Homemade brioche doughnuts are stuffed with a lightened pastry cream mixed with fresh peaches. These pillowy donuts are finished with a fresh peach glaze. The best peach doughnuts you will ever taste!
How to make brioche dough
This is the same dough I used to make by babkas. It's rich, buttery and downright delicious. A stand mixer makes this dough come together really quickly!
To start the brioche, you will begin to “proof” your yeast which simply means that you are making sure the yeast is alive before combining it with the other ingredients.
To do this, warm some milk in the microwave or on the stove until it reads 100-110 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Add the warmed milk and 1 teaspoon of sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast over the top.
Stir it into the milk and then let it stand for about 5 minutes until it is foamy at the top. This tells you that your yeast is good and you can proceed with the recipe. If for some reason the yeast didn’t foam (milk too hot, old yeast, etc) then you would want to start over with new yeast.
From here, the rest is really simple. Mix in your eggs, vanilla, flour, sugar and salt to the yeast mixture and then let the mixer do the magic.
Mix on low speed until combined and then on medium-low for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth. The final step is adding the butter.
Do this one cube of butter at a time and let the butter incorporate fully before the next cube goes in. Using room temperature or slightly warmer temperature butter so that it mixes in well is important.
Add all of the butter and then let the mixer run for another 4-5 minutes until the dough is smooth. It will be fairly sticky so don't worry about that.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for an hour to an hour and a half until it’s doubled in size. Alternately, you can let it rise overnight in the refrigerator.
Foamy yeast after proofing. 
Dough after mixing in all dough ingredients. Dough after rising for 1-1.5 hours.
Tips for perfect pastry cream
The filling for these peach doughnuts starts with a vanilla bean pastry cream. Follow these tips for foolproof pastry cream.
- Temper the eggs- The first step of the pastry cream is to heat the milk and vanilla bean seeds to a gentle simmer. Then you add some of the warmed milk to the egg yolk/sugar/cornstarch mixture. This process is called tempering. The purpose is to bring the temperature of the eggs up before adding them to the simmering milk. If you add the cold eggs to the milk, they will likely curdle. You will end up with scrambled eggs instead of a smooth pastry cream.
- Strain the mixture- After adding the small amount of warm milk to the egg yolk mixture, strain it before adding it to the rest of the milk. This step ensures that you don't have any scrambled egg from the hot milk before finishing the pastry cream.
- Keep stirring!- The pastry cream will start to thicken pretty quickly once it gets back onto the heat. It's super important to stir constantly while it's on the heat. Make sure to get into the edges and bottom of the pot so that it cooks evenly. Continue to stir for about 30 seconds once it thickens and then take it off the heat.
Tips for making donuts
- Don't overproof- The last rise could take between 30 minutes and a little over an hour. To tell if the donuts are ready to fry, push into the dough with your finger. If the dough spings back right away, it's not ready. If a indentation remains for a few seconds, then it's ready to go.
- Use a thermometer!-Frying doughnuts at the right temperature is key. Heating the temperature to about 350 to 360 Fahrenheit is the perfect for golden brown exteriors and perfectly cooked interiors. If the temperature dips below this, you will end up with undercooked and oily doughnuts. If the temperature is too high, the exterior will cook faster than the interior leaving doughy middles. The best way to make sure the temperature is correct is to use an instant thermometer. If you don't have one and still want to tackle frying doughnuts, heat the oil for about 5-10 minutes on medium. Use a small piece of dough to test the temperature.
- Let everything cool- Make sure the fried doughnut has cooled and the pastry cream filling is chilled before you fill the donuts.
Filling the donuts
The easiest way to fill the peach doughnuts is to use the end of a wooden spoon or another narrow long cylinder. Poke a hole in the side of the doughnut and then wiggle it around in the dough to make an opening for the filling.
Place the peaches and cream filling in a pastry bag with the end snipped off or fit with a large round tip. Dice the peaches finely so they don't get clogged in the tip. You can also use a zip-top bag with the corner snipped if you don't have a pastry bag.
Place the tip of the bag into the hole in the donut and gently fill it with the cream. Pipe a small amount of cream on the top of the hole.
Once the doughnuts are filled, dip them into the glaze and let the excess drip off. They are best eaten on the same day!
How to make the doughnuts ahead of time
Doughnuts can be time-consuming to make but you can break up the steps to make the peach doughnuts ahead of time. The easiest way to do this is to make the dough and pastry cream the day before you want to serve them.
