Lemon Filled Donuts

These incredibly soft lemon filled donuts are filled with luscious lemon curd. Fried til golden brown, this recipe is a lemon dessert lover’s dream!

Treat yourself and your loved ones to fresh homemade donuts! These are made extra delicious with a luscious lemon curd filling!

I have some delicious citrusy baked donut recipes such as my Lemon Donuts and these Blueberry Lemon Donuts.

These Ricotta Donuts and Sour Cream Donuts are two great fried, non yeasted donuts!

Why We Love This Recipe

• Super lemony– The silky, tangy lemon curd filling makes these so good to bite into just like my lemon curd whoopie pies! For extra lemony flavor, they’re tossed in lemon sugar!
• Soft and fluffy– These donuts are light, fluffy and delicious!
• Perfect treat- You can enjoy these donuts anytime of the year and anytime of the day!
• Fresh tasting– Donuts taste best when they are fresh. That means these are so much better than anything you can buy in a store or a bakery since you’re making them fresh!

Ingredients

Here are some useful notes on some of the ingredients for this easy recipe for lemon filled donuts.

• Lemon curd- Use my easy recipe for homemade lemon curd or use store bought. Make the curd before making the donut dough or while it rises. I like to make it the day before making the donuts to give it time to chill and thicken.
• Flour- I use all-purpose flour. Make sure to measure flour carefully so you don’t add too much.
• Milk- Milk brings the ingredients together. It also makes the dough soft and tender.
• Unsalted butter- Room temperature butter makes these donuts soft and adds flavor.
• Active dry yeast- Active dry yeast is what makes the donuts rise.
• Lemons- Use the zest of two lemons for the lemon sugar coating.
• Vegetable oil (not pictured)– For frying.

See recipe card below for quantities and instructions.

Substitutions & Variations

• Swap in 2% milk or your favorite non-dairy milk instead of whole milk.
• Skip the sugar coating if you prefer.
• You can also use instant quick rise yeast. If you use instant yeast, you can just add it directly to the mixing bowl. You won’t need to add it to warm milk.

Instructions

1. Make the lemon curd: I like to make this first so that it has plenty of time to thicken and cool before I fill my doughnuts with it.
2. Make the dough: I prefer to make the dough using my stand mixer. It’s possible to make make the dough by hand, but using the mixer is much easier.
3. Let the dough rise: Transfer dough to a clean bowl and cover it with plastic wrap and clean kitchen towels. Leave dough to double. Once it has doubled in size, punch dough down to remove excess air. Turn dough out onto a clean, lightly floured surface.
4. Roll out dough and & cut into rounds: Roll the dough out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut the doughnuts using a 3-inch donut cutter. Line a baking sheet or two with a silicone mat or parchment paper or sprinkle the baking sheets with flour. Transfer donuts to the baking sheets, leaving space between the donuts. Use a clean kitchen towel to lightly cover the donuts and let rise in a draft free, warm/room temperature room until slightly puffed (about 30 minutes).
5. Prepare the oil: Heat the oil about fifteen minutes before donuts are ready to be fried. Add about three inches of vegetable oil in a heavy-duty pot and heat on medium until the oil reaches 350 F. Place donuts on a baking sheet lined with paper towels.
6. Fry the donuts: Fry three donuts at a time. Fry 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds per side. Carefully remove from the oil and place on paper towels. Repeat with remaining doughnuts.
7. Toss donuts in lemon sugar: Stir together lemon zest and sugar in a shallow bowl or on a plate. Toss warm donuts in the sugar to coat. Allow donuts to cool before filling with lemon curd.

Expert Tips

• Use organic lemons. Regular lemons are covered in a wax coating that can dilute the flavor. Organic lemons don’t have this coating, so the they have a stronger lemon zest flavor.
• Make the lemon curd in advance and store it in the fridge. You can also prepare the donut dough in advance. Fry the donuts when you’re ready to enjoy them!
• Let donuts cool completely before filling them.
• Use the end of a spoon to make a small hole in the side of the donut. Move the back of the spoon from side to side inside the donut to create a bit of space inside the donut for the lemon curd.

Recipe FAQs

More Lemon Desserts You’ll Love

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Lemon Filled Donuts

Natalie

Filled with tart and sweet lemon curd and tossed with lemon sugar, this recipe for homemade Lemon Filled Donuts is a lemon dessert lover’s dream!

