Sugar coated and lightly fried Jam Doughnuts are pure breakfast heaven. Pick your favorite jelly or jam flavor and enjoy a batch with coffee or tea any time of day.
Doughnuts are my weakness. From Chai donuts to easy baked chocolate donuts, I crave it all. Our powdered sugar donut holes are a reader favorite, too!
Why These Doughnuts are Best
If you crave a little sweetness in the morning, you can’t beat the taste of homemade jam-filled doughnuts!
- They’re made from scratch with an east yeast dough.
- This recipe makes 36 freezer-friendly doughnuts. Perfect for sharing or saving for later!
- You can make them with any flavor of jam, jelly or other fruit preserves you like.
- Rolled in sugar for a crisp sweet coating.
- No deep fryer needed!
If you love these full size doughnuts, be sure to try our bite size jelly donut holes. So good and easy.
Ingredient Notes
- Yeast. You will need two packages active dry yeast for the dough. Make sure to check the expiration dates; old yeast won’t rise as well (or at all!).
- Heavy cream. The added milk fats in cream condition the dough so the doughnuts fry up soft and fluffy. If you don’t have any, whole milk can be substituted.
- Fruit preserves. I used raspberry preserves in today’s batch of donuts. They’re also delicious with our homemade strawberry jam or any fruit jams you have on hand.
- Granulated sugar. You will need sugar to sweeten the dough along with additional sugar for rolling the donuts right after frying.
Tips and Tricks
If you’re wondering how to make jam doughnuts, this recipe is a great way to learn.
If you’re new to making yeast doughnuts, here are a few tips for success.
- Proof the yeast. The recipe includes instructions for sprinkling yeast over warm water and letting it rest until it looks foamy and bubbly. This is how you know your yeast is alive! If it doesn’t become foamy after 5-10 minutes, discard and try again with a fresher packet of yeast.
- Place the dough in a warm place to rise. I usually turn my oven on to 200°F and place my bowl on the stovetop. My house is ALWAYS cold, so this works for me. You can even put your bowl over the clothes dryer while it’s running!
- Do not overhandle the dough. Be gentle when rolling the doughnuts or they can become tough and dense when fried.
- Cook a few at a time. I fry my doughnuts in oil in a rimmed skillet. They brown quickly, so adding only 3 or 4 small doughnuts to the pan at once reduces the likelihood you’ll accidentally burn one!
- Dip in sugar right away. This is another reason why I only cook a few at a time. The sugar sticks best when the donuts are hot, immediately after coming out of the oil.
- Cool the doughnuts completely before adding the jam filling. You can get your jam and your piping bags ready while the doughnuts cool—and put on a pot of coffee to serve with them!
Recipe FAQs
Start by stirring the jam until it’s almost runny. Then put it in a pastry bag with a an open tip.
Stick the open tip of the pastry bag in one end of the doughnut and squeeze. You’ll see the doughnut puff up.
Be careful not to overfill the doughnuts. If you add too much the donuts will explode or ooze jam from the entry hole.
This may take a few trial attempts—which means, you may need to cut open a few to see if your pressure is enough or too much.
Jam doughnuts are best enjoyed fresh within a day of frying. If you won’t be eating them all the same day, freeze them for later!
If frozen shortly after frying, thawed frozen doughnuts taste as delicious as freshly made ones.
Once the doughnuts are filled, place them in a single layer in an airtight container or ziploc gallon freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
When you’re ready to serve them, remove the doughnuts from freezer and let them thaw at room temperature.
They may be slightly sticky after thawing. Just give them another dip in some granulated sugar and all will be well!
You sure can. All kinds of jelly flavors taste delicious in the center of a yeast doughnut!
I don’t recommend baking these donuts. If you’re looking for an easy baked donut recipe, you’ll love my Cinnamon Coffee Cake Donuts.
More Breakfast Recipes
- Apple Cinnamon Bread
- Chocolate Donuts
- Cinnamon Roll Cake
- Lemon Crumb Coffee Cake
- Crumb Cake
- Apple Crumble
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Jam Doughnuts
Ingredients
- 1 cup skim milk
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup warm water
- 2 packages active yeast
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 4½ cups all-purpose flour
- Vegetable Oil for frying
- 1 cup granulated sugar for coating
- 1 cup raspberry preserves for filling
Instructions
- Heat milk, cream and butter in small saucepan until melted completely. Put aside to cool to lukewarm.
