Crazy for Fresh Doughnuts!

doughnuts

After a bactch of doughnuts for a party, the next morning the oil was still on the stove, albeit cold–but there was brioche dough left in the bucket…

Roll the brioche dough out to 1/4 inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter and a small round cookie cutter shape the doughnuts. Make sure to save the holes to fry up.

doughnuts

Fry them in the oil as you would the beignets on page 197.

doughnuts

Lay the doughnuts out on paper towel to drain off any excess oil.

doughnuts

Dust with powdered sugar, pour that cup of coffee and read the paper!

66 thoughts to “Crazy for Fresh Doughnuts!”

  1. Hi Sidra,

    Your bread looks fantastic! Do try the doughnuts, they are simple to make and wonderful!

    Thanks, Zoë

  2. Zoe,

    I just love this book! I too have brioche dough in the fridge so I may try the donuts this weekend.

    Also, I wanted to tell you how much I’m enjoying making the different kinds of bread. It almost seems unreal…I don’t spend nearly the amount of time I have in the past when I’ve made bread from scratch. I made the Almond Brioche “Bostock” (on page 193) rolls last night and they were amazing! The crumb was perfect and the addition of the granulated sugar in the pan and on top added just enough sweetness.

    I am a pastry chef (not working in the industry unfortunately) so I love to bake. I have a feeling that between this website and your book I will be happily baking and experimenting for quite some time! You and Jeff have done an excellent job!

  3. Great book, I am loving it and loving the trial and error (to convect or not, etc)…

    Any chance of a “search” tool being added to your website here? It would be fun to search for questions/issues/comments that one has to see if it’s already been asked and so forth.

    Thanks, Zoe and Jeff!

    Lu

  4. Hi Lu,

    Thanks for the suggestions. We are in the processes of finding ways to make the site more user friendly. Our IT department (my husband) just needs more hours in the day! I’ll pass this on to him!

    Thanks, Zoë

  5. Jeff, Zoe,

    Just wanted to give you an update. Although I did not make the doughnuts with my remaining brioche dough I did make cinnamon rolls. Not the ones from the book, just my own recipe. I made one pan for my family and one for a friend of mine…do I even need to tell you what rave reviews they got?! One word I kept hearing as ‘amazing’. I did give credit for the dough to the book and I had to promise to make more things from the book…or else!

    Thanks again for all your hard work. I really love this book!

  6. Hi Barbara,

    I’m so glad to hear that you are playing with the brioche! There is no end to the possibilities when you have a bucket at the ready!

    Enjoy! Zoë

  7. I’ve had the book less than a week and we’re already on the second batch of dough. This batch was the olive oil dough with some rosemary mixed in and half of it ended up being wholegrain because we ran out of white flour. It turned out really good anywho. I’ll probably try and make some pizzas with it tomorrow.
    Later I will definitely have to try the donuts and bring them to the ECFE class that we got the word on your book.

    BTW Cooks On Crocus Hill has a big ABiFMaD display right when you walk in the door.

    Thanks for the new religion!

  8. Hi DK,

    Thanks for trying the recipes, we are so pleased with your enthusiasm! Thanks for sharing with everyone, it is the best part of making all that bread!

    Zoë

  9. I love to cook, but I have always been terrified of baking bread. The kneading, the rising, the punching…it always stressed me out! But NOW!! Making bread is my favorite thing to do. Thank you so much for a wonderful book and concept!

  10. Hi Wendi,

    This is music to our ears. Thank you so much for telling us about your new found love!

    Enjoy all the bread, Zoë

    1. Dear Zoe,
      I am looking for the ultimate donut recipe. I’ve never made brioche but love to bake. The donut I’m used to are glazed Krispy Kreme donuts (I don’t know if they exist where you are). In your expert opinion are donuts made from brioche dough better tasting? What makes them so? Thank you.

      1. Ho Torre,

        These donuts are not at all like Krispy Kreme, but they are very good. They are just a different style of doughnut, a little bit more substantial and less sweet. I prefer them, but that is really a matter of taste. Give it a shot and let us know what you think.

        Cheers, Zoë

  11. I’ve been making two batches of bread a week – master dough on Sunday evening for weekday bread, and a new specialty dough on Thursday evening for the weekend. My daughter wanted to make cinammon rolls this morning, so this week’s “play” bread was the brioche. It’s my favorite so far!

    We’d originally planned to make doughnuts with the other half of the dough, but (although I haven’t celebrated Easter in twenty years) I woke up this morning with the most intense craving for hot cross buns.

    It was just a simple matter of dusting a cup of raisins with a little bit of cinnamon and folding them into the leftover dough; they rose and baked at the same time as the rolls, and were done about ten minutes sooner. My icing turned out more liquid and gooey than traditional (https://flickr.com/photos/edgeofcenter/2354735301/) but the buns were perfect! The cinnamon rolls were, of course, also just delicious.

    It occurs to me that this dough would also make wonderful Stöllen, come Christmas.

