Pistachio Doughnuts | Ash Baber (2024)

I have made many many pistachio desserts. I LOVE PISTACHIO.

I wanted to make another pistachio-ee thing…so here we are, pistachio doughnuts woohoo.

These were SO SOFT AND FLUFFY, that’s all I have to say. They were so soft and fluffy I loved them.

Every time I make doughnuts, or just any dough to be honest, I like to make a Japanese milk bread dough.

I do add a few additional ingredients, so it’s kind of like a mix between milk bread and brioche. But it started as a milk bread dough so I’m calling it that.

I loooooove milk bread.

It’s always so soft, so light and so fluffy. So this is why I always use a milk bread dough as a base.

I would say the main difference between a milk bread dough, and other kinds of dough is the addition of a tangzhong.

A tangzhong is just a mixture of flour and a liquid (I used milk) that has been heated together until it thickens.

This is then mixed into your dough.

This makes a huge difference to your bread, it makes it so much more softer and fluffier.

I don’t know the exact science behind why it work, but it does make a huge difference so I don’t question it.

It is an extra step, but it’s so worth it just trust me.

These are the ingredients you are going to need to make the dough:

• Bread flour – plain flour/all purpose flour does work too BUTTT bread flour will give you the best results. Your doughnuts will be fluffier with bread flour.
• Granulated sugar – caster sugar works too.
• Salt
• Milk powder – this is going to give your doughnuts extra flavour and softness. It is optional, but a nice addition.
• Instant yeast
• Eggs – I used 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk. The extra egg yolk is gonna give the doughnuts more richness.
• The tangzhong
• Whole milk – you want this to be warm, NOT HOT, but warm. So just heat it for about 30-60 seconds in your microwave.
• Unsalted butter

I wanted to talk about the yeast for a minute…so let’s talk about the yeast.

Whenever I make anything with yeast in it, I prefer to use instant yeast just because I find it easier to use.

With instant yeast, you don’t need to activate it, you can add it straight into your bowl with the rest of the ingredients. So it just saves some time.

But if you only have active yeast, you could use that too. You will have to activate it first though.

To do this, just add your yeast into your warm milk, along with a tablespoon of the sugar. Give this a mix, then leave this aside for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, the mixture should look foamy. This means it is ready to use.

Now you can add it into your bowl with the rest of the ingredients, then make your dough.

We’re going to fry the doughnuts in vegetable oil. Or just any flavourless oil, but I like to use vegetable oil.

You want your oil to be at 160c, then fry your doughnuts until they are a deep golden brown colour on both sides.

If you don’t have a thermometer THIS IS OK DON’T WORRY.

The best way to test if your oil is ready, is by adding a small piece of dough into it.

If the dough starts gently bubbling, your oil is ready.

If the dough doesn’t bubble, your oil needs to be heated up for long.

But if the dough starts aggressively bubbling IT IS TOO HOT. Lower the heat or turn it off, then let the oil cool down for a few minutes.

You want the doughnuts to be gently bubbling throughout the whole frying process.

Once the doughnuts have been fried, we’re going to coat them in some sugar, and then fill them with pistachio spread.

I used a pistachio spread from a brand called ‘Pisti’.

It’s actually called pistachio cream, but I’ve been calling it spread all this time so I feel like it’s too late to stop now.

Anyway Costco sells it, or you can also get it from Amazon.

With that being said, any pistachio spread works, use whichever you like or whichever you can find.

But once the doughnuts have been filled, you can finally dig in.

• Pistachio and Raspberry Cake
• Pistachio Cookies
• Pistachio Cheesecake
• Pistachio Rolls