Blackberry-Glazed Brioche Donuts (Doughnut rings)

These homemade Brioche Donuts, made using an enriched brioche dough, are soft and fluffy on the inside and golden and crisp on the outside. Dipped in a sweet blackberry glaze, these donut rings from my cookbook 'Simply Sweet Nostalgic Bakes' will make you feel like a kid after just one bite!

I adore making Brioche dough as what you can make with the dough is endless. But I get it, making any type of dough can be intimidating. Think Cinnamon Rolls, Caramel Babka Wreath, Strawberry Donut Scrolls, and more! The good news for you is that I have a comprehensive guide on How To Make Enriched Dough that is jam-packed full of images, step-by-step helpful instructions and tips so that you can confidently make it too.

I'm proud to share this Blackberry-Glazed Brioche Donut recipe as it comes directly from my Cookbook, 'Simply Sweet Nostalgic Bakes'. A book filled with recipes to tap into your own nostalgia, to bring you back to days gone by and distant memories through food. For many of us, donuts bring us back to a time of biting down on a sugar-coated, jam-filled donut or eating a pastel-coloured iced donut ring. And it makes us smile!

These Blackberry-Glazed Donut rings aim to do just that, make you smile. In the colour alone, they are an immediate pick-me-up! The glaze is made from pure natural fruit to give it such a vibrant hue, and the bonus is that they taste delicious blackberry too. The donuts themselves have an interior that is reminiscent of biting down into a fluffy cloud that's surrounded by a golden crisp exterior.

Ingredients needed

The ingredients for these brioche donuts aren't out of the ordinary. Aside from the yeast in the dough and blackberries in the glaze, you should have everything else as staples in your pantry and fridge.

Brioche Dough Ingredients

• Yeast: I use active dry yeast, which means that prior to baking, we need to activate the yeast. We do this by mixing it into warm milk with some sugar (you could use honey if you prefer.) Whisk it together and let it stand for 15 minutes. The yeast will then become frothy and bubbly. This step allows you to test that the yeast is ‘alive’ as, over time, it can ‘expire’. If it doesn’t bubble, you’ll need to use a new packet and start this process again. Using fresh yeast is also an option, but for the home baker, it's harder to come by. 
• Milk: It needs to be warm (approx 35C/95F if you use a thermometer) as this helps activate the yeast initially and provide moisture to the dough.
• Sugar: Whilst providing sweetness, it feeds the yeast and helps activate it.
• Flour: Use plain flour (all-purpose flour) to structure the dough.
• Salt: Always necessary to season any bread to help add flavour, otherwise it will taste bland.
• Eggs: Acts as a binding agent but also adds flavour and richness.
• Vanilla Bean Paste: I add it to the dough when making sweet bread combined with other sweet toppings. It adds depth of flavour to the dough.
• Butter: An invaluable and necessary addition when making enriched brioche bread as it adds immeasurable flavour and aids in providing that tender crumb. Brioche just isn’t brioche without the butter! Go for unsalted butter as you can control the amount of salt added, plus salted butter contains higher water content than unsalted.

Blackberry Glaze

• Blackberries: The all-important natural colouring and flavouring to the glaze.
• Lemon Juice: Helps to give a little tartness to offset the sweetness from the icing sugar.
• Powdered Icing Sugar: (Confectioner's sugar) The bulk ingredient of the glaze
• Double Cream: (Heavy cream) Helps give a teensy bit of richness to the glaze
• Pearl Sugar: The prettiest finishing touch to the glaze. If you can't find any, then use your favourite sprinkles for a fun alternative.

• Oil. Technically not an ingredient within the donuts or glaze, but it's used to fry the donuts in, so I want to mention it. Use a neutral oil that has no distinctive flavour, such as canola oil, vegetable oil or rapeseed oil. The benefit of these oils is that they have a high smoke point. I’ve specified 2 L needed, but don’t worry - not all the oil will soak into the doughnut rings!

Step-by-step instructions

*Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions!*

Brioche dough should not be intimidating to make in the slightest. Once you know the basic steps needed to create the dough, and the appropriate timings for prooving the dough, you'll be a master in no time.

For the brioche dough the main elements to remember are that the dough needs to mix for long enough for the gluten formation to occur at the right level. The dough needs to be soft, supple, shiny and smooth. And don't scrimp on the two proofing times- this ensures the light and airy texture. They may seem like a slow process to make, but trust in that very process as some things are worth the wait!!

For the blackberry glaze, the key is to get the correct consistency to dip the donuts into. Too runny and it won't hold to the donuts, and too thick and you'll struggle to dunk and coat the top of each donut.

Make the Brioche Dough

I've pulled these images from my comprehensive How To Make Enriched Brioche Dough Guide, where I go it great detail about the ins and outs of making Brioche Dough. In my post, I share plenty of process shots, instructions and tips so that you can confidently make brioche dough. I'd love you to go and take a read of it before continuing on.

