These Brioche Donuts are deliciously soft, fluffy and rich in flavour. Enjoy them plain or fill them with your favourite cream, compote or curd for a truly decadent treat!

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Why we love this recipe
If you love fluffy Brioche Bread and love Donuts, you will LOVE this Brioche Donuts recipe! The enriched yeast dough has a high content of butter and eggs, making them deliciously decadent.
These donuts have the same incredibly soft texture and rich flavour as a Brioche. Made from 7 simple ingredients, they can be prepared in advance and left to proof overnight in the fridge. Perfect for a special breakfast or to enjoy as a sweet treat!
Simply toss them in Cinnamon Sugar after frying them or fill them with your favourite Vanilla Pastry Cream, Bavarian Cream, Strawberry Compote, Hazelnut Praline Paste or Lemon Curd. Or turn into epic Bavarian Cream Donuts... the possibilities are endless!
Ingredients
Scroll down to recipe card below for all quantities.
To make these Brioche Donuts, you will need:
- Milk: Full Cream / Whole Milk will provide the best flavour and texture. Slightly heat it up (around 35 degree Celsius / 95 degree Fahrenheit) before adding the yeast - but be careful not to go higher in temperature or you might kill the yeast.
- Yeast: I used Instant Dry Yeast here, but Active Dry Yeast will work equally. If using Active Dry Yeast, make sure to properly bloom it in the warm milk first (rehydrate it in a liquid to activate it).
- Eggs: medium to large eggs, at room temperature (the temperature is very important here). You can whisk them in a separate bowl before incorporating them into the mixture or add them straight into the bowl.
- Flour: Plain / All-Purpose Flour. One of the particularity of brioche bread is that it is not made with Bread Flour that has a higher protein content than AP Flour, thus creating less gluten. It will result in a lighter, soft crumb. You will also need a little bit of Salt.
- Butter: unsalted butter, soft (room temperature) and cut into cubes. It is very important for the butter to be soft or it won't incorporate into the dough easily. If too warm or melted, it won't incorporate well into the dough and it will turn greasy.
Optionally, prepare a Cinnamon Sugar mix (Ground Cinnamon + Caster Sugar) to toss the donuts in once they have been fried. You can also flavour the brioche donut dough with a little bit of Cinnamon, some Vanilla Extract or even Lemon Zest.
How to make Brioche Donuts
Making the Brioche Dough
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, whisk together the lukewarm Milk (around 35 degree Celsius / 95 degree Fahrenheit) and Caster Sugar.
- Photo 1: When the sugar has dissolved, add the Yeast and mix. Leave for about 10 minutes or until small bubbles appear on the surface.
Note that "blooming" the yeast (what we are doing here) is not technically required when using Dry Yeast but it is mandatory if using Instant Yeast. I personally like to do this step anyway to check that the yeast is alive before making the dough.
- Photo 2: Whisk the Eggs into the Yeast Mixture.
- Photo 3: Add the Flour and Salt.
- Photo 4: optionally, mix all the ingredients together with a silicone / rubber spatula. This will help the mixer to combine the dough at the start.
Kneading and Proofing the Dough
- Start kneading the dough on a low to medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until all the ingredients are combined.
- Photo 5: Slowly add the soft Butter Cubes a little bit at the time. Knead on low speed (to medium low) until the butter is fully incorporated before adding more. Stop and scrap the sides of the bowl if required.
- Photo 6: Once all the butter has been incorporated, increase the speed of your mixer to medium to medium high for about 20 minutes, or until the brioche dough is very soft, stretchy and just only slightly sticky.
Brioche Dough does require a long kneading time; much longer than most breads. Because the dough is enriched with lots of fat (butter, eggs and milk), the gluten development is slower than for other breads. To know the dough has been kneaded enough, to the "windowpane test".
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"Windowpane test": gently pull and stretch a small piece of dough. If the dough breaks quickly, it needs to be kneaded for longer. If it stretches easily without breaking and you can see light coming through it, it has passed the windowpane test.
- Photo 7: Cover the bowl with a tea towel or plastic wrap and leave to proof in a warm spot for about 2 hours, or until it has doubled in size. The dough can also be proofed in the fridge for 8 to 12 hours (or overnight).
Proofing the dough in the fridge ("cold fermentation") will help develop the flavour of the brioche donut dough and also make it much easier to work with as it won't be as soft and sticky.
If preferred, you can transfer the dough in a new clean large bowl that is lightly greased before proofing it.
- Photo 8: When the dough has doubled in size, punch it to deflate it and transfer it over a very lightly floured surface.
Shaping and Frying the Donuts
- Prepare a large baking sheet or baking tray with small cut-out squares of baking paper / parchment paper.
