donuts

Enjoy a delicious taste of Austrian cuisine with this easy-to-follow recipe for Austrian Fried Doughnuts! These light and fluffy doughnuts are filled with fine apricot jam goodness, and they make a great snack or dessert any time.

Austrian fried doughnuts are called “Krapfen”

At the beginning of the new year im always in a foul mood. Everything is beginning anew, my favorite season (Christmas) ist finally over and I just can’t get myself to pick me up and heave me out of that depressing hole. But when the first bakeries start to fill their sales counters with “Krapfen” , my hubby knows what to do. Buying me had dozen and leave me alone until I feel better and high on sugar 😉.

Krapfen are my favorite kind of treat . They are most popular during the carnival season but mostly you get them at the bakeries almost all year round. “Krapfen” are our kind of fried doughnuts. It’s an enriched dough classically fried to golden perfection and filled with apricot jam. Of course most bakeries serve them filled with vanilla or chocolate cream too but for us Austrians the classically fried doughnut filled with apricot jam and sprinkled with powdered sugar will always have a special spot in our hearts.

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Cointreau and orange zest – Gather the ingredients.

To make this delicious Austrian Fried Doughnut recipe, you will need the following ingredients: 500g all-purpose flour, 8g active dry yeast, 50g sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, 300ml warm milk, 25g butter melted, 3 egg yolks, 1tbsp cointreau, zest from 1 orange and oil for deep-frying. You will also need about 300g of fine apricot jam and confectioners’ sugar for powdering them on top before serving.

Yes you read right! Cointreau and orange zest adds that special something to these treats.

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Mix the Dough and Knead.

Start by mixing the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt together in a bowl of your stand mixer with the hook attached. Gradually add the warm milk, egg yolks and butter to the dry ingredients while mixing continuously in your stand mixer. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic (10 minutes). Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for an hour or until doubled in size.

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Let the dough rest & bake.

Once the dough has risen and doubled in size, turn it out onto a floured surface and roll out to a 2cm (3/4-inch) thickness. Cut into about 7 to 8cm large (this is about 2 3/4 inch) circles using a cookie cutter or drinking glass rim. Place the doughnuts on a greased baking sheet and let them rest for another 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium sized heavy bottom pan over medium heat until it reaches 180 °C (360°F) . Carefully place the doughnuts into the hot oil, allowing enough room for them to expand while cooking. Fry them for 2-3 minutes per side with the lid on. flip the dougnuts with tongs once they are golden brown. Remove from oil with a spider strainer and drain on paper towel. Let them cool on a cooling rack.

Fill the doughnuts with delicious apricot jam

Once the doughnuts are cooked, remove them from the oil and let cool slightly on a rack. For a delicious finish, fill them with warm apricot jam using a piping bag and a donut tip ! This will give them a tangy sweet flavour that takes this fried treat to the next level. Enjoy with lots of powdered sugar on top for the authentic Austrian experience.

Make them healthier – try the oven baked version instead!

For a healthier option, try baking the doughnuts in the oven instead of frying them. Preheat your oven to 170°C Fan (340° F). Brush the doughnuts with melted butter and bake for 14-17 minutes or until lightly golden brown. As the oven baked doughnuts won’t be as crispy as fried ones, brush them with butter again when they are freshly out of the oven and dust them with powdered sugar. Dont forget to powder them with powdered sugar on top again when cooled– they’ll still taste delicious and extremely fluffy!

What is important when making these Austrian style fried doughnuts.

• Make sure that the milk is warm and not hot. The heat will destroy the activity of the yeast otherwise.
• The egg yolks have to be at room temperature.
• Give the dough time to rise!
• Use a kitchen thermometer to observe the temperature of the frying oil. The oil shouldn’t be hotter than 180°C
• Be careful when working with hot oil.
• Use fine mashed apricot jam. No jam with pieces because how will you press the fruit pieces through the tip?!? 😉
• Let the freshly fried doughnuts drip off on some kitchen towel.

Of course you can fill these “Krapfen” any way you want. Vanilla pudding or a chocolate cream make great fillings too but for us Austrians there is no better filling than simply delicious apricot jam. I’m confident that you and your family will fall in love with this doughnut recipe immediately .

Be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from yo guys and always to my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag us on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite .

Warm sticky hugs, Nina

If you are in need of some non fried yeasty recipes, here are some of my favorite:

• The most delicious healthy banana pumpkin bread ever.
• Homemade Mother’s Day gifts: brioche hearts
• Apple galette with honey whiskey frangipane
• Easy Victoria sponge cake recipe
• No-bake white chocolate berry cake