Cinnamon Sugar Brioche Donuts
These cinnamon sugar brioche donuts are made with an enriched dough that's fried to soft, pillowy perfection, then tossed in a generous coating of cinnamon sugar. Once you whip up a baker's dozen of these classic donuts from scratch and taste how incredible they are, you'll never buy them from a bakery again!
Ingredients
For the brioche donuts:
- 113 g (½ cup) whole milk, warmed to 110 degrees F
- 7 g (2 ¼ teaspoon) active dry or instant yeast
- 20 g (1 ½ tablespoon) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, room temp
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 300 g (2 ½ cups) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 85 g (6 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temp
- 48-64 oz neutral oil, enough to fill 2" of your dutch oven
For the cinnamon sugar coating:
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 3 g cinnamon
Instructions
For the brioche dough:
- In a glass measuring cup, heat the milk to 110 degrees F (40 degrees C) and stir in the sugar and yeast. If using active dry yeast, allow it to sit for 15 minutes for the yeast to activate. If using instant yeast, simply move on to the next step.
- Mix the eggs and vanilla into the milk yeast mixture.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the flour and salt together. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour and mix on low-medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until it forms a ball around the hook.
- Add in a few pieces of butter at a time, allowing them to fully incorporate before adding more. Once all of the butter is incorporated, turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and mix for 8-12 minutes. The dough will eventually pull away from the sides of the bowl and have a silky smooth texture with minimal stickiness. To check if the dough is ready, use the windowpane test - tear off a small piece and carefully spread it out to see if you can see the light through it without it tearing. If it tears, mix for another minute or two and check again.
- Once the dough is ready, transfer it to a lightly greased bowl, cover, and allow to proof overnight (or at least 6 hours) in the fridge. Alternatively, you can let the dough rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.
To fry the donuts:
- About 30 minutes before rolling out the dough, fill a dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot with enough neutral oil to cover 2” (5 cm). Place the oil over medium heat and bring to 355 degrees F (180 degrees C).
- Place a wire rack over a paper towel lined baking sheet. On a separate baking sheet, cut out 13 4” (10 cm) parchment squares for the donuts.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to ½” (1.25 cm) in thickness. Brush away any excess flour. Use well floured 3” (7.5 cm) and 1” (2.5 cm) round cutters to cut out as many donuts as possible and place each on a parchment square. Shape the excess dough into a disk, then wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 15 minutes before re-rolling and cutting out more donuts.
- Cover the donuts and allow to rise for about 30 minutes or until nearly room temperature, but still slightly cool to the touch. When pressed with a finger, the dough will slowly spring back.
- Meanwhile, make the cinnamon sugar. In a wide, shallow bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
- Once proofed, use the parchment squares to gently lower 2-3 donuts into the hot oil. Fry the donuts for 90 seconds on the first side, then flip over and fry for an additional 90 seconds until golden.
- Transfer the donuts to the wire rack. Wait a couple minutes for the oil to come back up to 355 degrees F (180 degrees C), then continue frying the donuts.
- Once the donuts have cooled just enough to handle, toss them in the cinnamon sugar to coat.
Notes
- Proof the dough overnight: I recommend allowing your brioche dough to rise slowly overnight (or at least 6 hours) in the fridge. Cold dough is so much nicer to work with! But you can also let it proof at room temperature for one hour and make the donuts immediately.
- Make the donuts within 24 hours: To find that sweet spot between properly proofed with a developed flavor and over-fermented, I recommend giving the dough at least 6 hours to rise in the fridge, but no more than 24 hours.
- Wait for the oil to temp to rise again before frying more donuts. When frying, be sure to wait a couple minutes in between each set of donuts for the oil temperature to come back up to 355 degrees F.
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 1donut | Calories: 185kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 40mg | Sodium: 104mg | Potassium: 55mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 215IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg
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