- Pour warm water in mixer bowl (make sure bowl is warm). Sprinkle yeast over water. Let set for about 5 minutes until bubbly. Add the lukewarm butter mixture. Combine.
- Add eggs, sugar, salt and nutmeg. Add 2 cups of the flour. Mix using paddle attachment until flour is incorporated (on low speed). Turn up to medium and beat until well combined. Add remaining flour in ½ cup increments. Change to dough hook attachment and beat on medium for about 3-4 minutes. Batter will be VERY sticky.
- Transfer to a well-oiled bowl, cover and let rise for about one hour.
- On floured surface, roll dough to about ½ inch thick. Try to do as little rolling as possible, and not pressing the rolling pin hard, be gentle. Cut using a 2-3 inch cookie cutter. I used a Halloween candy corn shape to get the triangles, but circles would be fine too! Set doughnuts on floured surface to rise, for about 30-60 minutes (covered).
- Preheat oil in stainless skillet or saucepan (I use the skillet). When oil is hot, place doughnuts in oil for about 2-4 minutes on each side, until browned. Transfer to a bowl with granulated sugar and immediately coat them generously. Place on cooling rack.
- Once all doughnuts are cooked and cooled, I stir my jam until it’s almost runny, then put it in a pastry bag with a an open tip. Stick it in one end of the doughnut and squeeze. You’ll see the doughnut puff up, you want to remove before the doughnut explodes, or before the jam starts coming out of the entry hole! This may take a few trial attempts (which means, you may need to cut open a few to see if your “pressure” is enough or too much)!
- Store doughnuts at room temperature in covered container. Or freeze until later. Thaw at room temperature and enjoy (you may need to re-dip in sugar if they are sticky.
My hubby is SO excited about this recipe! He loooooves jelly donuts but never new how to make them at home. These are so perfectly sweet and delicious.
These donuts are so perfect for a brunch or party! And the jam filling isn’t even too hard to do! 🙂
Can you make the dough a day before? So they can just be fried and filled the next morning?
Yes, I would keep it refrigerated and covered with plastic wrap.
How fun that you were able to go back on a Princess Cruises trip with your hubby! I so want to go back and share the experience with my husband, too! Seeing your photos makes me so nostalgic, especially for The Sanctuary!
These doughnuts are just so tempting — that sugary coating is my weakness!
Another warm place to rise dough is in an above-the-stove microwave. I turn on the light that shines down on the stove and it actually warms the interior of the microwave just enough to help dough rise. It’s good for softening butter, too.
Great tip!
The Caribbean is just gorgeous and I loved going onboard a Princess boat! I never had donuts on my trip, though…regretting that now. But thankfully I can try these at home! They look incredible!
WHAT?? NEVER? I was addicted. Seriously 🙂
Jam filled doughnuts were my favorite as a kid. I MUST make these for my family so I can indulge again!!! The cruise looks amazing!!!
Holy moly I’m dying right now. I’m going refined sugar-free for the month of January and this post is killing me, the doughnuts look amazing. I. Must. Look. Away. But. Can’t. Too. Tempting. GAH!!!!
I really want to try to make these – however I have a wall oven and I don’t have a dryer…If I set my oven on super low…say 100 or 150, do you think putting the bowl in the oven would work for them to rise, or would that be too warm?
Yep that should work. Make sure you cover them. Sometimes what I’ll do is turn on my oven while I’m prepping everything. Then turn it off (so there’s no chance of fire or overcooking something). It’s still nice and toasty in there…and not TOO hot.
These doughnuts are speaking my language! YUMMMM!
Do you think you can make this dough in a bread maker?? Has any one tried to?
Ohhhh yum! Looks incredible!
Can we please go back?? I need another Jeep day with you and Miguel. These doughnuts were amazing!
Oh my gosh that would be so fun 🙂
These are my hubby’s FAV doughnuts! I can’t wait to try them on him!
The donuts look insanely good and so great that your husband got to go along on this cruise! And blending wines…I would be totally into that!
One day we’ll have to meet up again 🙂