Berliner: The Classic German Donut Recipe
Serves 12
15 mins prep
20 mins cook
90 mins Resting Time
125 mins total
Berliner, Krapfen, Kreppel, Pfannkuchen... there are way too many words to describe the perfection that a German donut is. Fluffy, deep-fried, powdered sugar drenched and usually filled with jam!

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Combine the luke warm milk and yeast and set aside for 5 minutes. It should be bubbly. If not, start over (your milk may have been too hot or too cold). In the bowl of a standmixer, combine all ingredients for the dough and knead for 10 minutes on the medium-low setting. Cover the bowl and allow to rest in a warm spot until doubled in size, about one hour.
milliliters milk
grams all-purpose flour
grams active-dry yeast
egg yolks
grams granulated sugar
grams butter
tsp pure vanilla extract
tsp salt
Divide the dough up into equal pieces (best to use a kitchen scale), and using flour-dusted hands, shape each portion into a ball. Allow to rest for another 30 minutes (covered up by a clean linen towel).
Preheat frying oil (I prefer using avocado oil) to 160°C/320°F and bake in 3 batches, 4 Berliner each batch. You will want the donuts to be able to swim on the surface.
Fry them for about 2 ½ minutes on one side, then flip over to the other side using your strainer or slotted spoon and fry them until golden on the outside, 2 ½ more minutes. Your Berliner will fry for a total of 5 minutes. I always set a timer for this.
fl oz frying oil
Fill each Berliner with your favorite jam using a decorating bag and filling tip and dust with powdered sugar. I also LOVE filling them with plum butter! So lecker!
To fill, it's easiest to twist the bag pretty tightly, so that the bag is able to stand upright when holding it in your palm. You then jab the filling tip in from the side until you almost don't see it anymore, indicating you have found the center. Push the filling in, stop pushing when your Berliner is sufficiently filled, and remove the tip. I like holding the Berliner in one palm, and the filling in the other, so I can feel the amount of filling going into the Berliner. You can also place it on a scale and add about 15 to 20 grams of jam into each Berliner (just tare in between filling since each Berliner can vary in weight). I hope this is extra helpful for you when filling your Berliner!
grams jam
powdered sugar
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