Gingerbread Doughnuts
These gingerbread doughnuts use a soft, enriched brioche dough and are filled with a creamy gingerbread custard. You’ll need a little bit of time to prepare them, but all good things take time!
These doughnuts blend the warm, spicy flavors of gingerbread – rich molasses, ground ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg, with a soft yeasted dough. Once fried to a golden brown they’re filled with lots of creamy gingerbread custard. Love at first bite!
Yeasted donuts are pillowy soft and tender and one of my favorite things to make. Though they take some time to prepare, the good news is lots of it is hands off time as the dough rises.
You might like these lemon curd doughnuts too!
Ingredients
Here’s what you need for the homemade gingerbread donuts. Find the ingredient quantities and full recipe written in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- All-purpose flour. One with a protein level of around 11%.
- Instant yeast or active dry yeast.
- Granulated white sugar. Adds a little sweetness to the dough.
- Whole milk – For the creates creamy custard and soft dough.
- Egg yolks and large eggs: Structure and texture in the dough, and the base of the custard.
- Unsalted butter: Enriches the dough and the gingerbread pastry cream.
- Vanilla extract and salt
- Gingerbread spices – ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cloves and ground nutmeg
- Molasses – For the custard. I use unsulfered dark molasses. You could also use blackstrap molasses or treacle.
- Cornstarch – To thicken the custard filling
- Vegetable oil. A neutral type like canola oil or sunflower oil, with a high smoke point, for frying
Method
Doughnut dough
- Add the warm milk and stir in the yeast and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. If using active dry yeast, let this sit for 5-10 minutes until foamy.
- Add the egg, flour, and salt to the yeast mixture. Turn the mixer on low speed or use your hands to combine until it forms a sticky, thick dough. Mix this dough for around 2 minutes.
- Next, add the room temperature butter. Turn the mixer on medium speed until the sticky dough strengthens and comes together.
- For best results mix the dough for at least 10 minutes for the best gluten development. It should pull away cleanly from the sides of the bowl.
- Shape the dough into a ball and place it into a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it proof in a warm spot until doubled in size.
Overnight Option: Let the dough chill overnight in the refrigerator for deeper flavor (this is a good idea if you want doughnuts on Christmas morning.)
Custard
- Whisk egg yolks, sugar, spices, salt, vanilla, molasses and cornstarch in a heatproof bowl.
- Heat milk in a medium saucepan on medium heat while stirring regularly until just simmering.
- Gradually dribble the milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisking while it’s being poured in.
- Then return the combined mixture to the saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly until it bubbles. Once it starts bubbling, it will begin to thicken. Keep it at a bubble don’t stop whisking for 1 minute.
- Take it off the heat and whisk in the butter. Pour the hot pastry cream into a clean bowl. If you want an extra silky smooth texture, you can push it through a fine mesh sieve first.
- Lay a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the custard to avoid skin forming. Let it come to room temperature, then chill it in the refrigerator until completely cold.
Shaping
- Punch down the dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll it into a ½-inch thick rectangle.
- Use a cookie cutter to cut out 3.5-inch rounds, placing each on parchment paper. Knead any scraps into a ball, rest, then roll again.
- Let cut doughnuts rest for 30-60 minutes until puffy, cutting around the parchment paper with kitchen scissors so each doughnut is on a separate piece.
- Heat around 3 inches of oil in a deep fryer or deep saucepan to 340°F – 347°F. Carefully add in 2-3 doughnuts into the hot oil, removing parchment with tongs.
- Fry for 2 minutes until deep golden brown, flip, and fry for another 2 minutes. Keep oil hot but under 350°F.
- Remove the fried donuts with a slotted spoon, then place them on a wire rack or on a paper towel to cool and drain and continue frying the rest of the donuts.
- In a small bowl mix together caster sugar or granulated sugar with cinnamon. Toss the doughnuts into the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat.
You can fill them when the custard and doughnuts are completely cooled.
- Give the cold custard a whisk to loosen it up, then spoon into a piping bag with a round tip.
- Insert the tip of a small knife into the sides of the cooled doughnuts to make a hole for the filling. Pipe the custard through the hole into each donut.
Serving and storing
Enjoy with a cup of coffee this holiday season, or serve as a fun treat at a Christmas party.