  12. Thanks for the suggestions Beth. At one point we actually had Stollen in the book but never got around to testing it. Bet your idea would work and be a lot easier. Jeff

  13. THE DELI RYE IS AWESOME! Perfect crust, lovely texture. I’ve been baking my (your!)breads in my convection at 25 degrees lower temp, but just about the same length of time as recipe suggests. The loaves are turning out great, they truly are artisan breads. This books is amazing.

  14. Thanks Lu! You probably know that we sweated over that bread, because so many people have childhood memories of it (me, for example). The question was whether to push the rye proportion, but we didnt… the rye available in most supermarkets is pretty heavy, grainy stuff, and it gets kind of heavy in our method. If you can get some true “medium” rye (King Arthur sells it), you can push the rye percentage to about a third by volume (but you may have to increase the water a bit).

    Or just stick with what you like! Jeff

  15. I purchased the book around November and have sampled many, many of the recipes. The thing that brought the most joy to my heart was finishing my first braided bread made with Brioche dough, fresh thinly sliced pears and the almond pastry paste. It was beautiful and wonderful to eat.

  16. Hi Joyce,

    I’m so glad you are enjoying the book and the brioche in particular. Your braided pear bread sounds incredible.

    Thank you! Zoë

  17. Zoe and Jeff,

    I discovered your book and after working out some kinks with my flour brands and measurements, the bread comes out amazing! I’m now expected to bring freshly-baked bread to Sunday dinners with the family, and they all want to know how to make it themselves.

    Thank you!
    Mel

  18. Could the two round cookie cutter method be used for the bagels as well? I had some funky shaped bagels last time.
    Thanks, we’ve been loving the bread.

    -Ethan

  19. Hi Ethan,

    It is a great idea! Why didn’t I think of that. If you try it let me know how it goes.

    I’m going to try it too!

    Zoë

  20. My own boys had a couple of friends sleep over this weekend. I pulled dough from the fridge on Saturday night and let them all make their own pizzas. Then I pulled my brioche dough from the fridge Sunday morning and made several batches of beignet for them.

    I am now officially the “cool mom”! It was so nice to be able to make such a fun treat for them in really no time at all. (which is exactly how long hungry boys want to wait to eat!)

    Thank you for your book!

  21. Hi Emily,

    Hahaha. That sounds very familiar. Keeps them coming over to our house. I can only imagine how much dough I will need once they are teenagers!

    Thanks, Zoë

  22. I had some panettone dough in the fridge which was going on day 5, so last night I plopped it into a greased brioche mold and put it in the fridge to rise overnight. I brushed it with milk this morning and sprinkled on a combo of regular sugar and sanding sugar. It was fabulous! I think it was even lighter than the one I made at the beginning of the week that had risen on the counter. I have found that the paper panettone molds tend to burn on the bottom. I didn’t have that problem with the brioche mold, and it produced such a pretty looking loaf. Visions of Christmas presents in my head. I have had many calls from friends who read the San Jose Mercury News article saying: “Isn’t that the book you’ve been talking about?”

  23. Rosemary: I too always like these breads after the dough has aged for a while. Five days is a good amount, I think, but I still love it all the way out to the end of its lifespan.

    Can’t wait till we get to the Bay Area this June. Jeff

  24. I’m interested in trying parbaking. Is there a way to judge doneness by internal temperature as you would do for meat? I haven’t gotten a consistent baking time done yet plus I’d like the sureness of cooking to temperature.

    Henry

  25. Hi Henry,

    You can parbake our loaves by baking them about 90% of the way. You want a golden crust but not deeply brown and the internal temperature for most breads will be about 195 degrees.

    When you want to reheat the bread just heat them in the preheated oven for about 5-10 minutes depending on the type of loaf and size.

    Thanks! Zoë

  26. Zoe, just got your book, and I know you have some error (errata)pages somewhere or other. I have been looking for them to print out and put in MY book. Where can I find them, please? This info I found while “lurking” in Cooks Talk forum several weeks ago.

  27. Thanks for the info on internal temperature for parbaking. Out of curiousity, what generally is the internal temperature for bread completely baked in one session?

    Henry

  28. Hi Henry,

    Depending on the type of dough the range for a fully baked bread is between 205-210 degrees. We have found that with the wetter dough that we use it is on the higher end of this spectrum.

    Thanks! Zoë

  29. Hi Jeff and Zoe,

    I am enjoying the book very much. After 8 years of marriage, I was able to serve pizza to my husband that actually competes with the mafia-owned pizza parlors in his home town. WOW!

    I teach culinary camp at my church during the summer and would like your permission to share the master bread recipe with the campers and to teach them to make a basic boule from it. I will encourage them to purchase the book, of course since there are so many more recipes in there.

    Thank you for everything,
    Kelly

  30. Hi Kelly,

    Congratulations on the pizza! You are more than welcome to share the master recipe in your class. All we ask is that you let people know where it came from.

