Mini Cinnamon Sugar donuts filled with Nutella!

Watch the Video:

These mini Nutella-filled donuts are sold at cafes throughout Greece. After my recent trip to Greece, the kids were craving them. So, I made some at home and wow!! They turned out so much better than store-bought. Simple to make and so delicious!

The kitchen tool that helps create perfect donuts every time

For perfectly fried donuts, your oil has to be just the right temperature. An inexpensive candy thermometer will allow you to monitor the temperature of the oil throughout the entire process. If the oil is too low, the donuts will absorb the oil and make them soggy. If the oil is too hot, the outside of the donut will be too dark, and the inside could still be raw. So, it’s an excellent idea to get a thermometer and make sure that your oil is consistently 350˚.

EXTRA OIL TIP: To keep your oil temperature from dropping while cooking, don’t put too many donuts in the pan at one time!

Why your family will ask for these all the time

Crunchy sweet outside
Light, fluffy donut
Creamy hazelnut chocolate filling
You can make the same or different flavored donuts every time!

Mini Donuts filled with Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

Simple Ingredients, Big Flavor!

Milk
Active dry yeast
Granulated sugar
Eggs –room temperature
Unsalted butter –melted
Pure vanilla extract
All-purpose flour
Salt
Vegetable oil for frying –an oil that doesn’t have any flavor

The filling:

Nutella or your favorite chocolate hazelnut spread

Topping:

Granulated sugar
Ground cinnamon

Mini Nutella Filled Donuts with Greek Coffee

Options and variations

Chocolate hazelnut spread is traditional and delicious. However, fill the donuts with your favorite things. Vanilla pastry cream, jelly, or chocolate ganache would all be delicious fillings.

The sugar topping can also be modified to plain granulated sugar, cardamom sugar (1 cup sugar with a half teaspoon of ground cardamom seeds), or cocoa sugar (1 cup sugar with a quarter cup of cocoa powder).

How to make mini Nutella filled donuts

In the bowl of a tabletop mixer that has been fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the milk, sugar, and yeast. Whisk them together and set aside for 7-8 minutes until the yeast forms a puffy cloud on top of the mixture.
In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt and whisk together. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and melted butter.
Then, add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl along with the egg mixture.
Knead the mixture on low speed ( 2 on the Kitchen Aid mixer) for 8 minutes.
Next, transfer the dough into a bowl that has been greased with olive oil and toss your dough around until it is coated. Cover with plastic and set aside to rise until doubled in volume. About 1-2 hours. Alternatively, allow it to do a slow rise overnight in the refrigerator if making the donuts the next day.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll it out to about a half-inch in thickness. Then, cut the dough using a 1 and 1/2 inch round cookie cutter. Place the rounds on a parchment paper-lined baking tray. Gather all of the scraps together and roll them out again, and cut them into rounds. Keep in mind that the more you roll them out, the denser the dough will become. Cover them with a clean kitchen towel and set them aside for 30 minutes so that they can rise a little bit. They will get fluffy but not double in size.
In the meantime, get your workspace ready.
Fill a pastry bag that has been fitted with a star tip with Nutella. Fill it only halfway so that it’s easy to handle.
Place a cooling rack over a baking tray so that the donuts can cool, and the baking tray will catch any sugar and chocolate that falls from the donuts.
Then, Combine the cinnamon and sugar in a shallow bowl or pie pan. Whisk them together.
Heat the oil over medium heat until it reaches 350 °F.
Fry about 6-7 donuts at a time until they’re golden all around—about 3 minutes.
Lift the donuts out of the oil with a spider strainer and allow the excess oil to drip back into the pot.
Place the donuts in the cinnamon sugar and toss them around until coated. Place the donuts on the cooling rack.
Pierce the side of each donut with a skewer or a knife to make room for the filling.
Once the donuts have cooled to room temperature, fill them with the chocolate. Serve them immediately. Kali Orexi!

Serving

These donuts taste best fresh and with a hot cup of Greek coffee. However, leftovers may be stored in an airtight container and then refrigerated. Warm them through in a 300 °F oven for 5-6 minutes before serving.

Mini Nutella-Filled Donuts (Greek-Cafe Style)

Yield: about 40 donuts

Ingredients

1 cup lukewarm milk, about 115 °F
2 and 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup (60g) granulated sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
2 ounces (57 g) unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups (420g) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
vegetable oil for frying

The filling:

Nutella or your favorite chocolate hazelnut spread

Topping:

1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Instructions

In the bowl of a tabletop mixer that has been fitted with the dough hook attachment combine the milk, sugar, and yeast. Whisk them together and set aside for 7-8 minutes until the yeast forms a puffy cloud on top of the mixture.

In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt and whisk together. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and melted butter.

Add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl along with the egg mixture.

Knead the mixture on low speed ( 2 on the Kitchen Aid mixer) for 8 minutes.

Transfer the dough into a bowl that has been greased with olive oil and toss it around until it is coated. Cover with plastic and set aside to rise until doubled in volume. About 1-2 hours. Alternatively, allow it to do a slow rise overnight in the refrigerator if making the donuts the next day.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll it out to about a half inch in thickness. Cut the dough using a 1 and 1/2 inch round cookie cutter. Place the rounds on a parchment paper lined baking tray. Gather all of the scraps together and roll them out again and cut them into rounds. Keep in mind that the more you roll them out the denser the dough will become. Cover them with a clean kitchen towel and set aside for 30 minutes so that they can rise a little bit. They will get fluffy but not double in size.

In the meantime get your workspace ready.

Fill a pastry bag that has been fitted with a star tip with nutella. Fill it only halfway so that it's easy to handle.

Place a cooling rack over a baking tray. This is so that the donuts can cool and the baking tray will catch any sugar and chocolate that falls from the donuts.

Combine the cinnamon and sugar together in a shallow bowl or pie pan. Whisk them together.

Heat the oil over medium heat until it reaches 350 °F.

Fry about 6-7 donuts at a time until they're golden all around. About 3 minutes.

Lift the donuts out of the oil with a spider strainer and allow the excess oil to drip back into the pot.

Place the donuts in the cinnamon sugar and toss them around until they're coated. Place the donuts on the cooling rack.

Pierce the side of each donut with a skewer or a knife to make room for the filling.

Once the donuts have cooled to room temperature fill them with the chocolate. Serve them immediately. Kali Orexi!

Notes

Fill the donuts with your favorite things: Vanilla pastry cream, jelly, or chocolate ganache all taste delicious.

The sugar topping can also be modified to plain granulated sugar, cardamom sugar (1 cup sugar with a half teaspoon of ground cardamom seeds) or with a cocoa sugar (1 cup sugar with a quarter cup of cocoa powder)

These donuts taste best fresh. Leftovers may be stored in an airtight container and then refrigerated. Warm them through in a 300 °F oven for 5-6 minutes before serving.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Mini Nutella Filled Donuts (Greek-Cafe Style)

Watch the Video:

The kitchen tool that helps create perfect donuts every time