Milk Bread Nutella Donuts

Homemade milk bread nutella donuts are hands down the pillow soft and hands down the most delicious donuts you will ever make! These nutella stuffed donuts are made with simple pantry staple ingredients and are a lot easier to make than it looks.

Course Appetizer, Appetizer & Sides, Bread, Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American, Asian Fusion

Keyword donuts recipe, donuts with nutella, filled donuts recipe, nutella donuts, nutella filled donuts, nutella stuffed donuts, stuffed donuts

Prep Time 2

Cook Time 20

Total Time 2 20

Servings donuts

Calories 394kcal

Author Megan

Equipment

Ingredients

Tangzhong (starter)

2 ½ tablespoons (21 g) bread flour
¼ cup (60 g) water
3 tablespoon (45 g) milk

Milk Bread Dough

½ cup + 1 tablespoon (133 g) whole milk warmed at 105°F or 40°C
½ tablespoon (7 g) yeast instant or active dry
2 ¾ cup (331 g) bread flour
¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon (7 g) milk powder
1 teaspoon (5 g) salt
1 large egg room temperature
4 tablespoon (57 g) unsalted butter softened at room temperature

Frying and Finishing

vegetable oil at least 4 inches deep 350°F or 180°C
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup Nutella

Instructions

Tangzhong

In a small saucepan, combine the tangzhong ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula until no lumps are left. Then heat over medium heat while mixing constantly until the mixture thickens into a paste, about 2 minutes.
Remove from heat, and transfer to a small bowl and wrap with plastic wrap. Make sure plastic wrap is touching tangzhong to prevent a film from forming. Refrigerate until it has cooled to room temperature. Alternatively, you can refrigerate overnight, and leave at room temperature for 1 hour before using.

Milk Bread Dough

Bloom the yeast. In a small bowl or large measuring cup, mix together warm milk (100-105°F or 38°C) and yeast. Let it bloom for 5-10 minutes or until it has risen a thick foam. This can be with either instant or active dry yeast. If using instant you will only need to bloom it for 1-2 minutes. This is to check if your yeast is still alive.
Make the dough. In the bowl of your stand mixer with a dough attachment, mix on low speed the bread flour, granulated sugar, milk powder and salt until combined. Next, add in the yeast mixture and tangzhong and egg. Continue mixing until the mixture forms into a dough for about 2 minutes.
Add butter and knead. When the dough has just formed, add the softened room temperature butter and knead on low until combined about 1 minute. Then increase the speed to medium-high and knead until smooth, 7-8 minutes. The dough should form into a nice ball and be slightly sticky. If it's TOO sticky (meaning it's sticking to the edges of the mixer, add in 1-2 tablespoons of bread flour.) The dough should be smooth and elastic.
1st Proof. Shape the dough as a ball and place in a greased mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and proof in a warm place for about 1-1 ½ hours or until puffy and almost double in size. This may more or less time depending on the humidity and temperature in your home.
Cut 8-10 parchment squares. Cut about 8-10, three inch parchment squares and lightly grease them.
Shape the dough. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently roll the dough 3/4 inch thick and cut out the donuts with a 2 1/2 inch round cutter. Place each cut out onto a parchment square onto a baking sheet.
Cover and 2nd proof. Cover with a kitchen towel or with another baking sheet and proof in a warm space for another 30-40 minutes or until almost double in size. Refrigerate the dough for about 15 minutes. This will make the dough more manageable in the fryer.

Fry the Donuts

Heat oil to 350°F (180°C). While the dough is in the refrigerator, heat about 4 inches of vegetable oil in a large heavy bottomed pot until it reaches 350°F (180°C). Use a candy thermometer or fry oil thermometer to measure the temperature and make sure the thermometer does not touch the bottom of the pot.
Prepare your station. Place a paper towel over a wire rack over baking sheet. And in a shallow mixing bowl, mix together the granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt until combined.
Fry. Once the oil has reached 350°F, place 2-3 donuts into the oil to fry for 2 minutes on one side or until gently brown. Flip the donuts and fry on the other side for another 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Then using a spider strainer carefully remove the donuts and place them on top of the wire rack to cool for a few seconds.
Mix with sugar. After the donuts have cooled for a few seconds, quickly toss them in the sugar bowl. Make sure the donuts are still hot/warm to make sure the sugar sticks. Repeat until all the donuts are cooked and coated.

Fill the Donuts

Make a hole. Poke the side of the donuts with a chopstick or wooden skewer about 1/2 way deep and gently jostle it around side to side to create room for the filling. Make sure to not poke too deep to the other side.
Fill with nutella. Place nutella into a piping bag fitted with a medium round piping tip. Then place the piping tip into the hole and fill the donut with your desired amount of filling. You know there is enough filling when the filling starts to ooze out of the donut.

Notes

Do not overheat the milk and kill the yeast! The ideal temperature for activating yeast is 100-110 degrees F. (My sweet spot is usually 105 degrees F) Anything hotter will instantly kill the yeast and the yeast will not rise. Measure the temperature with a thermometer to make sure it is at the right temperature.
Make sure to use room temperature ingredients. Using softened room temperature butter will allow even mixing into the dough without making the dough overly wet. Moreover, if you use melted butter for the filling it will cause the filling to leak out before baking. Room temperature eggs will keep the dough at perfect room temperature for optimal yeast activity.
If the dough is too wet, add 1-2 more tablespoons of flour. The dough should be fairly tacky and may stick to your hands but it should come off cleanly. However, if you feel like the dough is too wet to be manageable knead in 1-2 more tablespoons of flour.
Test to see if dough is proofed. After the second proof test, use the poke to test to see if the dough is ready. If the dough bounces back straight away then they aren't ready yet. If your finger leaves a little indentation in the dough which slowly bounces back, you are good to go.
Use a candy thermometer! This kitchen tool is essential to getting the right cook for your donuts. Make sure the oil temperature is at 350°F or 180°C for best results. If the oil is too hot it may risk burning the outside of the nutella stuffed donuts while the inside remains raw. If the oil is too cold, the donuts may absorb too much grease and become overly oily. Make sure to check the temp between batches too.
Storage: You can store these donuts with nutella lightly covered at room temperature. These nutella filled donuts are best served the day they are made.

Nutrition