Peanut Butter and Jelly Donuts

Homemade donuts are not a thing in this household. It's not that we don't like donuts. We do. It's not that we don't like homemade donuts. We do. (Dave has fond memories of his grandma's homemade donuts, and I loved my mom's homemade donuts with chocolate sauce.)

But since I lit myself on fire, literally, while attempting to fry donuts the first year we were married, homemade donuts haven't been something I've attempted. I know you can bake cake donuts, which I've done once or twice, but that's not the same thing in my mind. If you have a recipe that will convince me otherwise, by all means, please share.

So it was a big deal when I made these homemade donuts from Hungry Girl Por Vida. I was so proud of myself, although Dave preferred them as plain sugar donuts. I'm not sure whether I'd recreate these because the amount of jam I piped was too heavy-handed, and they are definitely best eaten fresh. If you make these, I'd suggest donut holes, which give a much better ratio of jam.

Still, super exciting.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Donuts
Dough
2 Tbsp. flour
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. dry yeast
2 large eggs
4 Tbsp. melted butter
2 1/2 cups flour
Oil for frying-deep fryer only!
Filling
Strawberry jam
Peanut Butter Sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter powder (like PB2)
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Prepare the dough one day in advance to eat donuts for breakfast rather than brunch. Start by making a roux by whisking the 2 Tbsp. of flour into 1/3 cup of water in a small saucepan. Whisk to remove all the lumps. Place the saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens into a paste. Remove from the heat, and set aside.

In a measuring glass, heat the milk until just warm to the touch, about 30 seconds. Whisk in the sugar and yeast. Set aside for 5 minutes. Whisk in the eggs and melted butter.

Add the flour and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook. Add the roux and yeast mixtures to the flour, and mix on medium speed. Once the dough comes together and there are no longer dry bits, mix for 10 minutes to knead the dough until you have a tacky, stretchy dough. Turn the dough onto a clean, flour-dusted surface, and knead a few times until you have a smooth ball of dough. Place the dough in a greased bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Rest the dough overnight in the refrigerator.

Dough should be doubled in the morning. Pat dough to a 1/2-inch thickness on a floured surface. Use a round cutter to punch out the donuts. (Use a 3-inch for large donuts or a 1-inch for donut holes.) Gather the scraps, and knead into a disk. Cover, and rest 15-30 minutes before patting and cutting out remaining donuts. Place the donuts on a parchment-lined baking sheet that has been dusted with flour. Lightly dust the tops of the donuts with more flour, and cover. (I should have used more flour, particularly on the bottom.)

Let donuts rest at room temperature until doubled in size. This should take 1-2 hours if the dough was chilled overnight.

Use a deep fryer (see above story where I lit myself on fire when I didn't use one) to heat oil to 325°F or 350°F. Fry the donuts in batches, about 2 minutes per side, until deeply golden. Set fried donuts on baking sheet fitted with a wire rack. Let the donuts cool a few minutes before filling with jam. To fill with jam, use a chopstick to create an opening, and then fill with a pastry tip and decorator bag.

Mix the powdered peanut butter and powdered sugar together. Dip both sides of the donuts into the sugar mixture and enjoy! Makes about 10 large donuts.