- Photo 9: Cut the dough into 10 equal pieces. Use a scale to weight the dough and get evenly sized donuts. Shape each piece into a ball.
To shape a piece of dough into a ball, slightly flatten it. Pull the edges of the dough and fold them towards the centre. Turn the ball over, seams down. Gently pull it towards you, your fingers placed on one side / bottom of the bun.
Turn 90 degrees and repeat until you feel tension on the dough. Continue to shape the dough into a bun by rolling it in a circular movement under the palm or your hands. You can see the step by step instructions to shape the balls in my Brioche Loaf Bread recipe.
- Photo 10: Place each brioche bun over the individual pieces of baking paper, seam facing down.
- Photo 11: Cover with a tea towel and leave to proof again at room temperature for about 1 hour (more or less depending on the temperature of your kitchen) or until they have increased in size.
To know the brioche donuts are ready to be fried, softly poke one of the ball. If it leaves a small indent that slowly springs back (but not fully), they are ready.
- Prepare a large saucepan or pot with Canola Oil or a flavoured neutral oil (vegetable oil). Heat up the oil on a medium heat until reaches about 170 degree Celsius (340 degree Fahrenheit). Alternatively, use a deep fryer.
The exact quantity of oil will vary based on the size of your pot. I recommend having at least 10 cm (4-inch) of oil in the pot to make sure the donuts float without touching the bottom.
I highly recommend using a candy thermometer to measure the exact temperature of the oil. If the temperature is too low, your donuts will turn out greasy. If too high, they will burn and the centre will remain raw.
- Photo 12: Gently drop each donuts in the oil, round proofed side facing down and seam side facing up, peeling off the baking paper. Fry for about 2 minutes on each side. The donuts should be golden.
I personally like to fry the brioche donuts one by one to make sure they have plenty of room in the saucepan. Frying multiple donuts at once also tends to decrease the temperature of the oil, making it harder to control.
- Place the fried donuts on a wire rack lined with paper towels to drain. Optionally while still warm, toss the donuts in a mix of sugar and cinnamon (or just sugar). Serve fresh once cooled down.
Recipe FAQs
Brioche Donuts are usually richer than regular donuts because they are made from an enriched dough containing a high ratio of fat (butter, eggs and milk).
Absolutely; proofing the dough in the fridge (8 to 12 hours, or up to 24 hours) will not only help develop its flavours, it will also make the dough much easier to work with. A cold brioche dough will be less sticky and soft than a room temperature one.
From my many tests, I have found that the best temperature is about 170 degree Celsius (340 degree Fahrenheit).
Because it contains a lot of eggs, the donuts tend to brown quickly. If the temperature is too high (over 180 degree Celsius or 350 degree Fahrenheit), the donuts will burn before they are fully cooked and their centre will be raw.
Under 165 degree Celsius (330 degree Fahrenheit), the donuts will fry to slowly resulting in overly greasy donuts.
Make sure to keep your thermometer in the frying oil and keep playing with the temperature of your stove when required to insure the oil stays around the recommended temperature.
The best oils for frying are flavoured neutral vegetable oil. I used Canola Oil that has a high smoke point, making it perfect for frying.
Tips & Tricks
- Rolling individual donut buns vs cutting out the dough: I cut out the dough in 10 equal pieces and shaped each of them into a bun. If preferred, you could roll the entire dough to a thickness of about 5 cm (2-inch). Use a large cookie cutter (about 10 cm / 4-inch) to cut out each donut. That technique will leave you with leftover dough though.
- If you don't want to fry the donuts, they can actually be baked too for about 20 minutes at 180 degree Celsius (350 degree Fahrenheit). The texture will be different and they won't get the same golden brown colour, but they should remain delicious light and fluffy baked donuts. You can brush the buns with a little bit of egg yolks for that golden colour of preferred.
Troubleshooting
- The brioche dough is very sticky or oily: brioche dough (and enriched dough in general) take much longer to knead than regular bread doughs. Keep kneading it (at least 20 minutes) until it turns less sticky. An oily dough could mean that the butter used was too warm / soft.
- The dough did not rise: either the yeast wasn't alive (or killed by the milk that was too warm), or the dough simply needs to proof for longer. The exact proofing time will vary based on the ambient temperature so if it is too cold in your kitchen, it will rise more slowly than in a warm environment.
- The donuts are flat or dense: this usually happen when the dough was under-proofed or over-proofed. Make sure the dough has doubled in size the first time you proof it. For the second proofing, softly poke one of the ball. If it leaves a small indent that slowly springs back (but not fully), they are ready.
- The centre of the donuts is raw: the donuts were fried at a temperature too high or not for long enough.
