How To Make Your Own Cream-Filled Doughnuts

Here, at The Daily Meal, we used store-bought biscuit dough for a quick and easy no-mess doughnut, but if you prefer to start from scratch use your favorite yeast dough recipe, or try our favorite brioche doughnut dough.

Feel free to experiment with flavors by adding extracts to doughnut glazes, flavoring whipped cream fillings with spices, or making your cream-filled doughnut a jelly-filled one with homemade jams.

Follow these 10 simple steps for these quick and easy cream-filled doughnuts that will leave store-bought doughnuts in the dust and your guests impressed with your pastry skills. 

For the equipment, you will need: a heavy pot filled with three inches of vegetable oil, a fry thermometer, a sheet tray lined with paper towels, a small bowl with cinnamon sugar or glaze, and a pastry bag fitted with 3 or 4 mm scalloped pastry tip.

For the filling, we prepared a standard pastry cream, and then lightened it with unsweetened whipped cream at a 2 parts pastry cream to 1 part whipped cream ratio. 

Traditionally, yeast doughs are used for making doughnuts. Brioche-style doughs work well for a light and airy product. For simplicity, store-bought doughs, like canned biscuit dough or frozen pizza dough produce excellent doughnuts in a pinch.

If using brioche, roll out your dough that has been prepared according to the recipe. The doughnuts should be about a 3/4-inch thick. Using a 2 or 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut out doughnuts. Then, place on a parchment lined sheet tray. Finally, allow the doughnuts to proof for 30 minutes to an hour or until the dough gently springs back when poked.

If you are using store-bought canned biscuit dough, simply remove and separate the pre-cut biscuits and arrange on a parchment lined sheet tray. Allow the dough to come to room temperature before frying.

Using a vegetable oil with a high smoke point, such as corn oil or canola oil, add about 3-inches of oil to a heavy pan. Using a fry thermometer, heat the oil until it reaches 350 degrees F. If you don't have a thermometer you can use the handle of a wooden spoon. Simply place the wooden spoon in the oil; the oil will bubble around the wooden handle when itis hot and ready for frying.

Place the doughnuts in the hot oil gently, being careful not to splatter. Then, fry the doughnuts for 1 to 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove the doughnuts from the oil using a slotted spoon or spider strainer. Allow the excess oil to drip off and place the doughnuts on the paper towel-lined sheet pan. 

To make the cinnamon sugar, combine ½ cup sugar with 2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon. You can add a pinch of cardamom, vanilla powder, black pepper, ground nutmeg, and other spices if you wish. Allow the doughnuts to cool slightly on the sheet pan. Then toss in cinnamon sugar while still warm. Allow the doughnuts to cool completely on a tray before filling with the pastry cream. 

Handling a pastry bag can feel awkward at first. Cut the tip of the bag to fit your pastry tip. Then place the bag in any cup you have on hand and fold the top of the pastry bag over the rim of the cup. Then add your filling ( in this case, pastry cream) until the bag is roughly half full. Pull up the sides of the bag and remove any air from the bag. Once the bag is full, twist it, squeezing from the top of the bag until pastry cream comes out of the pastry bag. Now you are all set to pipe the filling into the doughnuts.

To fill the doughnuts, make a small hole half way between the top and bottom of the doughnut. Using your pastry bag filled with the cream, fill the doughnuts with about a 1/3 cup of cream. The doughnuts will feel heavy when filled.

Finally, serve your doughnuts. Because of the cream, these doughnuts are best served warm on the same day they were made. Also important to note: when using store-bought alternative doughs, like canned biscuit or pizza dough, these doughnuts texture will harden the longer they sit, so enjoy these doughnuts immediately after making for a light and airy texture.