    Thank you for your enthusiasm and enjoy the bread.

    Zoë

  31. I just received your cook book last weekend(6 days ago)and I have only enough dough from my first batch to make two more loaves. This bread is fantastic and the book is a joy to read. I was an assistant baker years ago and I never made bread this good and so easy. The doughnuts look great. I am really looking forward to trying some of the other breads. By the way, my oven was off by +27 degrees. I hope another book is in the works. I beleve making and baking bread is a spiritual thing. It truly is the staff of life.
    Thank you for your years of work and research.

    Blair Madsen
    Richland, Washington

  32. Blair: Your comments is especially meaningful, coming from a former baker. Thanks so much.

    Our second book will take this same concept (stored dough) and apply it to breads made with more whole grains, seeds, fruit, vegetables, and nuts. There’ll even be some gluten-free breads. Tentative title is “Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day.”

    Jeff

  33. I have just recieved your lovely book which has led me to your wonderful sites. I did a short course with Andrew O’Hara (Phillipe’s Bread – Melbourne) a few years ago. Andrew made sourdough doughnuts in the German style (round without a hole) and fresh raspberry jam squeezed into the middle). The combination of tastes was sensational. I have been collecting recipes off the internet ever since with the hope of re-creating them. Your stored dough with it’s lovely taste will be ideal for these doughnuts.
    Thanks for the inspiration.
    Corry (Melbourne – Australia)

  34. Thank you Corry, welcome to the site. Let us know if the doughnuts you get from our recipe match what you remember from your class. Jeff

  35. I just made these (yes, at 3:20 pm central time)! They were awesome! I served them with a powdered sugar + milk glaze. I made too many, so there are about 3 or four doughnuts and holes sitting on the cooling rack. The other day, I also made sticky buns with them, and they were very awesome as well! Thanks!

  36. I posted this on accident on the thanksgiving section. Sorry!!

    My question–tell me about how I could perhaps add some peanut butter to make PB flavored donuts. What quantity would you suggest? I have a childhood memory of awesome PB donuts after a long day of playing in the snow—and today it snowed! 😀 They are awesome with chocolate glaze. 😀

  37. Jennifer: Depends how many doughnuts you want. For this size doughnut, we say that 1.5 pounds of dough makes a dozen. So each one’s a two-ounce doughnut. A 1.5 pound ball of dough looks like a small cantaloupe. Jeff

  38. Which book are you using for this recipe? I don’t have either book yet, trying to decide which one to start with.

    They look yummy…I like cake-like donuts.

  39. I’m so glad you shared this on FB! I keep forgetting about the Indian Spiced doughnuts in your HBI5 book. I’m about to whip up a batch of Whole Wheat Brioche for tomorrow morning. I think I might do half with Indian spices and half with powdered sugar. It’ll be a perfect treat after my long run. Yum!

    1. Whitney: Haven’t done it but I’d go 350 for 10 minutes. 15? Let us know how it comes out. THey’ll basically be little fresh hole-y brioches, which simply have to be delicious.

  40. The print version of “Artisan Bread in Five Minutesva Day” does not have “donut” in the index. Consider adding for future printings.

    Page 197 has “Beignets”‘ which is a donut recipe.

  41. Dear Jeff & Zoe,

    Most of all I want to say thank you! I’ve been taking care of our twin boys that are now 16months, and after being really tired for a while in the beginning, it seemed that I had sunk into a dull mode, where I did as little as I could although I really wasn’t that tired anymore (it seems that after the first birthday, twins pretty much entertain each other and I’m needed much less). Anyway, I needed something to be enthusiastic about, to help drag me out of that dull state. Then I came across your books, and ever since I have had something fun to do! (Actually I’m still waiting for the books to arrive from Amazon all the way to Finland, but luckily I’ve been able to try many recipes from this site in the meantime.)

    Anyway, I’ve been wondering, since many times when using the brioche dough, I’m making something that leaves dough leftovers, just like in this case: the parts that are left outside the cookie cutters etc. – something that I don’t want to bake, and I don’t necessarily want to make it into a new ball and roll it out, if I already have enough donuts (or similar). Would it be ok to just throw these back into the bucket in the fridge? Would those parts nicely re-incorporate themselves with the dough?

    1. Hi Maria,

      Thank you for the wonderful note, we are thrilled that you are baking so much and enjoying it. Hopefully your twins will grow up baking bread with you.

      Yes, you can absolutely throw the leftover bits of dough back into the bucket to use the next time. This can be done with any of our doughs.

      Cheers, Zoë

  42. I just made these for a group of hungry 13 year old boys this morning (birthday sleepover), and in addition to powdered sugar, I spread Nutella on a few and dipped others in a simple warm powdered sugar glaze. I heard “These are AH-MA-ZING,” “Seriously, who would eat store bought now?”, and the chef/pastry chef’s kid,”I’m gonna have to tell my dad about THIS.” Thank you for introducing us to this, but also for making me the “cool mom” this morning.

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