These Crème Brûlée Donuts are pillowy brioche donuts filled with vanilla bean pastry cream and dipped in a hard shell of caramelized sugar. This is a small batch donuts recipe, as well as a no cutter donut recipe!
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These have been popular for a while on social media, with plenty of other food creators making them. They always look delicious, but maybe not as approachable for home cooks. So I wanted to develop a version that doesn’t waste dough (no cutter or re-rolling required) and is a small batch recipe (because let’s be honest, why does the average person need a batch of 20+ donuts?). I saw Red Currant Bakery make these square donuts, which is what inspired me to make these squares.
Making homemade donuts is such a treat. I fell in love with them after developing this Strawberry Cream Donuts (small batch) recipe, which is also a yeasted donut. Another favorite of mine is my Chocolate Old-Fashioned Donuts recipe, which is a dupe for the H-E-B bakery version (IYKYK).
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Why you’ll love this recipe
- The outer caramel stays crunchy.
- The filling has a strong vanilla bean flavor.
- This is a small batch recipe, perfect for when you don’t need a lot.
- The dough can be made in a stand mixer for easier prep.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour is the base of this brioche dough.
- Butter and eggs are what enriches the dough.
- These doughnuts are risen with instant yeast.
- Granulated sugar sweetens the dough, the cream and the caramel.
- The overall flavor is balanced by kosher salt, vanilla extract and lemon juice.
- Cornstarch thickens the pastry cream.
- Whole milk is the base of the pastry cream.
- Peanut oil (not pictured) is my choice for frying oil.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions and variations
Here’s how to customize these donuts to your liking:
- Store-bought dough — fry store-bought biscuit dough instead of making your own.
- No whole milk — use any dairy milk.
- Round — use a round biscuit or cookie cutter to make them round. Re-roll scraps as necessary.
- No vanilla bean paste — substitute 2 teaspoon of vanilla extract or the scraped seeds of one vanilla bean pod.
- No kosher salt — use sea salt or decrease to ½ teaspoon table salt in the dough.
This recipe has not been tested with any substitutions or variations. If you try any, please let me know how it turned out by commenting below!
How to make crème brûlée donuts
Step 1: Whisk together the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the hook attachment. Turn the mixer to low speed, add in the egg and egg yolks, followed by the softened butter, water and vanilla extract. Once combined, turn the mixer to medium-low to knead for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the dough passes the windowpane test. Do this by grabbing a small bit of dough and stretching it between your fingers. If it stretches without tearing, it is ready. If it tears when stretched, keep kneading. Remove the dough to a lightly-greased bowl and cover. Proof for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Step 2: While the dough is proofing, make the pastry cream. Combine the milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove from heat. Combine the granulated sugar and egg yolks in a medium bowl. Whisk by hand until light yellow and fluffy. Add flour and cornstarch and whisk until thoroughly combined and lightened in color even further. Very slowly stream in the warmed vanilla milk with a ladle while whisking vigorously to prevent cooking the eggs. Continue slowly adding in the milk mixture until it is all combined. Return the entire mixture to the medium saucepan and place over low heat. Whisk constantly until the pastry cream has thickened to a pudding consistency (coats the back of a spoon). This can take 5+ minutes. Remove from the heat promptly and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Place the bowl over a larger bowl with ice and place in the refrigerator to cool for at least 2 hours.
Step 3: Line a large baking sheet with 12 4×4” parchment paper squares. Lightly grease OR flour your work surface. I prefer to roll out on a greased surface for donuts so as to not add extra flour before frying. Punch down the dough and place it on the work surface. Roll out to a ½-inch thick rectangle with a greased rolling pin. Make three vertical cuts from the long side of the rectangle and two horizontal cuts from the short side to make a 4×3 grid of 12 donuts. Trim any rounded edges if you want each donut to be more square (optional). Carefully set each donut on an individual parchment square on the sheet pan. Cover the baking sheet with a towel or another inverted baking sheet, and proof for 30 minutes. Cover another large baking sheet with paper towels and set a wire cooling rack on top. Ten to fifteen minutes before the donuts are done proofing, heat the oil in a large pot over high heat to about 360°F, then lower the heat to medium/medium-high. Keep the oil within 10 degrees of 360°F. I used both a clip-on candy thermometer and an instant-read thermometer to double check the temperature throughout the frying process. Place 2-3 donuts in the oil at a time, carrying them one at a time by its parchment paper and release it into the oil away from yourself, removing the parchment as it falls. Take care not to burn yourself. Fry the donuts for 1-2 minutes on each side, turning the donuts with a slotted spoon or kitchen spider. Remove to the wire rack setup to drain and cool.
Step 4: Using a chopstick or very small knife, poke a hole in one side of each donut. Wiggle it back and forth a bit to open up the inside of the donut to make room for the cream. Once the donuts have cooled to room temperature and the pastry cream is completely chilled, transfer the pastry cream to a piping bag (fitted with a small round tip or just cut a small snip in the end of the bag). Fill each donut with some of the pastry cream. Place all of the caramel ingredients in a light-colored saucepan. Stir gently to combine and then do not stir again through the rest of the cooking process. Cook over medium heat with a lid on for 5 minutes and then remove it and finish cooking until it develops an amber color. This part will go very quickly so do not walk away. Remove from the heat promptly once the color develops as it will continue to develop a bit off the heat. Work quickly to dip each filled donut into the hot caramel, letting the excess drip off before setting it down to cool, letting the caramel harden. Serve immediately.
