Baked Donuts filled with jelly are incredibly soft, airy and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Just like our donut holes, this homemade donut recipe is easy and always gets rave reviews!
Donuts are the ultimate comfort food. The aroma from the oven and the little hint of jelly peeking out of the side make these irresistible. I am a sucker for classic home-baked treats like blueberry muffins or chocolate chip banana bread and these baked donuts do not disappoint!
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Baked Donut Recipe:
Baked donuts are cotton-candy soft and fluffy. I remember my Mother making apple piroshki (Russian fried doughnuts) after school and it is one of the food memories I will always treasure. Baked yeast donuts are even easier and is a tradition I’m continuing with my own family.
I’ll take one of these over a Krispy Kreme any day because they are way more satisfying – the perfect balance of fluffy center to sugar coated surface without the greasy mouth feel and my belly is always happier eating a homemade baked donut!
Is it Donuts or Doughnuts?
Which is the correct spelling? This is heated debate because donuts… mmm doughnuts! There’s even a National Donut Day and it’s the first Friday of June. It is the ultimate comfort food. The real question is – when were doughnuts invented? ‘Doughnut’ is the original old-school spelling but ‘donuts’ took off when Dunkin’ Donuts launched in 1950.
Most people will search for “donuts” online and it is the clear winner in popularity. The dictionary now recognizes ‘donut’ as a variant of doughnut so the word doughnut came first but both terms are technically correct.
Here’s our argument – old school doughnuts are deep fried, but these are new school baked donuts so we called them so.
Are Baked Donuts Healthy?
To put it delicately, baked donuts are the healthier option compared to traditional deep-fried donuts. They don’t leave you feeling as guilty about your choices. You only need 1 Tbsp of melted butter to coat all 12 donuts! Are donuts good for you? In the end, they are still sugar covered carbs… glorious carbs! Eat responsibly.
What is the Best Filling for Donuts?
We enjoy changing up the type of jelly in these baked donuts; strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, huckleberry,.. you name it! Whether you are using jam, preserves or jelly, pick one that is:
- Thick – a thick jelly won’t run out of the donut as easily
- Fairly Smooth – so the piping tip doesn’t get clogged
- Your favorite flavor – these are, after all, for you!
How to Make Cream Filled Donuts:
For a cream filling, you will need a stable, thick cream that won’t ooze out. The pastry cream from our eclairs is easy and excellent. Let the cream cool then fill the pastry bag fitted with a sharp tip and generously pipe into each donut.
For Cinnamon Sugar Donuts:
If you choose to omit the jam inside, you can add more flavor with a cinnamon sugar coating. In a small bowl, stir together and roll hot buttered donuts in this mixture:
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Love Glazed Donuts?
We enjoy these without glaze but if you desire glazed donuts, you can skip brushing with butter and rolling in sugar. Once donuts are cool enough to handle, dip into this glaze mixture then place on racks until glaze hardens:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup milk or water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
More Classic Home-Baked Treats:
- Baklava – once you try homemade, there’s no going back
- Chocolate Chip Cookies – soft, moist and perfect
- Snowball Cookies are melt-in-your-mouth good
- Russian Tea Cookies – buttery and studded with walnuts
- Italian Cookies a chocolate filled sandwich cookie
How to Ensure Super Fluffy Donuts?
The correct balance of wet to dry ingredients is critical in any dough recipe. Be sure to measure the ingredients correctly. Stir your flour with a spoon then spoon it into a dry ingredient measuring cup. Pushing a measuring cup into a flour bin can result in 25% more flour than is called for which will result in dense donuts.
Also, be sure to allow your dough to proof in a warm room (never more than 110˚F) or you will deactivate the yeast and the donuts will not rise properly.
Baked Donut Video Tutorial:
Watch Natasha make this easy and super fluffy baked donut recipe. P.S. There’s a guest star in this episode!
