Crème Brûlée Donuts

It may be the greatest creation in sweet tooth history: Crème Brûlée Donuts. Soft, pillowy, fried dough, a creamy custard center, all with crunchy caramel topping the entire affair. Here you’ll find detailed instructions, photos for each step of the recipe, and pro tips galore! First time making donuts? I promise they’ll be a raging success.

When we’re winding down at the end of the night, watching food videos in bed is a practice we never skip out on. We recently saw a video featuring something so simple, yet so incredible. Crème brûlée donuts. The video was purely food-porn inspiration with no recipe. I felt that the world NEEDED to have these donuts. This is my own rendition of the idea, and I do have to say, without bragging too much, that they were out-of-this-world.

As someone who once feared the unknown that is yeast, I have everything you need to know detailed in this post. All the common mistakes, the reasons why they happen, and how to fix the problem without having to waste ingredients. Yeast doughs are a skill I’ve slowly built up to get to where I’m at today. I’ve made every mistake in the book, and lived to tell the tale! Now, when I’m whipping up dough, it feels so easy. Well, because it is! Practise makes perfect.

Ingredients in crème brûlée donuts

Click “Jump to Recipe” at the top of the page or keep on scrolling down to the recipe card for ingredient amounts and instructions. Read on for details and all the pertinent information you’ll need to fry up the most perfect donuts!

• Milk – Any type you have on hand. This will be used both for the dough and the custard.
• Yeast – Active dry yeast. Instant yeast will work too.
• Sugar – Granulated. Feel free to use less or more for the dough and/or custard, but it’s important to have plenty for the brûlée.
• Yolks – The dough and custard will use yolks. Want to use up those excess egg whites? Save them and make a few rounds of Whiskey Sours.
• Vanilla – Extract, paste, or fresh vanilla bean.
• Butter – Unsalted. I like to have full control over the sodium in my recipes.
• Flour – All-purpose. Bread flour will work too.
• Salt – To taste.
• Vegetable oil – For frying. Check below for details on choosing a perfect frying oil.
• Cornstarch – Also known as cornflour.
• Water

The best oil for frying donuts

When you’re choosing oil for any application, there are two points you need to have in mind: flavor and smoke point. In this situation, we need oil with little to no flavor and a high smoke point for the heat we’ll be taking it to. For example, something like extra virgin olive oil would be a bad choice since it has a strong flavor, and the smoke point is so low it would burn before we were even able to fry up one donut.

Keeping these two factors in mind, I’ve compiled a list of oils you can choose from for frying up not just donuts, but any fried delicacy:

• Vegetable oil
• Canola oil
• Sunflower oil
• Peanut oil
• Soybean oil
• Safflower oil
• Corn oil
• Cottonseed oil

How to make crème brûlée donuts

Dough

1. Whisk the milk, yeast, and 1 tsp of the sugar together. Let the mixture sit for 10-15 minutes until foamy. Add the egg yolks and vanilla to the yeast mixture. Stir well to combine.
2. Add the yeast mixture, flour, butter, salt, and remaining sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer. Attach the dough hook to the mixer and start on low speed, working up to medium speed to combine the dough. Knead for 5-10 minutes until the dough is soft and elastic.
3. Place the dough in a large, lightly greased mixing bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise in a warm, draft-free environment for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size.

Custard

1. Whisk the sugar, salt, and cornstarch together. Beat the egg yolks in a medium-sized mixing bowl just until smooth. Add the dry mixture to the egg yolks and continue to beat until combined and pale yellow, about 1 minute.
2. Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium-high heat until it comes to a bare simmer. Remove the pan from the heat and carefully ladle the milk into the egg yolk mixture while whisking vigorously to avoid lumps. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, and return it to the stovetop over medium heat.
3. While continuously whisking, heat the mixture until bubbling and completely thickened. Remove the pot from the heat. Whisk the vanilla and butter into the custard until smooth, then transfer the custard to a bowl.
4. Cover the custard with plastic wrap, carefully pressing the plastic directly against the surface of the custard to avoid a skin forming. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until completely cooled.

Donuts

1. Punch the risen dough down and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out until about 1/2″ thick.
2. Use a 3″ biscuit or cookie cutter to cut rounds from the dough. Knead the remaining dough back into a ball and continue to roll it out and cut rounds until you’ve used as much dough as you can.
3. Place the rounds on a lightly greased baking sheet, leaving about 1″ of room between each round. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and allow them to rise for 20-30 minutes, or until doubled in size.
4. Heat the oil in a large pot to 360F. Carefully place the rounds into the hot oil, working in batches. Cook for 1-2 minutes, or until golden brown, flip and cook for another minute or until golden. Remove the rounds with a slotted spoon and allow the donuts to drain on a paper towel-lined plate while you fry the rest.

