Vegan Jam Doughnuts

Vegan jam doughnuts - these super soft fried yeasted doughnuts are easy to make and taste so much better than shop bought!

Made with an eggless and dairy free enriched yeast dough and deep fried for a light texture and classic, indulgent flavour. Fill them with the traditional raspberry jam or get creative with your fillings!

These vegan jam doughnuts (or donuts, depending on how you want to spell it) are the ultimate nostalgic, satisfying treat.

They are pillowy light and soft, with a golden, crunchy sugar outside, and a generous splodge of sticky jam in the middle.

They aren't difficult to make, but they do involve making a yeasted dough and deep frying. Hopefully this (rather long) post covers all of the tips and details you need to make perfect fluffy doughnuts!

If you want to make ring doughnuts rather than filled ones, then I also have a recipe for super light and fluffy vegan glazed doughnuts.

What Do I Need To Make Vegan Jam Doughnuts?:

Bread flour: White bread flour helps to give these vegan jam doughnuts their soft, fluffy, chewy texture. Plain (all-purpose) flour will work though the texture isn’t quite the same. I don’t recommend using wholemeal flour as that will make the doughnuts too dense.

Instant Yeast: I always prefer to use instant yeast when making bread as it can just be added straight to the flour and doesn’t need to be activated first. See below for instructions if you only have active dry yeast.

Sugar: I use caster sugar in the dough as it dissolves easily; it can be swapped for granulated if that is all you have. You also need to roll the doughnuts in sugar once they are fried. Caster sugar is best but granulated will do.

Milk: Soy milk is always my favourite for baking as it has the highest protein content so most closely resembles dairy milk. Any variety of non-dairy milk will work however, but go for an unsweetened one if you can, and definitely soy milk if you have it.

Vanilla extract: I add some vanilla extract to the dough for extra flavour. You can omit it if you don’t have any.

Vegan butter: While in most cases I only recommend using a block butter for baking, in this case a tub variety is fine as well (but not one of the low-fat ones!). I used Flora Original.

Salt: You simply cannot make good bread without salt. Don’t omit it.

Oil for frying: These are deep fried doughnuts so you will need quite a bit of oil. You need to use one with a high smoking point such as vegetable, sunflower or groundnut.

Jam: Raspberry is traditional but you can use any kind you like (nothing chunky though or it won't be pipeable). See below for more filling options.

How To Make Vegan Jam Doughnuts:

(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)

To make the dough, mix bread flour, sugar, yeast and salt together in a bowl.

Add soy milk, melted butter and vanilla extract and mix to form a soft, sticky dough.

Knead the dough on an unfloured surface for about 10 minutes, until it is smooth and supple. It should still be a bit sticky but not wet.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and leave to rise until doubled in size. About 1 ½ to 2 hours in a warm spot or overnight in the fridge.

Punch down the risen dough and give it a brief knead to get rid of any air bubbles.

How To Shape The Doughnuts:

Divide the dough into 8 even pieces. Use a scale for accuracy.

On a lightly floured surface, shape each piece into a ball. To do this, gather the edges up and pinch them together. Keep going until you have a neat, well-sealed ball.

Flip the ball over, cup it with your hand over the top and roll it until it is smooth.

Flatten the ball with your hand into a disc about 1 ½ - 2cm thick. Repeat with the rest of the pieces of dough.

Place the discs of dough on a sheet of baking parchment on a baking sheet. Cover loosely and leave to rise until puffy, about 45 minutes.

They are ready when the dough springs back slowly most of the way when you press it gently with a finger.

If it springs back quickly then it needs a little longer, and if it deflates or doesn't spring back at all then the doughnuts are over-prooved and you will need to knock them back, reshape them and let them rise again.

How To Cook The Doughnuts:

Heat a deep fat fryer to 170°C/340°F. Fill a shallow bowl with caster sugar and line a plate with kitchen roll.

Cook the doughnuts two at a time. Slide them carefully into the hot oil, they are delicate so handle them as little as possible.

Cook for 2 ½ minutes (use a timer), then flip them over and cook for another 2 ½ minutes. They should be deep golden.

Remove using a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Roll the doughnuts in the caster sugar while they are still warm.

Use a skewer or small sharp knife to make a hole in the side of each doughnut. Wiggle it around a little bit to make the hole inside a bit bigger.

Place the jam in a piping bag fitted with a medium round nozzle. A syringe also works well.

Insert the nozzle into the hole you made in the side of the doughnut and pipe in a good splodge of jam.

Serve as soon as possible.

Top Tips:

As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!

Make sure that your yeast isn't out of date! Old yeast can lead to dough that doesn’t rise.

The amount of flour needed may vary a bit as different brands absorb different amounts of liquid. Start with the quantity given in the recipe and add a little more as needed if the dough is too wet. This is meant to be a soft sticky dough however, so don’t add too much as that will make the doughnuts dry.

The rising time of the dough will vary depending on how warm it is; on hot days it will rise much faster than on cold ones. If you refrigerate the dough for it's first rise, the second rise will take longer than if it's first rise was at room temperature.

If you want, you can give the dough it’s first rise overnight in the fridge rather than at room temperature. This breaks up the workload and gives the doughnuts an even better flavour.

Weigh the dough to ensure you get 8 equal-sized portions. This will ensure they cook evenly.