1. Activate yeast. Add the yeast, warm milk, and one tablespoon of sugar into a bowl. Give it a whisk and set it aside for 15 minutes. This activates the yeast and gets it going from its dormant state. It should end up being foamy and bubbly. (Image 2)

2. Add the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add flour, remaining sugar, and salt to the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. There's no need to sift these ingredients. Quickly mix together. (Image 1)

3. Add wet ingredients (except the butter). Add the eggs, foaming yeast mixture, and vanilla bean paste into the bowl of the stand mixer and mix on low speed for 5 minutes until the dough starts to come together. (Image 3) If the dough is struggling to come together and needs a little more moisture, then add one tablespoon of milk extra at a time.

4. Add butter and knead in the mixer. Whilst the mixer is still running at medium speed, add the butter gradually, one knob (tablespoon) at a time and mix until incorporated. Don’t rush this process so the butter can emulsify properly with the dough. 

Then turn the mixer up to med-high and knead for ten minutes. The dough should be pulling away from the sides of the bowl and have formed a ‘tornado’ around the dough hook. (Image 4) You'll know the dough is at the right stage by performing the windowpane test. Head to my Enriched Dough Guide, where I show you exactly how to do this.

5. Knead by hand. Tip the dough onto a lightly oiled surface  It will look dimply and needs an extra touch to make it smooth and into the shape of a ball. We do this by doing some stretch and folds to the dough. One corner at a time, pull the dough out and fold it over itself and into the middle.

6. Proof the dough. This is PROOF 1. Turn the dough over so that the fold seams are underneath, and you’ll have a lovely smooth dough ball. (There is nothing more satisfying!) Lightly grease a bowl (up the sides) and place the dough into the bowl gently. (Image 5)

Cover with cling wrap and let rise for about 1.5 hours in a warm place or until doubled in size for the dough's first rise/proof. (Image 6) NOTE: your ambient air temperature will affect the amount of time the dough takes to proof. In the middle of summer, it can rise in 30 minutes for me, yet in winter, it can take up to 2 hours.

7. Deflate the dough. Once the dough has risen double or more in size, gently punch down the dough (Image 7) and tip onto a lightly floured surface, and using lightly floured hands, shape into a rectangle. This next step is optional and dependent on your environment. If your kitchen is very warm or humid and the deflated dough is very soft, then wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. (Image 8) This will make it easier to stamp out the donut rings later on. REFER TO FAQ BELOW if you want to turn these into overnight donuts.

Stamp out the brioche donuts

1. Prep your baking paper squares. Cut 12 squares of baking paper. I usually go for around 10cm (4-inches) square. Line them all up on one or two baking trays and lightly grease them with cooking spray (Image 9 & 10)

2. Stamp out the brioche donut rings. Roll the dough into a rectangle- it needs to be about 2cm (¾-inch) thick. (Image 11) Stamp out dough rounds using a cookie cutter or a drinking glass about 7.5cm (3-inches) in diameter. Then use a mini (!) cookie cutter to stamp out the centre of each round. (Image 12) There's no right or wrong size for these centres. I use around a 2.5cm (1-inch) cutter for these.

Lay the donut rings on their own piece of parchment paper, and the donut centres on the paper's squares too. (Image 13).

Knead the dough scraps and re-roll and stamp out more donut rings and holes. I only re-roll the scraps once to get a second round of donut rings out of the dough. After that, you tend to work the dough too much, which toughens up. I cut out loads of donut holes with the scraps on the second round of rolling through. No need to waste the dough- these little doughnut bites are scrumptious. Bag them up, and they make a great gift to your neighbour!

Cover trays with a slightly damp tea towel and let the donuts proof for 1 hour to 1 hour 45 minutes until the dough has doubled in size and is puffy. This is our PROOF 2. When you poke the dough lightly, and it springs back all the way, then they are ready for frying!

Make the blackberry glaze and decorate

1. Make the blackberry juice. Isn't that colour incredible in the photos?! It always amazes me! Simply heat the blackberries and lemon juice in a small saucepan on the stovetop for about 5 minutes, until they are soft. (Image 20) Use a fork to mash them down as they soften. Push the pulp through a fine mesh sieve discarding the pulp whilst keeping the juice. (Image 21)

2. Make the glaze. Add the blackberry juice, powdered icing sugar and cream into a bowl and whisk until smooth. (Image 22)

3. Coat each donut. Dip one side of each donut into the glaze and set it on a wire rack. Sprinkle with as much pearl sugar as you fancy!! Then allow them to set for 15 minutes. (Image below) NOTE: the doughnut rings must be cooled before dipping them in the glaze. They don’t take long to cool, though, so don’t worry.

Variations

I'll keep the variations relatively straightforward to stay true to this Brioche Donuts recipe from my book. Ultimately, you can glaze the donut rings with whatever you like and top them with all sorts of sprinkles, nuts or chocolate.

One way to shake things up is to turn them into FILLED donuts! Stamp the donuts out with the larger cutter and leave them in that shape without stamping out the centre. Once fried, dust the donuts in sugar and fill the donut with a Homemade Blackberry Jam.

Frequently asked questions