Paczki (Polish filled donuts)

Paczki have been a favorite in my household ever since Alex and I moved to Champaign, Illinois. We bought at least one box of these filled donuts before Mardi Gras every year between 2005 and 2011. After we moved in 2012, I decided to try making my own.

I'd never heard of these filled Polish donuts before. I'm neither Catholic nor did I grow up in an area with a large Catholic population, so I knew nothing about Mardi Gras, which is historically when you use up all your luxury ingredients before Lent, which I also knew nothing about.

Alex, on the other hand, grew up Catholic and in Detroit, which had a large Polish population to popularize paczki. He insisted we buy some when we found them at the grocery store. And often we went a little overboard, trying out all the different flavors of filling.

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What Are Paczki?

Like I mentioned above, paczki (pronounced punch-key) are filled donuts made before Mardi Gras (or Fat Tuesday, or Fat Thursday in Poland) to use up rich ingredients, like butter and sugar, before fasting for Lent. Although if you asked Alex, what they are, he'd just answer "delicious."

How are they different from regular filled donuts? I don't make donuts often, but this dough is rather rich as it's made with egg yolks, butter, and a lot of milk. The dough is very soft, and the fluffy donuts expand a lot as they cook.

I've read there's traditionally plum or rose-hip jam fillings. I've never seen those at a major grocery store. When I've seen them, there's been a variety of fruit jam fillings, apple pie filling, regular cream, and a Bavarian cream (my favorite).

When I tried making the donuts in 2012, I decided to go with this Polish Paczki recipe from the Spruce. I decided I wanted to give it another go this year. For filling in 2012, I made the pastry cream filling from my 2000 Betty Crocker cookbook (affiliate link). I didn't use it this time, but I've included the recipe here.

The Zingerman's Bakehouse (affiliate link) cookbook also has a paczki recipe, which makes sense since they are based in Ann Arbor, so near Detroit. I didn't try their dough recipe since I wanted to redo the 2012 recipe specifically, but I did borrow their ricotta filling recipe to fill the paczkis.

How to Make Paczkis

Start by combining yeast and warm milk and stirring until most of the yeast dissolves. You want the milk to be between 100-105F. Too cold and the yeast won't activate or proof; too hot and you will kill the yeast.

Let the milk rest for 5-10 minutes to let the yeast grow; the milk will become frothy and smell like yeast. Meanwhile, gather your other ingredients.

Next, cream together the butter and sugar. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment. Once the mixture looks soft and creamy, add the egg, egg yolks, brandy or rum, and salt, and mix until combined. The mixture will look curdled, and that's ok.

Why add brandy or rum? The Zingerman's Bakehouse (affiliate link) cookbook said that alcohol was added to keep the dough from absorbing as much oil. I honestly think brandy or rum (both work fine) make the dough richer, much like vanilla extract does.

Using the paddle attachment (the dough hook really doesn't work well here), mix in a third of the flour. Mix in half the milk, then another third of the flour, then the rest of the milk, then the rest of the flour. (That's 3 additions of flour, and 2 additions of milk.)

Run the mixer on medium-low to medium speed for 5 minutes to knead the dough. It will be very slack, but should form a rough ball or round. Add more flour, 2 tablespoons at a time, if the dough is too sticky and wet, but don't add more than 5 cups (600 grams) of flour total. You don't want the donuts too dense.

Place the dough in a well-greased bowl. Spray the top, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours, until doubled in size.

Deflate the dough, then rise for another hour, until doubled in size.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Roll (or pat, if it's rather soft) it until it is ½ inch thick. Dip a 3-inch thick cookie cutter (or the drinking part of a glass, as I use) in flour and use to cut rounds out of the dough. Space out the rounds, or place them on a silicone mat (affiliate link)-lined surface to rise. Cover them loosely with plastic wrap.

You can reroll the dough scraps to cut out more paczki, or you can shape them loosely into donut shapes or balls. Place them with the other dough to rise. Let all dough rise for 30 minutes, until doubled in size again.

After 15 minutes of rising time, begin heating your oil to 350F. This can be in a skillet or in a deep fryer. A skillet is wider so will fit more donuts; a deep fryer will spatter less but likely take more oil. (More tips on frying are below.)

Once your oil is at 350F, gently place 2-3 paczki into the hot oil. Fry for 2-3 minutes on the first side. Gently turn the donuts over and cook for another 1-2 minutes. The donuts will be a deep brown, but the very sides of the donuts will not be browned at all; this is ok.

Remove the cooked paczki from the oil with a cooking spider, slotted spoon, or tongs. Place on a cooling rack over a pan lined with newspaper. Once somewhat cooled, transfer them onto paper towels to let the paper soak up a little extra oil. 

Repeat process with remaining dough. Cool paczki completely before filling. 

Tips for Frying Donuts

Frying things can be tricky. I make mistakes with it too. But here's some tips to remember.