Once filled, gingerbread doughnuts are best served on the day they are made. Store any leftover doughnuts in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
More great recipes to try!
If you want a really easy recipe for Christmas donuts, try these baked fluffy donuts with maple syrup glaze instead. Or, for another gingerbread or spiced recipe, here’s a molasses gingerbread banana loaf or Spiced Chai Blondies.
Gingerbread Doughnuts
These gingerbread doughnuts use a soft, enriched brioche dough and are filled with gingerbread custard.
Ingredients
Doughnut dough
- 120g (½ cup) luke-warm milk
- 25g (2 Tablespoons) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons instant yeast or active dried yeast
- 375g (3 cups*) all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
- 113g (½ cup) butter, at room temperature
Custard
- 480g (2 cups) whole milk
- 65 g (1/3 cup) granulated sugar
- 30 g (1/4 cup) cornstarch
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 Tablespoon unsulfered molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 45 g ( 3 Tablespoons) unsalted butter
Coating
- 100g (1/2 cup) granulated or caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
Dough
- Add the warm milk and stir in the yeast and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. If using active dry yeast, let this sit for 5-10 minutes until foamy.
- Add the egg, flour, and salt to the yeast mixture. Turn the mixer on low speed to mix until it forms a sticky, thick dough. Mix this dough for around 2 minutes to begin developing the gluten.
- Next, add the room temperature butter. Turn the mixer on medium speed until the sticky dough strengthens and comes together. For best results mix the dough for at least 10 minutes for the best gluten development. It should pull away cleanly from the sides of the bowl.
- Shape the dough into a ball and place it into a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it proof in a warm spot until doubled in size. You can also proof the dough in the refrigerator overnight for extra flavor.
Custard
- Whisk egg yolks, sugar, spices, salt, vanilla, molasses and cornstarch in a heatproof bowl.
- Heat milk in a medium saucepan on medium heat while stirring regularly until just simmering.
- Gradually dribble the milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisking while it's being poured in. Then return the combined mixture to the saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly until it bubbles.
- Once it starts bubbling, it will begin to thicken. Keep it at a bubble don't stop whisking for 1 minute.
- Pour the hot pastry cream into a clean bowl. If you want an extra silky smooth texture, you can push it through a fine mesh sieve first. Lay a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the custard to avoid skin forming.
- Let it come to room temperature, then chill it in the refrigerator until completely cold.
Shaping
- Punch down the dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll it into a ½-inch thick rectangle. Use a cookie cutter to cut out 3.5-inch rounds, placing each on parchment paper. Knead any scraps into a ball, rest, then roll again.
- Let cut doughnuts rest for 30-60 minutes until puffy, cutting around the parchment paper with kitchen scissors so each doughnut is on a separate piece.
- Heat around 3 inches of oil in a deep fryer or deep saucepan to 340°F - 347°F. Carefully add in 2-3 doughnuts into the hot oil, removing parchment with tongs. Fry for 2 minutes until deep golden brown, flip, and fry for another 2 minutes. Keep oil hot but under 350°F.
- Remove the fried donuts with a slotted spoon, then place them on a wire rack on a paper towel to cool and continue frying the rest of the donuts.
- In a small bowl mix together caster sugar or granulated sugar with cinnamon. Toss the doughnuts into the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat.
Filling
- Fill the doughnuts only once they have cooled and the custard has chilled. Give the cold custard a whisk to loosen it up, then spoon into a piping bag with a round tip.
- Insert the tip of a small knife into the sides of the cooled doughnuts to make a hole for the filling. Pipe the custard through the hole into each donut.
Notes
Storing - Once filled, gingerbread doughnuts are best served on the day they are made. Store any leftover doughnuts in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
*The cup sizes given are US sizes, note that these are smaller than metric. For best results use grams.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 244Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 106mgSodium: 223mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 1gSugar: 9gProtein: 6g
This is an informational estimate only. I am not a certified Dietitian or Nutritionist
These doughnuts look wonderful. My question is how much filling should be piped into the center of the doughnut? Do I just make the hole with the knife and the filling flows inside the crevices naturally? Thank you.
Yup! You will feel the doughnut fill up when you do it. I don’t add too much or it can burst out. You’ll get a feel for how much to add once you do it I think 🙂