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These baked raspberry donuts are so ridiculously fluffy and soft!! They're basically like a lazier version of jelly filled donuts - with the filling baked right on top with the donuts inside a center indent (kind of like a thumbprint cookie!) It's all topped off with an easy raspberry icing and light dusting of powdered sugar.
tell me about these baked raspberry donuts
I honestly spent soooooo long trying to figure out what to call these. They're kind of like dinner rolls, mixed with yeast donuts, mixed with thumbprint cookies, mixed with Danishes. If that makes sense?? The dough for these sweet donuts is heavily inspired by my blueberry breakfast pastries - just minus the laminating process.
While the name was a bit up in the air, it was still love at first bite. These buns are perfectly sweet and so SOOOO fluffy!! They taste just like jelly donuts, but because I hate frying and I hate filling donuts, we're making a lazy version by indenting the tops of the donuts to fill with jam and baking instead of deep frying.
There are 3 main components to these rolls: a lightly sweetened yeast dough made from scratch, raspberry jam filling, and a simple raspberry icing.
The dough is super simple and straightforward - it just basically involves mixing and kneading. I decided to use store-bought jam for the filling to make things a bit easier since we ARE making a yeast dough from scratch. But that being said, you can most definitely make homemade raspberry jam using the same recipe in my blackberry cupcakes recipe, but just with raspberries (obviously lol).
The final component is a simple raspberry icing, which just consists of powdered sugar, raspberry jam, and water. It's so simple to whip up and comes out such a pretty natural pink color!!
how to make baked raspberry donuts
1. Whisk together wet ingredients for dough.
2. Add dry ingredients and mix until it forms a rough dough.
3. Knead the dough until the dough springs back when lightly pressed and it's slightly tacky. Add flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking while you knead.
4. Rest. Cover the dough and set it aside to rise for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.
5. Shape & rest again. Divide the dough into 8 portions and roll into balls. You can also make 10 or 12 slightly smaller donuts if you prefer. Arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover and let rise again for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the buns have puffed up and doubled in size.
6. Fill with jam. To fill the centers of the buns, use the bottom of a small glass or jar to press the center of the rolls in to create an indent. Fill the centers with about 1 tablespoon of jam or until filled to the top.
7. Bake until the bread is golden brown and the jam is bubbly. Set aside to cool slightly before making the icing.
8. Whisk together icing ingredients to combine. Drizzle the icing over the slightly cooled buns before serving. Top with a light dusting of powdered sugar if desired.
tips for working with a yeast dough
Yeast may seem like a pretty intimidating ingredient to work with, but it's actually very easy to use as long as you keep a few tips in mind!
- Freshness: As yeast sits, it loses its potency. An opened jar or package of yeast is best used within about 6 months of opening or until its expiration date (whichever comes first). Expired yeast or yeast that's been open for a while won't allow the bread to rise much (if at all) and could cause bread to taste sour. So it's important to use yeast that isn't too too old!
- Temperature: The temperature of the ingredients is very important when working with yeast! If the ingredients are too cold, it can slow the yeast's rise - which isn't the biggest deal, it just means it'll take longer for the dough to be ready. Overly hot liquid can kill the yeast, which is most definitely a big deal because the dough will not rise at all! The perfect temperature for ingredients like eggs or melted butter is room temperature. The perfect temperature for liquids like milk or water is body temperature - so basically if you dip your finger in, it should feel slightly warm but not hot.
- Resting and rising: After kneading this dough, it needs to rest twice. The first rest is to allow the gluten to relax so the dough is softer and easier to work with. It also allows the yeast to start working and you'll notice the dough has risen to almost double in volume. The second rest is after you shape the rolls, and this allows them to puff up again so they're light, fluffy, and soft!
different filling options
The best part about these rolls is that they're super customizable in terms of filling! You can fill these buns with any sort of jam or fruit preserves you like, like strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, or apricot.
Some other filling options include: apple pie filling (for a fall twist!), lemon curd, or Nutella. As long as the filling is thick enough and can be baked, the world is your oyster!
storage
As with any yeast dough recipe, these buns are best served the same day they're made, but they will keep for about 3 days. Cover tightly with plastic wrap to keep them as fresh as possible for as long as possible!
check out these other recipes!