To make the dough ahead of time, follow all of the steps to make the dough and let it rise overnight in the refrigerator. The next day, you'll roll out the dough, cut out the donuts and then let them rise for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
While the donuts are rising, whip the heavy cream and fold it into the pastry cream and dice the peaches to add to the pastry cream as well. Make the peach glaze and then you'll be ready to fry the donuts.
How to store the doughnuts
These peach doughnuts are best eaten the same day they are made. If you have leftovers, store them in a covered container in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.
For more breakfast treats, check out these recipes:
- Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits
- Strawberry Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Apple French Toast Bake
- Chocolate Cherry Almond Scones
Tag me on Instagram @themarblekitchenblog if you make this and leave a star rating and comment below! Thank you and enjoy!
Peach Doughnuts with Peaches and Cream Filling
Ingredients
Brioche Dough
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup sugar + 1 teaspoon sugar divided
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 package active dry yeast about 2 ¼ teaspoon
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter very soft and cubed
- Canola Oil for frying about 1.5 quarts
Vanilla Pastry Cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 vanilla bean split in half lengthwise and vanilla bean seeds scraped
- 4 egg yolks
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup finely chopped peaches about 1 peach
Peach Glaze
- 1-2 peaches peeled, pitted and sliced
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
Brioche Dough
- Whisk together flour, ¼ cup of sugar and salt in a bowl. Warm milk in the microwave for about 45 seconds or until a thermometer reads 100 to 110 degrees. Add the milk and 1 teaspoon sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a dough hook. Sprinkle the yeast over the milk and stir to combine. Let stand for about 5 minutes until the yeast starts to foam. If the yeast doesn’t foam, then start over with new yeast.
- Add the eggs, vanilla, and then flour mixture to the yeast mixture. Mix on low speed until combined and then increase speed to medium low and mix for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth.
- Add the softened butter cubes one at a time and mix on medium low about 4 minutes until butter is incorporated and dough comes together but is sticky. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 to 1 ½ hours until the dough is about doubled (or let rise in the refrigerator overnight). Punch down the dough and scrape out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Roll out the dough to about ½ thick. Using a 3 inch round cookie cutter, cut the dough into the doughnuts. Combine scraps, re-roll and cut the remaining dough. You should get about 12-13 doughnuts.
- Place the doughnuts on 2 parchment lined baking sheets spaced evenly apart. Cover the baking sheet with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let the dough rise for 30 minutes to 1 hour. They are ready to fry when you push your finger into the dough and an indent stays for a few seconds. If the dough springs back right away, it’s not ready yet. Don’t let them over proof.
- Pour the oil into a large pot and heat it to 350 to 360 degrees using a thermometer. You can test the oil with a small piece of dough to make sure it’s not too cold or hot.
- Gently place 2-3 doughnuts at a time in the oil and fry for 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown. Place the doughnuts on a wire rack set over a sheet pan or paper towels to cool.
Vanilla Pastry Cream
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the milk and vanilla beans to a simmer but not a full boil.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, cornstarch, sugar and salt until smooth.
- Pour ½ cup of the warm milk into the egg yolk mixture and whisk in until smooth.
- Pour the egg mixture through a sieve and into the remaining milk in the saucepan, whisking constantly until combined.
- Heat the mixture over medium heat and bring to a slow boil, stirring constantly. Continue whisking, being careful to scrap the bottom and sides of the pan until the mixture becomes thick, about 5-6 minutes in total.
- Stir and cook for an additional 30 seconds after it thickens and then remove from the heat.
- Stir in the butter until smooth.
- Pour the cream into a medium bowl, place plastic wrap directly onto the top of the cream and then refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours.
- Once the pastry cream is chilled, remove from the refrigerator and whisk it to loosen it up. Whip the whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Stir in about ⅓ of the whipped cream into the pastry cream to lighten it up and then carefully fold in the rest of the whipped cream until combined.
- Fold in the diced peaches and refrigerate the cream until ready to use.
Peach Glaze
- Puree the sliced and peeled peaches in a blender until smooth. It should yield about ½ cup of puree. If it’s not enough, add additional peaches to the blender to yield ½ cup. If it’s too much, just measure out ½ cup and discard the rest or use it for something else.
- In a medium bowl, combine the peach puree, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice until smooth. If the mixture is too thick, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency. If it’s too thin, add powdered sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until thickened.
Assembly
- Using the back of a wooden spoon or another thin long item, punch a hold into the side of each cooled donut without going all the way through and push the dough aside slightly to form a hole for the cream filling.
- Place the cream filling in a pastry bag fit with a large round tip or with the end of the bag cut. Pipe the filling into each doughnut.
- Dip the top of each doughnut into the peach glaze, allowing excess to drop off. The doughnuts are best eaten the same day they are made.
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