The most important thing is getting your oil temperature right. At the right temperature, the steam being released from the food counteracts the oil trying to soak into the food as it cooks.

Too high a temperature, and your donuts will burn or not be done on the inside; your oil may also scorch. If the temperature drops too much, the donuts will cook but also soak up a lot of oil. For more basic information about this, you can check out the Wikipedia article on deep-frying.

In any case, here are some tips:

1. Monitor your oil temperature. Use a deep-fryer with a reliable built-in thermometer. Or, put your oil into a wide skillet and insert a candy thermometer (affiliate link) to monitor your oil temperature. I like mine because it clips easily to the side of the pan and the bulb doesn't rest on bottom.
2. Don't overcrowd the pot. Donuts expand up and out as they cook. Overcrowding lowers the temperature of the oil. Also, it makes it more likely you'll slosh the oil as you flip the donuts, and that's no good for anyone.
3. Use canola or vegetable oil. I don't use peanut oil because it could be an allergen for some people. Other oils are more expensive and have higher smoking points than vegetable oil. (This doesn't matter that much here, but better safe than sorry.)

Don't like wasting oil? Me neither. It's easy to save your leftover oil. Let it cool completely, then ladle it into a funnel that drains back into your oil bottle. If you're concerned about sediment, you can put a few layers of cheesecloth or a coffee filter between the oil and the funnel. Discard the remaining oil that has any kind of sediment in it. Reuse your saved oil the next time you fry anything.

That said, don't save oil that's taken on strange flavors! I don't save my oil after frying fish or making Japanese-style fried chicken. Also, I wouldn't save any oil that came into contact with allergens, like peanuts.

Honestly, you don't need a deep-fryer here unless you want to ensure you don't get a lot of splattering oil. The donuts float on the surface of the oil and aren't submerged like other foods, like French fries. Although I've used a deep-fryer to cook these, I recommend using a cast-iron skillet or other wide pot.

Filling Paczki

Since paczki are filled donuts, you can fill them with whatever filling you would like. When we would buy them at Meijer, there would be a variety of jams, apple filling, pastry cream, and a whipped cream kind of filling. (Thus, at least once we bought 4 boxes at a time. To try them all!)

I prefer Bavarian or pastry cream in mine. Raspberry jam or lemon curd was also good. Squeezable jam would be a good option, as it would make filling the paczki easy.

The Zingerman's Bakehouse (affiliate link) Cookbook had a ricotta filling, which I used in these here - mainly because it took 3 minutes to mix together, instead of cooking pastry cream on the stove. And, it was also delicious.

Start by inserting a butter knife into each donut from the side or end. Push the knife in most of the way, then wiggle it from side to side to make space for the filling.

Use a piping bag with a nozzle to squeeze filling into each hole.

Don't have a piping bag? Me neither. Create your own by placing much of your filling into a sandwich bag. Trim a very small hole into the corner. (The ricotta filling in particular is loose and will ooze out if the hole is too big.) Insert the open corner of the bag into the hole in the paczki. Squeeze in the filling. The paczki may or may not puff out as you fill it.

[Tip: if you use a bag with an open top, don't fill it all the way full! You can always refill the bag, but it's annoying to squeeze filling out of the top of the bag, instead of just into the donut!]

Repeat process with remaining paczki and filling. Dust with powdered sugar or granulated sugar. If using a dairy-based filling, store in the refrigerator.

How to Store Paczki

Pazcki are best on the day they are fried, particularly if your oil is not hot enough. However, any remaining pazcki can be stored in an airtight container (or frozen, though I haven't done that myself). Any paczki with a dairy filling should be stored in the refrigerator.

Like other donuts, they're best fresh, but we eat them for a few days, and they are still tasty - just not as good as they are right after cooking them. Microwaving one briefly (no more than 5 seconds) makes it (and most baked goods) more tender and seem fresher, if you think it needs it.

The filling that you add to your paczki soaks into the donut and makes the donut extra moist. This helps them stay soft and delicious. If you have trouble filling them, though, don't fear. Dip any unfilled parts in extra pastry cream or jam.

Believe me, paczki are delicious! They're rich and flavorful, very fluffy and tender. If you've gotten your oil temperature right, they shouldn't feel greasy. The egg yolks and butter in the dough makes this more brioche-like than a regular yeasted donut.

If you'd like to try a different Mardi Gras-themed bread or pastry, try King Cake.

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In the past:

One Year Ago: Pecan Fudge Pie

Five Years Ago: Applesauce Oatmeal Bread

Seven Years Ago: Kung Pao Sauce, The Cookie-Cake-Pie

Eight Years Ago: Coriander-Crusted Tuna with Black Bean Salsa

Nine Years Ago: Upside-Down Fudge-Almond Tart, Beef with Chocolate and Rosemary

📖 Recipe

[Originally published February 20, 2012. Rewritten in March 2019 with updated recipe, text, and photos.]