Jelly Donuts / Bismark
intro
Fluffy golden fried yeast donuts bursting with sweet seedless jelly, dusted with powdered sugar for a nostalgic, indulgent homemade treat.
Ingredients
Steps
Mix and knead dough
In a large mixing bowl, combine warmed 110°F/43°C whole milk, 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar, and active dry yeast; let rest 5 minutes until foamy to confirm yeast is active. Add remaining granulated sugar, cooled melted unsalted butter, room-temperature large eggs, fine sea salt, and all-purpose flour gradually, stirring with a wooden spoon until a shaggy, lumpy dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 8–10 minutes until it is smooth, elastic, and pulls away cleanly from your hands without sticking.
First dough rise
Grease the inside of a large clean bowl with 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, form the kneaded dough into a tight ball, and place it seam-side down in the bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot (75°F/24°C) for 60 minutes until the dough doubles in volume and leaves a lasting indent when poked with a floured finger.
Shape donut rounds
Punch down the risen dough firmly to release all trapped air, then roll it out on a lightly floured surface to a uniform 1/2-inch (1.25cm) thickness. Use a 3-inch (7.5cm) round cookie cutter to cut out even donut circles, gathering and re-rolling dough scraps once to cut additional rounds, yielding 12 equal donut pieces total.
Second dough proof
Loosely cover the cut donut rounds with a clean damp kitchen towel, and let them proof in the same warm, draft-free spot for 30 minutes until they are puffy, 1.5 times their original thickness, and spring back slowly when gently poked on the side.
Fry donuts golden
Heat 1.5L neutral vegetable oil in a deep heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven to 350°F/175°C, monitoring temperature with a clipped candy thermometer. Carefully lower 2–3 donuts at a time into the hot oil, frying for 90 seconds per side until deep golden brown on both sides. Remove fried donuts with a slotted spoon and transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet to cool for 10 minutes.
Fill and dust donuts
Fit a piping bag with a long, narrow bismark filling tip, and fill the bag with seedless raspberry jelly. Poke a small 1/2-inch deep hole in the side of each cooled donut with the tip, then pipe 1–2 tablespoons of jelly into each donut until you feel the donut swell slightly and jelly just peeks out of the hole. Dust all filled donuts evenly with powdered sugar before serving.
Tips
2.Let fried donuts cool for a full 10 minutes before filling; piping jelly into hot donuts will melt the jelly, causing it to run out and create soggy pastry.
3.If you do not have a specialized long bismark piping tip, use a sharp paring knife to cut a 1-inch deep pocket into the side of each donut, spoon jelly into the pocket, and pinch the dough edge closed to seal before dusting with sugar.
OMG these are SO good! I made them for my kid’s soccer team potluck last weekend and every single one was gone before the second half even started. I used raspberry jelly for the filling because that’s what my crew loves, and they tasted exactly like the fancy donuts we get from the local bakery downtown. Only note is I had to let my dough rise a little longer than the recipe said because my kitchen was pretty cold, but that’s totally on me. 10/10 will make again!
Solid recipe, but definitely medium difficulty like it says—don’t go into this thinking it’s a quick 30 minute weekend treat! I messed up my first batch of dough because I killed the yeast with too-warm milk, oops. Second batch came out perfect though, light and fluffy, filled with grape jelly per my partner’s request. Dusted them with powdered sugar instead of the granulated sugar coating and it was chef’s kiss. Would make for a special brunch for sure.
Game changer. I’ve tried so many bismark recipes over the years and they always turn out dense or greasy, but these were perfectly pillowy and didn’t soak up too much oil when frying. I filled half with strawberry jelly and half with vanilla custard for variety, and my roommate said they’re better than the donut shop we walk to every Saturday. No notes, will be in my regular rotation for lazy Sunday brunches.
Made these yesterday for my family’s post-church lunch and y’all, my grandma asked for the recipe TWICE. That’s the highest compliment you can get in our house! I used my homemade blackberry jelly that I canned last summer and it was the perfect tangy sweet balance to the fluffy donut. Only thing is I wish the recipe noted how much oil you need for frying—I had to top mine off halfway through because I didn’t pour enough initially. Otherwise perfect!
Wait these were way easier than I thought they’d be for a medium difficulty recipe! I made a big batch on Sunday, filled half with jelly and half with Nutella (don’t judge, it was amazing), and kept them in an airtight container for quick breakfasts all week. They held up way better than I expected, still soft on Wednesday! My dorm floor mates kept popping by to steal them, so next time I’m definitely doubling the batch.
Okay full transparency, this was my first time ever deep frying anything at home and I was TERRIFIED, but these turned out so good! I set up a candy thermometer to make sure the oil stayed at the right temp and didn’t splatter too bad, filled them with apricot jam (my favorite), and even my super picky dad said they were restaurant quality. My only oops was I overfilled a couple and jelly oozed out when I bit into them, but that just made for a tasty mess, tbh.
Huge fan of this base recipe! I tried adapting it with my go-to 1:1 gluten free all purpose flour for my Celiac kiddo, and while the flavor was spot on, the texture was a little denser than I remember regular bismarks being. Any tips for getting that same light, fluffy rise with GF flour? Would love to nail these for his birthday next month!
Made these for our office potluck earlier this week and I swear people were lining up for seconds! I did a mix of fillings: strawberry jelly, blueberry jam, and even a few with salted caramel for the non-jelly lovers in the group, and every flavor was a hit. Pro tip: let the donuts cool completely before filling them, otherwise the jelly gets runny and makes a mess (learned that the hard way on my first test batch). 10/10, will be making these for every work event from now on!