I hope this becomes your go-to baked donut recipe! They are irresistibly soft and there is nothing like warm homemade donuts.
Baked Donuts Filled with Jelly
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided, plus more for dusting*
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast, quick acting, (1 packet = 7 grams)
- 2/3 cup warm milk, 110˚F - microwave 35 sec.
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted, divided
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup jelly or jam, (no large fruit pieces)
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar , to roll donuts
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 1/4 tsp (1 packet) instant yeast and 1/4 tsp salt.
- Add warm milk, 3 Tbsp melted butter, 2 egg yolks and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, and whisk vigorously to combine well.
- Cover with plastic wrap and rest at room temperature 10 minutes, until some bubbles form on the surface.
- Add remaining 1 1/2 cups flour, adding just enough until dough holds together and no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl (Add the last 2 Tbsp of flour only if needed) and knead in the bowl 5 minutes. If dough is really sticking to your hands, dust lightly with flour then continue kneading with clean dry hands. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a 100˚F oven for 45 min or at room temperature for 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in size.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 375˚F with rack in the center of the oven.
- Turn dough out onto a floured surface and roll the dough out to just under 1/2” thick. Cut circles using a 2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter. Re-roll scraps if needed to make 12 donuts total. Place donuts on prepared baking sheet, cover with a tea towel and let rise in a 100˚F oven for 20 min or at room temperature 45 min, or until puffed. Bake uncovered in the center of a preheated oven at 375˚F for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden on top.
- Right out of the oven, brush a hot bun all over with remaining 1 Tbsp melted butter and roll in a bowl of sugar to coat lightly with sugar. Cut a deep slit in the side of each donut and pipe jam with a pastry bag into each one.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Enjoy your home-baked donuts and “Do-nut Worry, be Happy!” I couldn’t resist! 😉
Hi there
Busy making your donuts but my dough came very dry. Not sure why.
If everything else was the same (no ingredient substitutions and using all-purpose flour), the most likely culprit was in how the flour was measured. Stir your flour with a spoon then spoon the flour into a measuring cup and level off the top. Often if you push your measuring cup into the flour bin, you can get 25% too much flour. Also, make sure you are using a dry ingredient measuring cup that you can level off the top. I hope that helps to troubleshoot!
I’m in the middle of making this recipe for the first time, and so far I’m not impressed. My oven doesn’t go down to 100 degrees (170 is the lowest) so I have to let everything rise at room temp. So your 2 hour recipe is now closer to 4 hours. My mistake for not knowing how low my oven can go, but by that point I was committed (both with the dough and my kids wanting homemade donuts).
Everything is rising nicely though, The donuts are cut and on baking pans. I hope they’re worth the wait.
Hi!! First of all, I adore you! Second, I am making these as I type and for some reason they aren’t puffing like yours did. I mean, they are a little but it’s been well over an hour! AHHHH! I am wondering what I did wrong so I don’t repeat!!
Hi Heather, this is one of our most popular desserts and I am always happy to help troubleshoot. The most common reasons for the dough not to rise are either too much flour (see our tutorial on measuring ingredients), also inactive yeast or old yeast, or inactivated or dead yeast due to overheating the yeast while proofing. The dough should never go above 100˚F or the yeast will inactivate and the dough will not rise. This is true of all yeast doughs. I hope that helps to figure out what went wrong.
Well, I pretty much had all new ingredients so it could have been the flour. Either way….THEY WERE INSANE!! My entire family loved them!! Thanks for the response!
I’m so glad you all enjoyed that, Heather!
Hola.
Por favor, ¿podrías poner las cantidades en gramos en vez de tazas?
Muchas gracias.
Hi Irmina, We are currently working on adding metric measurements to all of our recipes but it is taking some time as we have to add them one at a time. We do have a metric conversion at the bottom of this recipe. Simply click – “Jump to Recipe” click the “US Customary – Metric button to convert.
Thank you so much for being patient! In the meantime, check out our post on measuring which should help.
