In this article, I will show you how to make one of my favorite dessert recipes, mini Nutella filled donuts.
My kids were so delighted to eat these rich, pillowy, soft, and tasty little donuts. They turned out better than anything you can buy in stores!
June 3rd is the perfect day to eat donuts as it’s National Doughnut day, if you are looking for a new excuse to eat these Nutella donuts.
These cinnamon sugar cotted mini Nutella donuts are perfect for when you want something sweet but not too complicated or time-consuming. Plus they are baked so no frying needed!
Ingredients
The dough recipe
- 3 cups (420g) of all-purpose or bread flour
- 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
- 1 cup of milk at room temperature
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons of active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup (60g) granulated sugar
- 50 g (2 oz) of melted unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
- A pinch of teaspoon salt
The filling
- Nutella or I would recommend using homemade dark chocolate spread for obvious health benefits
The cinnamon sugar topping
- 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
Instructions
Step 1
Start by mixing the milk and active dry yeast together in a large mixing bowl.
Then add the vegetable oil, flour, sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and butter to the mixing bowl and whisk together using a stand mixer for about 6 to 7 minutes, until the mixture has formed into a ball that is soft and tacky in texture.
Step 2
Cover the bowl with a cloth or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until the yeast has risen and the dough has almost tripled in size. Note: The time for the yeast to rise will depend on how warm the room is, the warmer the environment, the quicker the yeast will rise.
Step 3
Once the dough is ready to use it should be quite springy when you press it with your finger. If it is not, then it may need a bit more time.
Take the dough out of the mixing bowl, place it on a lightly floured work surface and roll out with a rolling pin until it’s about a half-inch thick.
Step 4
Using a cookie scoop, divide the dough into 24 mini cups of the muffin pan.
Place the mini muffin pan in a preheated oven at 200 ° C (400 ° F) and bake for about 10 minutes.
Once cooked, place on a cooling rack for a few minutes.
Step 5
Set up two large bowls, one with the butter and the other with the cinnamon and sugar mixture in it.
Brush each donut hole with the melted butter then roll them in the cinnamon sugar.
Step 6
With a piping bag filled with Nutella or homemade chocolate hazelnut spread, gently insert the open star tip into each donut hole and squeeze some of this chocolatey goodness inside.
Variations and Substitutes
Although these mini donuts taste delicious with Nutella filling, you can experiment with other fillings of your choice such as strawberry jam or vanilla pastry cream.
You can also switch your cinnamon sugar topping with other flavors, such as cardamom sugar (1 cup of granulated sugar with 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom) or cocoa powder (1 cup of sugar with 1/4 cup of cocoa powder).
Equipment needed for Nutella donuts
- Mixer to whisk the ingredients and knead the dough
- Small cookie scoop for diving the dough into small donut balls
- 24 cup mini muffin pan for baking the doughnuts in the oven
- Piping bag and open star pastry tip for squeezing the Nutella or other type of filling into the mini donuts