5 from 4 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Resting Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 2 hours hrs 40 minutes mins

Course Donuts

Cuisine American

Servings 12 donuts

Calories 340 kcal

Equipment

• ▢
  Mixing bowls
• ▢
  stand mixer
• ▢
  Baking sheets

Ingredients

 

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Lemon Curd

• ▢ 2 tablespoons (12 g) lemon zest
• ▢ ⅔ cup (133.33 g) granulated sugar
• ▢ 3 (3) large eggs
• ▢ ½ cup (118.29 ml) lemon juice*
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon (⅛ teaspoon) salt
• ▢ 4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter

Donuts

• ▢ ¾ cup (177.44 ml) whole milk or 2%, heated to 105 F- 115 F
• ▢ 2 ¼ teaspoons (7 g) one package active dry yeast
• ▢ 3 tablespoons (36 g) granulated sugar divided
• ▢ 3 ¼ cups (406.25 g) all purpose flour or up to 4 cups, plus more for rolling out the dough
• ▢ 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) salt
• ▢ 2 (2) large eggs room temperature
• ▢ ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter room temperature, sliced into tablespoons
• ▢ vegetable oil about 6 cups, for frying
• ▢ 1⅔ cups (333.33 g) granulated sugar for lemon sugar coating
• ▢ 2 (2) lemons zested, for lemon sugar coating

Instructions

 

Lemon Curd

• Cut the butter into four pieces. Place the butter in a medium heat proof glass mixing bowl. Place a large fine sesh sieve over the bowl. Set aside.
• Add the sugar and lemon zest to a medium pot. Use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar.
• Pour the lemon juice, pinch of salt and eggs into the sugar and whisk to combine. Try to break up the egg whites while you whisk. Set pot over low heat.
• Stir constantly with a silicone whisk while the curd cooks and until the curd thickens. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the curd registers 160 to 170 F on an instant read thermometer. You can also check for doneness using the spoon method. Dip a wooden spoon into the curd and run your finger across the back of the spoon to make a line. If the line stays clear, the curd is ready.
• Remove pot from heat. Pour the curd through the sieve into the butter. Use a spatula to help press the curd throught the sieve. Set sieve aside then stir curd til the butter has melted completely. Pour the curd into an airtight container. Allow to cool til room temperature before covering the container. Set in the fridge to chill til you're ready to use it.

Donuts

• Heat the milk in the microwave til it reaches 105 F -115 F. Stir in the yeast and 2 tablespoons of sugar til yeast is dissolved. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.*
• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment, add the flour, salt, butter, eggs and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar.
• Once the yeast is foamy, add it to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Beat on low until a soft dough forms. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 10-15 more minutes or until the dough passes the windowpane test-*Take a piece of dough about the size of a walnut. Gently stretch it between two hands as far as possible. If it tears easily, kneading it a bit longer. You should be able to spread it to where it’s thin enough to can see light pass through. Once you get to that point, you can stop mixing.
• Lightly grease a large mixing bowl with oil or butter and transfer dough to that bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Let dough rise in a draft free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1½ hours. Once it has doubled in size, punch dough down to remove excess air.
• Turn dough out onto a floured surface and roll it out with a rolling pin til dough is 1/2 inch thick. (Lightly flour both your rolling pin and donut cutter). Use a 3 inch donut cutter to cut out as many rounds as possible. Place donuts on a large lightly floured baking sheet, being careful not to place them too close together.
• Cover donuts with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft free room at room temperature until they appear slightly puffed, about 30 minutes. 
• About 15 minutes before the donuts finish rising, add about 3 inches of oil to a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat and heat it to 355 F. While the oil warms, line baking sheets with paper towels and take out a slotted spoon. 
• Fry donuts (about 3 at a time) for around 1 minute or minute and a half on each side, or until golden brown. Recheck the temperature of the oil periodically as you go, so as not to let the oil get too cool or too hot. Adjust temprature of oil as needed. Drain on paper towels briefly thenr roll the donuts in granulated sugar or granulated sugar mixed with lemon zest while donuts are still warm. Cool to room temperature before filling with lemon curd. 
• To fill donuts, transfer lemon curd to a pastry bag with a wide tip. Insert the end of a spoon (not the end you eat with) into the side of a donut to create some space for the curd.
• Gently squeeze lemon curd into the donut. Enjoy!

Notes

*1 medium-size lemon= about 1 tablespoon lemon zest and 2 -3 tablespoons lemon juice

**If the yeast doesn’t activate and get foamy, discard it and start over. 

*** I don’t recommend rolling dough out a second time to use up the remaining dough. Doing so can give you hard donuts. That said, if you do want to use up the remaining dough, gently knead the scraps together only as much as necessary, making sure not to overwork it. Let it rest a few minutes then roll it out and cut our the remaining donuts.

Nutrition

Serving: 1donutCalories: 340kcalCarbohydrates: 48gProtein: 7gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 121mgSodium: 341mgPotassium: 116mgFiber: 1gSugar: 19gVitamin A: 469IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 49mgIron: 2mg

Please note that nutritional values are created by an online calculator and should only be used as an estimate.

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