Fill & Brûlée

1. Add the custard to a piping bag fitted with a piping tip. Insert a skewer or chopstick into each donut to create a pocket inside for the custard. Insert the tip of your piping bag into a donut and fill with custard. Repeat with the remaining donuts and custard.
2. Add the sugar and water for the caramel (brûlée) to a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Once the mixture starts bubbling, reduce the heat to medium. Heat the sugar, giving the pan a gentle swirl occasionally, until it turns golden. Take the pan off the heat and swirl the pan until the color deepens slightly.
3. Working very carefully, dip the top of each donut into the caramel. Wear a glove for extra protection on your hands. Lift the donut from the caramel and tilt it, away from your fingers, to let the excess drip for a few seconds, then place the donut aside to let it cool.
4. Repeat with the remaining donuts. If you find the caramel in the pot is getting too stiff, return it to the heat, swirling the pan, until it warms up and becomes less viscous.

Troubleshooting your dough

Yeast

If your yeast didn’t foam up right off the first step, STOP and don’t continue with the recipe. In fact, this happened to me! It means, for whatever reason, the yeast didn’t activate. The dough will not rise. “Why?!”, you ask? Well, it could be:

• The water temperature was not in the Goldilocks range. If it’s too cold, the yeast won’t be able to be activated and thrive. Water that’s too hot will kill the yeast. We’re looking for, approx, 110F/45C, warm to the touch. Like baby formula. It doesn’t have to be exact! I usually just dip my finger into it and estimate lukewarm.
• My issue today: the yeast has died. Remember, yeast is a living organism. Even if it’s within the expiry date on the jar, if it’s dead, it’s dead. I was lucky enough to have an extra jar in the freezer as a backup. I tossed the milk and started fresh! Phew, no wasted dough.
• The yeast hadn’t been stored properly and, as a result, died early. I keep my yeast in an airtight jar in the freezer to help it last as long as possible.

Dough

The yeast foamed up to perfection in the first step, but the dough isn’t rising as you expected. Here’s what could’ve happened:

• It just needs more time. Even when I’m not blogging, I’ll snap a picture of my dough before rising to be able to compare. If you see some action, just give it a bit more time.
• It’s in an environment that’s too cold. The dough needs a warm and draft-free place for the yeast to thrive. I always rise dough in my oven. I’ll preheat it to the lowest setting, then turn it off. This creates a warm, cozy space without ant cold breezes.

Now you are a professional for creating perfectly risen dough. But, what about your dough’s texture? Every environment is different, with the main factor being humidity. Your dough should be soft to the touch without being sticky

• It’s too sticky: While the dough is still in your mixer equipped with the dough hook, add 1 tbsp of flour at a time, until completely mixed in, until your dough is perfect.
• It’s too dry: Again, while still in the mixer, add a splash of room temperature water or milk, mix completely, and repeat if needed.

Tips for making perfect crème brûlée donuts

• If this is your first time making a yeast dough or you’re still pretty new to the process, read the section above, “Troubleshooting your dough” before starting.
• Attach a candy/frying thermometer to the side of the pot to keep the oil’s temperature consistent. This has to be the most important piece of advice I can give you!
• Only fry 3-4 donuts at a time. They will fry up so fast! The whole process will be done in no time, however, it will make your life a lot easier if the pot isn’t over-crowded.
• The donuts are going to puff up plenty while frying. Keep a slotted spoon handy to hold the donut(s) in place if they bubble up and try to flip around on you
• Work slowly while making the caramel. Trust me- I have burned a pot of sugar once or twice. This caramel happens so fast.
  • It’s important not to rush the process. Keep the heat at medium after it starts bubbling and work slowly.
  • Once I see some color start to form, I will take the pot off the heat every once in a while to swirl for 10-15 seconds to make sure I don’t over-cook the caramel. The pot is so hot it will continue to brown even after it’s off the heat.
  • As you’re dipping the donuts in the caramel, you might notice the caramel starts to harden. You can return it to the heat and swirl the pot. It will thin out for you.
  • Be careful! The caramel is VERY HOT. Wear a glove to protect your hand while dipping the donuts in the caramel.

How to store leftover crème brûlée donuts

Make sure your donuts have fully cooled down before storing them. Transfer to an airtight container or large freezer bag and store in the fridge. They’re best eaten within 2 days to enjoy the dough at it’s freshest and best-est. I like to zap mine in the microwave for 10-20 seconds to soften them up a bit.

The brûlée may feel a tiny bit sticky, but don’t worry! It’s just absorbed a little bit of moisture from the air. It’ll still be crunchy when you bite down. It’s a messy donut, anyway!

I don’t suggest storing these in the freezer. The custard may separate a bit a create an odd consistency once thawed. The unfriend donuts, however, can be frozen right after being cut into rounds. Their second rise can happen on the counter, at room temperature, as they thaw out.

Sweet tooth still hankering? Try these:

• Crème Brûlée
• Triple Chocolate Banana Cake
• Easy 3 Ingredient Fudge
• Mini Mixed Berry Cheesecake Pies
• The Best Banana Bread