Chocolate yeast-raised doughnuts are rare, but delicious.

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The rarest doughnut in any bakery is a yeast raised chocolate doughnut with chocolate icing.  For real chocolate doughnuts.  And I don’t mean just plain ole doughnuts with chocolate on top. Oh, no.  These are for real chocolate dough doughnuts.  And, Boy Howdy!, are they good.

Ingredients

Whole milk

All purpose flour

Bread flour

Cocoa powder

Instant yeast

Eggs

Egg yolk

Sugar

Salt

Nutmeg

Vanilla extract

Butter

Chocolate glaze

Bittersweet chocolate

Heavy cream

Substitutions

•  Dutch process cocoa is best for baking. If you can’t find it, regular cocoa is fine.
•  Whole milk does create the best mouthfeel, but any milk will work.
• Both active dry and fresh yeast may be used in place of instant, but with this change. Double the grams of active dry yeast and triple the grams for fresh.  The dough will also require the proving step common for yeasts of that style.
• For the chocolate glaze, any sweetened chocolate will do.

Storing the chocolate doughnut dough

The dough will hold up a day, maybe two, covered and in the refrigerator. I would avoid freezing it. However, any scraps can be frozen and saved. Thaw them and add them to the next batch of chocolate doughnuts.

If you have leftover chocolate doughnuts, you need better friends. Turn the doughnuts into a chocolate bread pudding.

How to measure ingredients for chocolate doughnuts

Let’s talk for a brief moment about metric and English measurements.  Commercial bakers use weight instead of volume because no one wants to measure 75 cups of flour.  Too many ways for that to be incorrect.  Weight is always right.  1 pound or 1 kilo or 1 ounce is always the same.  Weighing ingredients has the happy advantage of being faster and, generally, more organized, which increases speed.  Not often a major consideration at home, but in a bakery, that matters.

Some tools for doughnut making

For this recipe, a digital scale works best. They are more accurate than the spring style scales but by no means should you stop now if you haven’t a digital scale.

In addition to the ingredients for making the dough, you’ll need a tool called a spider (I like these bamboo handled kind; the handled doesn’t get hot) or at least a large slotted spoon, a sheet pan with a wire rack, a fryer or pot which is large enough to hold 4 inches of oil and not overflow the top, paper towels and a steady hand and a chop stick.

Rolling doughnuts

The dough is pretty soft, even when cold, but it does take some effort to get it thin enough. Granny’s rolling pin may not be up to scratch.

A French pin, basically a stick, but nicer, works.  For doughnuts, and croissants and puff pastry, I prefer a pastry pin. It is long enough and heavy enough to help do some of the work for you.

Frying your doughnuts

The tell-tale sign that a doughnut is done is the golden brown color. Chocolate doughnuts are a bit trickier since that golden color is hidden by the dark color of the doughnut.

Take a close look and you’ll see there is a crust building on the fried side.  Also, the doughnut will rise and spring up while it’s in the oil.  Time is tough to know, but a couple of minutes is a good time to start checking the underside.

Flip your doughnuts

Wood tools are well suited for fryers. One, they don’t get hot like metal does and, two, the food won’t stick to the dowel like it can stick to metal.  A wooden skewer or a 1/4″ piece of dowel about a foot long is a perfect tool to turn your doughnuts.  Use the spider to lift them out of the fat.

I prefer mine with extra strong coffee.

Try the regular yeast ring doughnut.

Find more of my recipes here.