• Baked Crème Brûlée Donuts
• Raspberry Chocolate Cake
• Baked Carrot Donuts
• Cinnamon Monkey Bread
• Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake
Lastly, if you made this or any of my recipes, be sure to leave a comment and review below! I love hearing your thoughts! Also tag me on Instagram @eatsdelightfulblog so I can see what you're making.
Baked Raspberry Donuts
- Author: Mimi
- Total Time: 2 hours 55 minutes
- Yield: 8 larger donuts / 12 medium donuts
Description
These baked raspberry donuts are so ridiculously fluffy and soft!! They're basically like a lazier version of jelly filled donuts - with the filling baked right on top with the donuts inside a center indent (kind of like a thumbprint cookie!) It's all topped off with an easy raspberry icing and light dusting of powdered sugar.
Ingredients
For the raspberry donuts:
- 1 cup (240mL) lukewarm water ("body temperature" *see notes)
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons (90g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 3 to 4 cups (360g-480g) all-purpose flour, plus more to knead and shape
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 & ¼ teaspoons instant yeast **see notes for using active dry
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- ⅔ cup raspberry jam
For the raspberry icing:
- 1 cup (130g) powdered sugar (plus more for dusting on top if desired)
- 2 teaspoons raspberry jam
- 1 to 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
Make the raspberry donuts:
- In a large bowl, whisk together water, egg, vanilla, and butter to combine.
- Add in 2 cups of flour (to start), sugar, yeast, and salt. Mix together until you have a very sticky mixture.
- Add in another cup of flour and mix until the mixture starts to come together into a rough dough. Add more flour if needed until it starts coming together into a ball.
- Knead the dough either directly in the bowl or on a lightly floured work surface, adding flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking, until it's smooth and elastic. If you poke the top of the dough, it should spring back.
- Shape the dough into a ball and place back into your bowl. Brush 1 tablespoon of oil on top of the dough to help prevent skin formation on top.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a lint free tea towel. Set aside in a warm place to rise for about 45 to 60 minutes or until about doubled in size.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Uncover the risen dough and punch it down to release the air. Place it onto a lightly floured cutting board or work surface and divide into 8 equal portions (or 12 for smaller donuts).
- Roll each portion of dough into a smooth ball and arrange on your parchment lined baking sheet at least 3 inches apart. 8 larger donuts should fit on an extra large baking sheet, but you may need 2 sheets if making 12 donuts.
- Cover the dough balls and set aside for another 30 to 45 minutes or until about doubled in size.
- Preheat your oven to 375F.
- Uncover the dough and use a tiny jar to press an indent into the centers of the buns, going about half way down - take care not to pierce through the bottom of the bun or the filling will leak out. If you don't have a small jar, you can use any similarly sized cup or even your thumb - just make sure to leave a little border to keep the filling in place in the middle.
- Fill the indents with about 1 teaspoon of jam or until it reaches just below the top of the indent.
- Bake the filled donuts in the center of your preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until the jam is bubbly and the edges are golden brown.
- Set aside the baked donuts to cool slightly to room temperature.
Make the raspberry icing:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, jam, and 1 tablespoon of water until smooth and pourable. If the icing is too thick, thin it out with a splash more water. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar.
- Drizzle the icing over the warm donuts. Lightly dust the tops with powdered sugar if desired before enjoying. These are best served warm or room temperature.
Notes
* Most recipes that work with yeast recommend starting with water and / or milk that's at "body temperature" or around 110F. Some recipes may call for cooler liquid, but it should never be hotter otherwise it can kill the yeast. To test the water temperature without a thermometer, simply stick your finger into it! You shouldn't really feel much of a shift in temperature (neither hot nor cold) - it should just feel slightly warm. That means it's about the same temperature as your body temp and is perfect for the yeast.
** To use active dry yeast in this recipe, you'll need to dissolve it in water beforehand because it's not designed to mix into the dry ingredients (like instant yeast). Before starting any steps in the recipe, combine all your water with 1 tablespoon of sugar and all the yeast in a bowl and mix to dissolve. Set it aside for 5 to 10 minutes or until bubbly on top before proceeding with the rest of the recipe as normal. You may notice dough made with active dry yeast takes slightly longer to rise, so you might have to tag on about 15 to 20 minutes more for the rise times.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Bake Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Donuts
Enjoy!
