will always be my first love.
Now, these doughnuts are really something special. The dough is based off of sufganiyot recipes I researched, which are Jewish doughnuts typically served during Hanukkah. The dough is a bit more rich and buttery. The extra butter and yolks not only make these jelly doughnuts more decadent, but also keep them moist for days! You don’t even have to dip them in coffee the next day. Trust me.
The filling is just as important as the doughnuts themselves in my opinion. Growing up, Boston Cream and Jelly Doughnuts were my two favorites. Seeing as it’s summer and there’s beautiful strawberries in season, I decided to go for a jelly doughnut. Okay, okay, so jam and jelly are two different things. I understand that. I just prefer to call them jelly doughnuts rather than jam doughnuts, so let’s move on. One important tip when filling the doughnuts is to fill them more then you think you should. You don’t want filling to squirt back out everywhere, but you want a nice amount of jam in there to make an enjoyable jelly doughnut.
As far as the outside goes, granulated sugar is what I associate with jelly doughnuts in my world, but by all means, go the powdered sugar route if that’s what you’re into. Remember my recipes are only guides, not rules, so do your own thing. Happy baking everyone.
Jelly Doughnuts with Homemade Strawberry Jam (Sufganiyot)
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: ~ 1 dozen doughnuts
Description
You can’t do much better than warm, homemade doughnuts right from the fryer. My strawberry jam doughnuts are just the place to start.
Ingredients
Dough:
- 2/3 cup whole milk
- 1 packet active dry yeast (¼ oz)
- 3 – 3 ½ cups flour, as needed
- 5 tbsp granulated sugar, divided, plus more for coating
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 whole egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
- Vegetable oil, for frying
Jam:
- 1 quart (16oz) strawberries, hulled and quartered
- ½ cup sugar
- Pinch salt
- 4 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp lemon juice, or to taste
Instructions
- Activate yeast: Warm milk to about 108-112°F. Sprinkle over yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Stir gently to combine on top layer of milk. Allow to activate for about 5 minutes. Yeast should get foamy.
- Start dough & knead: Using a standing mixer with a dough hook attachment, add 2 cups of flour, remaining 4 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of sugar, and salt. Stir to combine, then add eggs, yeast/milk mixture and vanilla. Knead over low speed for about 2-3 minutes or until ingredients come together.
- Add butter: Incorporate butter slowly, 1 tablespoon at a time, into dough while mixing.
- Add remaining flour & knead: Gradually add another 1 cup of flour and stir into dough. Add additional flour if needed, until dough is soft, smooth and shiny, and pulls away from dough hook. Knead on a floured surface for about 5 minutes.
- Raise dough: Transfer dough to a large buttered bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until doubled in volume. I like to preheat my oven slightly and shut it off when it reaches 90°F. Then I place my dough inside of the warm, turned off oven to rise.
- Make jam: Add strawberries, sugar and salt to a nonstick pan. Turn heat to medium, bring to a simmer and cook about 20 minutes or until jam has thickened and strawberries are very soft. To thicken jam further, add cornstarch dissolved in 4 teaspoon of water. Stir to combine and gently boil for 2 minutes. Transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth. Cool and stir in lemon juice, to taste.
- Roll and cut doughnuts: Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Roll to about ½ to ¾ inch thickness. Cut into rounds using a 3 ½ inch dough cutter, dipped in flour. A smaller cutter (2 ½-3 inches) will also work. Reroll scraps once. I also keep odd pieces of dough to fry. Transfer to a parchment lined sheet tray and cover with a clean towel. Allow to rise in a warm area for about 40-50 minutes or until almost doubled in size.
- Fry & sugar: While doughnuts rise, filled a large, heavy bottomed pot with about 4 inches of oil. Heat to 350°F. Fry doughnuts in batches for about 1-2 minutes or until browned. Flip and cook another 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Add sugar to a wide bowl for coating doughnuts. Toss doughnuts in sugar while still warm.
- Fill & serve: Using a skewer or chopstick, puncture each doughnut through the center horizontally and gently swirl to widen the hole. Transfer cooled jam to a piping bag fitted with a ¼ inch round tip, and squeeze to fill with jam until jam starts to seep from opening. Don’t be too timid with this step, as the doughnuts can take on quite a bit of jam. Save any remaining jam for dunking. Eat immediately and store up to 2 days in an airtight container at room temperature. Enjoy!
Notes
Time does not reflect time needed for doughnuts to rise.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 doughnut
- Calories: 326
- Sugar: 20g
- Sodium: 273mg
- Fat: 12g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Carbohydrates: 49g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 6g
Keywords: doughnuts, donuts, strawberry, jam, jelly
How many doughnuts does this make? Is it half a dozen, a dozen, or more?
Hi Ayanna,
It makes about 1 dozen. Let me know if you get a chance to make them!
I’ve made these so many times! My whole family loves them and they can be cut if you don’t want to fill.
I was wondering if you can make ahead and freeze them?
★★★★★
Hi Harley! Thank you so so much! That’s a good question. You can freeze doughnuts after they’re fried and cooled, but the quality will slightly suffer. Alternatively, you can freeze the dough before frying and just allow it to thaw in the fridge before using. Hope that helps!
Best,
Sabrina
These look amazing! Bring one home to mom????
Haha, will do!
Now that is a donut! Can’t see them lasting an hour let alone 2 days:-)
★★★★★
Wow, they look amazing!
Thanks Tracy!
Very easy everyone loved them! Will make again!
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Sarah! That makes my day 🙂