Use a timer when cooking the doughnuts to make sure that they cook for long enough. You don't want them to be raw in the middle!

If you aren't sure if the doughnuts are cooked through, the best way to check is with a probe thermometer. I cook mine until they reach 100°C in the middle. Alternatively, a skewer inserted into the middle should meet little resistance and come out clean.

If your jam is chunky you will need to puree it with a stick blender so that it is pipeable.

A specialist filler nozzle for filling the doughnuts will make your life easier!

Try adding a bit of cinnamon to the sugar before rolling the doughnuts in it for extra flavour!

What Kind Of Yeast?:

I always use instant yeast when I am baking bread as it doesn’t need to be activated in liquid first, you can just add it straight to the flour. I highly recommend buying instant yeast if possible.

If you are only able to get active dry yeast then you can still use it but the method will be a little different.

Use 10g (3 tsp) of active dry yeast. Mix the yeast with the lukewarm milk (NOT hot!) and a pinch of the sugar. Let it sit for 10-20 minutes until it has become bubbly then proceed with the rest of the recipe as written.

How To Speed Up The Rising Time:

If your room temperature is cold and you want to speed up the rising time a bit then you can heat the oven up on it’s lowest temperature for a couple of minutes then switch it off and open the door for 30 seconds to let some of the heat out.

Hold your hand in there for a few seconds to make sure it isn’t too hot. It should feel warm but not hot, like a warm summer day kind of temperature. If it is too hot it will kill the yeast so be careful!

Place the covered dough in the oven and shut the door. If it is a really cold day then you may need to warm the oven up again after a while but I usually find that once is enough.

Alternatively, place a bowl or loaf tin in the bottom of your (cold, switched off) oven and place the covered dough on the middle shelf. Fill the bowl with boiling water and close the oven door. The steam will create a warm environment for the dough to rise.

A Word On Deep Frying:

By far the best and safest way to cook these doughnuts is using a thermostat controlled electric deep fat fryer.

You can deep fry them in a saucepan if you have to, but it is difficult to control the temperature and the most common type of house fire is caused by deep frying so be really, really careful!

Here are some tips on how to deep fry safely.

If you are frying in a saucepan make sure that it is deep. You need the doughnuts to be properly swimming in oil, they shouldn't touch the bottom; but the pan should never be more than two thirds full of oil otherwise you risk it bubbling over.

It is best to use a jam thermometer to monitor the oil temperature. It needs to stay at 170°C/340°F. If it gets too hot the doughnuts will burn before they cook in the middle. And if it is too cool they will soak up too much oil and become overly greasy.

What Can I Fill Them With?:

The classic doughnut filling is raspberry jam and that is what I have used here, but you can get really creative and fill them with pretty much anything you want (as long as you can pipe it).

Why not try:

• Fruit curd. I have recipes for vegan lemon curd, coconut lime curd, mango curd and blood orange curd. All of these would work great.
• Pastry cream
• Biscoff (warm it up a bit so it is pipeable)
• Peanut butter. Either fill your doughnuts with both peanut butter and jam, or mix the peanut butter with a bit of maple syrup to sweeten it.
• Sweetened apple sauce (pureed if chunky)
• Fruit compote (pureed if chunky)
• Chocolate spread (vegan nutella etc.)
• Ganache

Can I Make Them In Advance?:

Unfortunately doughnuts really do need to be eaten on the day they are made, the fresher the better.

Any leftover doughnuts will be okay to eat the following day as long as they have been stored in an airtight container, but they won't be as soft as when they are fresh and you may want to warm them up in the microwave for a few seconds to refresh them before serving.

If you want to serve the doughnuts in the morning then you can make the dough the day beforehand and leave it to rise in the fridge overnight.

Can I Freeze Them?:

Yes, these vegan jam doughnuts can be frozen if needed.

Freeze them as soon as they are cold to preserve freshness. Wrap them individually in plastic wrap or foil and freeze for up to three months.

Allow to defrost at room temperature then warm them up for a few seconds in the microwave before serving.

They won't be quite as good as fresh and the sugar on the outside tends to dissolve a bit but they are still tasty!

Can I Bake Them Instead Of Frying?:

Technically yes, you can bake the risen doughnuts at 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 4 for about 15-20 minutes until deep golden and they sound hollow when you tap them on the bottom. Brush them with melted butter and roll in sugar.

But honestly? That's not a doughnut. It's a bread roll. If you want proper doughnuts you need to fry them.

What I do sometimes like to do if I don't want all eight doughnuts, is fry a couple of them (or as many as I need), then bake the rest and use them as rolls. (Brush the tops with a little soy milk before baking)

Can I Make Them Gluten-Free?:

No, I’m afraid that you cannot use gluten free flour. Making gluten free bread is tricky and the entire recipe would need reworking. Gluten free baking is not my area of expertise so I cannot advise you.

It is best to use a recipe that is designed to be gluten free rather than trying to adapt a non gluten free recipe.

Move Vegan Sweet Bread Recipes:

• Vegan glazed doughnuts
• Vegan chocolate babka
• Maple pecan bread wreath
• Vegan cinnamon rolls
• Almond bread twist
• Vegan lemon blueberry rolls
• Vegan hot cross buns

If you tried this recipe let me know how it went! Rate it, leave a comment or tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess

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