Hola Natashas.
Muchas gracias, ya pude ver las cantidades en gramos. Es perfecto.
Muy amable.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for sharing that with me, Irmina!
I wasn’t sure 5 minutes I hand kneaded the dough is enough. I put it into my standing mixer with the hook attachment for few more minutes until the dough looks smooth and relaxed. I was very pleasantly surprised with the result! It’s really good and soft! I will say it’s comparable to the fried ones 😊 Thank you Natasha for the recipe!
Thank you for sharing your experience with us and for your great review. I’m so glad that the end result was so good!
I just finished making these, and I filled them with some homemade strawberry jam. I followed the recipe to a T and they came out amazing! The recipe was easy to follow, and the video helped a lot. Thanks!
Thanks for your amazing feedback, Nancy. I am so happy that it turned out great!
Thoses donuts are heavenly! I hydrated the yeast altgough I didn’t have to and it turned out amazing! Thank you so much for the recipe!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Frankie!
Just made your baked jelly donuts and they were fantastic! They aren’t lasting very long, though!😀
Thanks for the great review, Michelle. I’m glad you loved it!
Given proportions of wet to dry are really important could you include grams in yr recipes as well as American cup measurements?
Many thx if it’s possible
Hi Peta, We are currently working on adding metric measurements to all of our recipes but it is taking some time as we have to add them one at a time. Thank you so much for being patient! In the meantime, check out our post on measuring which should help
I adapted this for bread machine use. It’s a really simple and forgiving recipe. The kids and family loved them.
That’s so awesome, Joshua! I’m so glad your family enjoyed that!
Hi Natasha you are just lovely and enjoy your videos very much, along with your uplifting spirit. Wondering if I could substitute almond flour for this do it recipe. Would love to make today for the family – Help!
Hi Carmela, I haven’t tested that but I think it could work. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
Hi Natasha, welI made these todayusing half almond flour and half regular. Sadly, they did not rise and look like hockey pucks. Any advice?
Hi Carmela, it is more than likely the almond flour. I haven’t tested this with that & since baking is such a science I’m sure there is more to it.
I’ll try again with just flour. All these positive comments have motivated me! Thank you and stay safe, you and your family!
I hope it works out and you love it, Carmela!
Hey Natasha 🙂
I was just wondering how long you can keep these donuts for? I’ve been wanting to make these for a while but there are only 3 of us in the house! xx
Hi Amy if stored properly in the fridge, the donuts will be kept well for about 5 days
Perfect Teatime recipe
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Love your recipes as you make them easy to follow. 🥀
Glad you love my recipes, Julia. Hope you can try the other recipes too.
Could you help me turn cups to grams please
Hi Christine, go to the recipe and click “Metrics” to convert this into grams. I hope that helps!
Thank you just tried them … delicious xx
I never re-roll leftover or re-purpose the dough. I make biscuits etc square, so all are tender and fluffy.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Can you double this recipe?
Hi Hannah, I haven’t tested that but it may require more time. I would follow the recipe steps. If you experiment please let me know how you like that!
Love love love it!!!
Super easy not overly sweet and a huge hit
Thank you for your great feedback Sharon. Happy to know that you loved this recipe!
Hello and greetings from the Netherlands! Just made this recipe, used a glass to cut the donuts as I reallised I don’t have a cookie cutter. Filled them with homemade mango/madame jeanette jam. They came out great, but got slightly burnt at the bottom. Oven was the right temp. Would it help if I flip them alf way through?
Hi Frank, I haven’t had that experience with it burning at the bottom. I wonder if it could be due to the pan or if the oven is not calibrated? Was the pan possibly to close to the heat source?
Hi
I made this recipe … just as you said… I used a kitchen aid ..
They came out perfect …
I live in all year round hot weather Trinidad, W.I.
Love that they are baked.
That’s so great! Thank you so much for sharing that with me Basdai!