Donut Fillings Ideas
These brioche donuts can be served plain or simply coated with some sugar (or cinnamon sugar). You could also fill them with your favourite cream, fruit mixture or curd like:
- A Creamy filling such as Vanilla Pastry Cream, Chocolate Pastry Cream, Diplomat Cream, Chocolate Crémeux or Bavarian Cream to make Bavarian Cream Donuts.
- A curd such as Lemon Curd, Orange Curd or Passion Fruit Curd.
- A fruit compote like a Strawberry Compote, Raspberry Compote, Stewed Rhubarb, Blueberry Compote or Mixed Berry Compote.
Storing & Freezing
Brioche donuts are best served fresh within a day. They can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days but will tend to loose their soft and fluffy texture. To keep the brioche donuts fresh, make sure to store them in an air-tight container.
The donuts can be frozen for up to a month for the best texture and flavours. Once completely cool, wrap each donut individually in foil and freeze. Leave to thaw at room temperature and re-heat for a few seconds in the microwave before serving.
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Recipe
Brioche Donuts
Ingredients
- 75 ml (5 tablespoons) Full Cream / Whole Milk - lukewarm
- 80 gr (1/3 cup) Caster Sugar
- 9 gr (1 1/2 teaspoon) Instant Dry Yeast
- 3 Eggs - medium to large, at room temperature
- 350 gr (2 1/3 cup) Plain / All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 teaspoon Fine Table Salt
- 120 gr (1/2 cup) Unsalted Butter - soft
- Canola Oil or Neutral Vegetable Oil - for frying
Disclaimer
I highly recommend using the measurements in grams & ml (instead of cups & spoons) for more accuracy and better results.
Instructions
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, whisk together the lukewarm Milk and Caster Sugar (see note 1). Add the Yeast, mix and set aside or about 10 minutes or until small bubbles appear on the surface.
- Whisk in the Eggs then add the Flour and Salt.
- Knead the dough on a low to medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until all the ingredients are combined. Slowly add the soft Butter cubes a little bit at the time. Knead on low speed until fully incorporated.
- Increase the speed of your mixer to medium to medium high for about 20 minutes, or until the brioche dough is very soft, stretchy and just only slightly sticky (see note 2).
- Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave to proof in a warm spot for about 2 hours (until doubled in size), or in the fridge overnight for 8-12 hours (up to 24 hours) (see note 3).
- Punch the dough to deflate, transfer over a very lightly floured surface and cut into 10 equal pieces (see note 4). Shape each piece into a tight bun (see note 5).
- Place each bun into individual squares sheets of baking paper / parchment paper placed over a large baking tray. Cover with a tea towel and leave to proof for about 1 hour, or until almost double in size (see note 6).
- Prepare a large saucepan with Canola Oil or a flavoured Neutral Vegetable Oil (see note 7). Heat up the oil on a medium heat until reaches about 170 degree Celsius (340 degree Fahrenheit). Use a candy thermometer to control the temperature and make sure it does not vary during the frying.
- Gently drop each donuts in the oil one by one, peeling off the baking paper. The round proofed side should face down and seam side face up. Fry for about 2 minutes on each side. The donuts should be golden (see note 8).
- Place the fried donuts on a wire rack lined with paper towels to drain. Serve fresh once cooled down.
- Optionally while still warm, toss the donuts in a mix of caster sugar and cinnamon (or just sugar).
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Notes
- The milk should ideally be around 35 degree Celsius / 95 degree Fahrenheit.
- Brioche Dough does require a long kneading time; much longer than most breads. To know the dough has been kneading enough, to the "windowpane test": gently pull and stretch a small piece of dough. If the dough breaks quickly, it needs to be kneaded for longer. If it stretches easily without breaking and you can see light coming through it, it has passed the windowpane test.
- Proofing the dough in the fridge ("cold fermentation") will help develop the flavour of the brioche donut dough and also make it much easier to work with as it won't be as soft and sticky.
- I recommend using a kitchen scale to get even pieces of dough.
- To shape the dough into a ball, slightly flatten it. Pull the edges of the dough and fold them towards the centre. Turn the ball over, seams down. Gently pull it towards you, your fingers placed on one side / bottom of the roll. Turn 90 degrees and repeat until you feel tension on the dough. Continue to shape the dough into a bun by rolling it in a circular movement under the palm or your hands.
- To know the brioche donuts are ready to be fried, softly poke one of the ball. If it leaves a small indent that slowly springs back (but not fully), they are ready.
- The exact quantity of oil will vary based on the size of your pot. I recommend having at least 10 cm (4-inch) of oil in the pot to make sure the donuts float without touching the bottom.
- Do a test with the first donut to check that the oil is at the right temperature and that the centre of the donut is fully baked after frying for the recommended time. Adjust if needed.