Brioche donuts filled three ways – dark chocolate, lemon and raspberry – gives your family variety without too much effort. I’m not a morning person. I usually get up around 9 and it’s not until about 7 PM that I’m fully awake. Friends can call me any time. They know if they need a late night chat, I’ll be up. It’s good that I’m a professor so I can schedule classes later in the day.  Work meetings before 9 AM are the bane of my existence.  Don’t get me wrong. I can get up at 5 am and did so for years when I taught science. Each morning I also made my kids a hot breakfast. Usually Cream of Wheat with honey as that was their favorite. But, truth be told, I’m not fully awake until after dinner. Christmas morning always meant a special breakfast. I usually got up early and made eggs, biscuits, bacon, the works. This year, it will just be me, Becks and her boyfriend at the house for Christmas morning breakfast. My sons will come for dinner. With only three for breakfast, we don’t need a lot of food but I want to make something special for them. I love that you make the buttery brioche dough the night before so there isn’t that much to do in the morning. Even better, it only takes about 20 minutes to throw the dough together before you stick it in the fridge for the night. Assembling these donuts is also quick. The soft dough firms up overnight so it’s easy to handle in the morning. The most tedious part is dividing it into 18 portions.  It took me about 15 minutes to assemble the donuts before frying them. The other key part is sealing the edges after you fold the dough around the filling.  If you don’t, the donuts will open up when you fry them. They’ll still taste great. They just won’t be as pretty. The toppings are also easy. You could even skip them and just dust the donuts with powdered sugar if your family is really hungry. I hope you and your families enjoy these wonderful donuts and that your holidays are truly blessed.

Yield: 18 donuts

Brioche Donuts Three Ways

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Buttery brioche donuts filled with chocolate, lemon or raspberries, fried golden brown and topped with melted dark chocolate, lemon ganache or sugar.

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 36 minutes

Additional Time 7 hours

Total Time 8 hours 16 minutes

Ingredients

Donut Dough

• 2 cups bread flour (250 g)
• ¾ teaspoon salt (4 g)
• 2 Tablespoons sugar (25 g)
• 1 Tablespoon (5 g) instant yeast
• 4 ½ tablespoons warm whole milk (70 ml)
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup + 2 ½ teaspoons softened unsalted butter (125 g), cut into small pieces.

Filling

• 6 large raspberries
• 6 squares dark chocolate (about 66 g or 2/3 of a bar)
• 6 tablespoons lemon chips

Toppings

• dark chocolate (about ½ bar or 50 g), melted
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup lemon chips (39 g)
• ½ tablespoon cream

• Enough vegetable oil to fill a deep fryer or heavy duty pan to a depth of 4-5 inches.

Instructions

Dough

1. Put the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a heavy duty mixer fitted with a dough hook.
2. Add the milk and eggs and mix on a slow speed for 2 minutes. Then mix on medium speed for 6-8 minutes until you have a soft, glossy, elastic dough.
3. Add softened butter and continue to mix for 4-5 minutes. Scrape the bowl periodically to make sure the butter is thoroughly incorporated. The dough will be very soft.
4. Put the dough in a sealed container and refrigerate overnight (at least 7 hours).

Donuts

1. Put the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead a few times.
2. Divide the dough into 18 equal portions and flatten each into about a 3 inch disk.
3. For the raspberry donuts, put a raspberry in the center of the disk. Fold the dough around it sealing the edges together. Then gently shape into a ball.
4. For the dark chocolate donuts, put a square of chocolate (or about 2 teaspoons chocolate chips) into the center. Fold the edges around the chocolate sealing the edges. Then gently shape into a ball.
5. For the lemon donuts, put about 2 teaspoons - 1 tablespoon lemon chips in the center. Fold the edges around the chocolate sealing the edges. Then gently shape into a ball.
6. Preheat oil to 340°F. Lowers the donuts into the oil gently and cook on each side for about 3 minutes. The donuts lower the temperature of the oil so I only did 3 at a time. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.

Toppings

1. Drizzle melted dark chocolate on the tops of the chocolate filled donuts.
2. Make lemon ganache by mixing the lemon chips and cream together and heating gently until the lemon chips are soft (I did 15 second intervals in my microwave). Spoon over the tops of the lemon donuts
3. Roll the raspberry donuts in sugar to coat.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

18

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 156Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 116mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 1gSugar: 7gProtein: 3g

Nutrition information is provided as a guide only. Please consult a dietician for specific dietary needs.