PB&J Donuts

I've always enjoyed making yeast bread. There is just something so satisfying about seeing your dough rise, the smell that fills the house, and the taste of the bread when it is warm and fresh from the oven. One thing I have never attempted to make, before this very moment, was yeast donuts.

Probably because I'm not a huge fan of deep frying. It freaks me out..... all that hot oil....

Anyway, I have made cake donuts which were delicious but, as we all know, they are just not the same as yeast donuts. 

I put aside my hot oil fears when I came across a peanut butter and jelly donut recipe over at Baker By Nature (link HERE) You seriously HAVE TO go see her amazing photographs. You will want to lick the screen.

Well.... I wanted to. I knew I had to have them. 

PB&J Donuts

(Ever-so-slightly edited from Baker By Nature)

Ingredients

2 pkgs active dry yeast (2 1/2 tsp)

1/4 cup hot water (110 - 115 degrees)

3/4 cup hot milk (110 - 115 degrees)

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp salt

3 - 4 cups flour

Filling

about 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

about 1/4 cup jelly (I used grape)

1 egg white, beaten

Oil for frying

Directions

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water. Let sit and foam up, about 5 minutes.

While the yeast is foaming, whisk the butter into the heated milk until butter has melted. Whisk in the sugar, egg and egg yolk, and salt. When it has been 5 minutes, whisk the yeast into the milk mixture.

Stir in enough of the flour to form a soft dough. (Start with 2 cups and keep adding 1/4 cup at a time until dough comes together.)

Place dough in greased bowl.

Cover and let rise in a warm place for an hour. (TIP - I like to turn my oven on to preheat for about 1 minutes then shut it off. This warms the oven up a little and you can let your dough rise in the oven.)

After an hour, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Punch the dough down and turn out onto a floured work surface. 

Divide the dough in half. Return half to the bowl and cover it. 

Roll the other half out to about the thickness of your baby finger (~1/4 inch). Cut out as many circles of dough as will fit using a 2 to 3 inch cookie cutter.

Place 1/2 tsp of jelly and 1/2 tsp of peanut butter in the center of half of the circles.

Dip your finger in the beaten egg white and spread the egg white around the edges of the circles. Top the PB&J halves with the other halves and pinch very firmly to seal the edges.

Re-roll the scraps of dough and cut out more circles. 

Repeat this process with the other half of the dough.

Cover the donuts with a clean tea towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour.

When dough has doubled, pour enough oil to deep fry (I used about 3 cups, I think) into a large pot.

Heat oil to 360 degrees.

Fry the doughnuts, a few at a time, for about 1 - 2 minutes per each side - they should be golden brown.

Scoop the doughnuts from the oil onto paper towel to drain. When still warm, roll the doughnuts in extra sugar. 

If you have any extra bits of dough you can fry them up to! (I made donut holes!)

BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN COOKING WITH HOT OIL!!!

Repeat the process until all your donuts are cooked!

Oooooh....look at the mystery that is a PB&J donut....

Maybe you need another look...

These were like eating air.

Seriously. So fluffy and light.

P.S. - I believe I got 20 donuts plus a generous amount of donut holes from this recipe. 

Be sure to visit Baker By Nature for the original recipe and to see some pics that will make you swoon. 

 

Looking for some fabulous links to more food and crafting fun? Check out these amazing sites -

The Chicken Chick, Joy Love Food,