When I was growing up in the small Northern Ontario town of Blind River there was a local bakery called Golden Bakery. They had the most amazing jelly filled doughnuts and if my memory serves me correctly we paid 12 cents for one! The bakery closed when I left to attend college, but the memory of those sugary jelly filled concoctions still lived on. Later on when we built our cottage the gentleman who had owned the bakery lived a few doors down, but by the time I got up the courage to ask for his recipe he had passed away. So the hunt was on to find a recipe that could bring back the jelly filled doughnut!
Brown Eyed Baker blog to the rescue!! She posted this recipe for Polish doughnuts called Paczki and they looked and sounded just like what I was looking for so I gave it a try and bingo that was the recipe I was looking for. So when it was time for a dessert for our Easter potluck this year, it was time to make Jelly Doughnuts again and I think these are even better than what I remember from the Golden Bakery.
So my friends Lisa, Karen and her daughter Ovina and I made Jelly filled Doughnuts for the gang and they were delicious!
To fill them I use a filling tip on a piping bag and once you get the hang of it, it is quite easy.
Then you roll them in granulated sugar.
Then they are ready to devour! We ate all but 2 that I saved for my son that couldn’t make it to the Easter feast at the cottage. Those 2 actually made it all the way home…untouched…it was difficult.
I hope you try this recipe and enjoy them as much as we did. Happy Easter!
- 2 cups 2% milk, warmed to 110 degrees F
- 4½ teaspoons active dry yeast (2 packages)
- ¾ cup + 1 pinch granulated sugar, divided
- 5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 egg
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¼ teaspoons salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- Canola oil for frying
- Seedless Raspberry jelly for filling
- Granulated sugar for coating
- Pour warm milk into bowl of a stand mixer. Stir in the yeast and a pinch of granulated sugar. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes, or until it has become bubbly.
- Add 2 cups of flour to the mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until a smooth batter forms. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm spot for 30 minutes. The mixture should have risen and be very bubbly.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the egg and egg yolks until pale yellow and frothy, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar, vanilla extract and salt, and whisk until combined and smooth.
- Attach the dough hook to the mixer, add the egg mixture to the dough and mix on medium-low speed until mostly combined. Add the melted butter and mix to combine.
- Gradually add 3 more cups of flour to the mixture and continue to knead until a very soft dough comes together. (It will not clean the sides of the bowl or form a ball; it will be rather slack and a bit sticky.) If necessary, add up to another 1 cup of flour, a spoonful at a time, until the dough forms.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set in a warm spot until it has doubled in size.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and turn out onto a floured work surface. With your fingers, push down the dough into an even layer. Sprinkle flour on the dough and roll it out to ½-inch thickness. If the dough doesn't hold its shape and springs back, cover with a damp towel and let rest for a few minutes and try again.
- Use a 3-inch biscuit cutter to cut out rounds of dough. Transfer the dough rounds to parchment-lined baking sheets. Gather scraps of dough and again roll out and cut until you have used up all of the dough. Cover the baking sheets loosely with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free spot until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat at least 1½ inches of oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat to 350 degrees F or use a deep fryer - this is my preferred method as it is safer. Carefully lower about five doughnuts into the oil at a time (be sure not to over-crowd the pan) and fry until the bottom is golden brown. Carefully turn them over and continue to fry until the other side is golden brown. Use a spider strainer or slotted spoon to remove them to a paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain. Allow the oil to come back to temperature, then repeat until all of the paczki have been fried.
- Allow the doughnuts to cool until you are able to handle them easily. Using a filling tip, pipe jelly into the sides of the paczki, then roll in sugar. The doughnuts are best the same day they are made, but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Holy cannoli! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve fondly thought back to the amazing jelly donuts from the Golden Bakery in Blind River. Somebody recently told me about Paczky donuts and I thought they might be close, but you’ve made my day by confirming it. Thank you so much for posting this. It means a lot to have that connection to such a wonderful part of my childhood. I will be making these VERY soon. <3
Hope you tried them!
anybody have the recipe for the long johns they used to sell at golden bakery, they were the bomb.
Hi Donna. I think I remember those. Were they rectangular with a chocolate glaze? I can’t remember if they had a filling or not. Let me know and I will search out a recipe and maybe try them.
Paczkys are not quite like Kurt and Marg’s donuts, but if they are well made, they do remind me of my childhood.
Kurt was definitely committed to his craft, and continued even though he was in great pain.