Hot tips
- Dip a wooden spoon, skewer or chopstick into the oil to test if it is ready. If small bubbles form around the wood, it should be ready.
- These can be made without a stand mixer. Start the process in a large bowl and then knead on a clean work surface by hand.
- Peanut and vegetable oil are recommended for frying because they have a higher smoke point. Check the smoke point of the oil you want to use before frying. It should be at least 400ºF.
- Store leftover donuts in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Typically leftover donuts are not very good, but these surprised me. I found myself eating them for days after, cold from the fridge.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can hand-knead donut dough.
Typically you can store homemade donuts in an airtight container at room temperature, however, if the donuts have a dairy glaze or filling (like these), then you need to store them in the refrigerator.
This is not recommended as the recipe has not been tested without the eggs.
More recipes you’ll love
Lastly, if you make this Crème Brûlée Donuts recipe be sure to leave a comment or give it a rating. I love to see when people make my recipes, so please tag me @youthsweets on Instagram if you post!
📖 Recipe
Crème Brûlée Donuts (Small Batch)
Equipment
Ingredients
Brioche donuts
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (270g)
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast (4g)
- 1 ½ tablespoon granulated sugar (18g)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature
- ¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature (56g)
- ½ cup water 110ºF-115º (4oz)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ gallon peanut oil or vegetable oil
Vanilla bean pastry cream
- 1 ¾ cup whole milk (430g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 4 egg yolks (60g)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
Caramel
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
- ¼ cup water (59g)
- Pinch salt
- ¼ teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
Do ahead
- The pastry cream can be made 1-2 days ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use, if desired.
Make the dough
- Whisk together the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer*. Add the hook attachment. Turn the mixer to low speed, add in the egg and egg yolk, followed by the room temperature butter, water and vanilla extract.
- Once combined, turn the mixer to medium-low to knead for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the dough passes the windowpane test. Do this by grabbing a small bit of dough and stretching it between your fingers. If it stretches without tearing, it is ready. If it tears when stretched, keep kneading.
- Remove the dough to a lightly-greased bowl and cover. Proof for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Make the pastry cream
- While the dough is proofing, make the pastry cream. Combine the milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove from heat.
- Combine the granulated sugar and egg yolks in a medium bowl. Whisk by hand until light yellow and fluffy.
- Add flour and cornstarch and whisk until thoroughly combined and lightened in color even further. Very slowly stream in the warmed vanilla milk with a ladle while whisking vigorously to prevent cooking the eggs. Continue slowly adding in the milk mixture until it is all combined.
- Return the entire mixture to the medium saucepan and place over low heat. Whisk constantly until the pastry cream has thickened to a pudding consistency (coats the back of a spoon). This can take 5+ minutes. Remove from the heat promptly and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming.
- Place the bowl over a larger bowl with ice and place in the refrigerator to cool for at least 2 hours.
Roll and cut
- Line a large baking sheet with 12 4×4” parchment paper squares. Lightly grease OR flour your work surface. I prefer to roll out on a greased surface for donuts so as to not add extra flour before frying.
- Punch down the dough and place it on the work surface. Roll out to a ½-inch thick rectangle with a greased rolling pin.
- Make three vertical cuts from the long side of the rectangle and two horizontal cuts from the short side to make a 4×3 grid of 12 donuts. Trim any rounded edges if you want each donut to be more square (optional).
- Carefully set each donut on an individual parchment square on the sheet pan.
- Cover the baking sheet with a towel or another inverted baking sheet, and proof for 30 minutes.
Fry
- Cover another large baking sheet with paper towels and set a wire cooling rack on top.
- Ten to fifteen minutes before the donuts are done proofing, heat the oil in a large pot over high heat to about 360°F, then lower the heat to medium/medium-high. Keep the oil within 10 degrees of 360°F. I used both a clip-on candy thermometer and an instant-read thermometer to double check the temperature throughout the frying process.
- Place 2-3 donuts in the oil at a time, carrying them one at a time by its parchment paper and release it into the oil away from yourself, removing the parchment as it falls. Take care not to burn yourself.
- Fry the donuts for 1-2 minutes on each side, turning the donuts with a slotted spoon or kitchen spider. Remove to the wire rack setup to drain and cool.
Fill the donuts
- Using a chopstick or very small knife, poke a hole in one side of each donut. Wiggle it back and forth a bit to open up the inside of the donut to make room for the cream.
- Once the donuts have cooled to room temperature and the pastry cream is completely chilled, transfer the pastry cream to a piping bag (fitted with a small round tip or just cut a small snip in the end of the bag). Fill each donut with some of the pastry cream.
Make the caramel
- Place all of the caramel ingredients in a light-colored saucepan. Stir gently to combine and then do not stir again through the rest of the cooking process. Cook over medium heat with a lid on for 5 minutes and then remove it and finish cooking until it develops an amber color. This part will go very quickly so do not walk away. Remove from the heat promptly once the color develops as it will continue to develop a bit off the heat.
- Work quickly to dip each filled donut into the hot caramel, letting the excess drip off before setting it down to cool, letting the caramel harden. Serve immediately.
