Soft and fluffy chocolate coffee donuts that are coated with coffee sugar and filled with a mocha crème légère (mocha custard whipped cream.)
This post may contain affiliate links, please read the privacy policy for details. This post is sponsored by PapaNicholas Coffee. All opinions are my own.
chocolate coffee donuts
If you enjoy chocolate, coffee, and donuts you’ve come to the perfect recipe. These chocolate coffee donuts start off with a super light, fluffy and delicious chocolate version of my *perfect* brioche dough. Then, they’re filled with a coffee-infused chocolate pastry cream that’s lightened up with whipped cream and coated in a coffee sugar. These donuts have quite a few steps to them but trust me when I say it’s so worth it. Below you’ll find a bunch of tips, tricks, and information about this recipe.
why you’ll love these chocolate coffee donuts:
- They’re super soft and fluffy: the dough is a brioche dough – meaning it’s enriched with milk, eggs & butter.
- Chocolate & coffee: aka mocha – the perfect flavor combo.
- The mocha custard: it’s super light, rich, and flavorful.
papanicholas coffee
I’ve partnered again with my all-time favorite coffee brand: papanicholas coffee for these mocha custard donuts. I use their coffee beans every day and am so happy to be able to partner with them to spread the love of their coffee. In this recipe I used their donut blend coffee grounds which has notes of honey and light sugar with a bright finish. I definitely highly recommend trying some of their coffee, they have so many delicious flavors and are always the coffee I use in my recipes (and for my daily caffeine dose!). You can find their website by clicking here. Also, if you do end up purchasing their coffee be sure to use code FRESH20 for 20% off your coffee order!
expert baking tips
Weigh your ingredients:
My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale.
Use room temperature ingredients:
It’s important that your ingredients are at room temperature so that they can easily incorporate with each other. Take out your cold ingredients about an hour before you’ll need them.
the dough will take a while to knead
Kneading this dough will take a longer time than you are probably used to. This dough is enriched with eggs and butter which makes it take longer for the proper amount of gluten to develop. Kneading in the mixer can take me anywhere from 10-20 minutes. The dough is ready to be used when it passes the windowpane test and has pulled away from the sides and bottom of the bowl. If you are weighing your ingredients, just trust the process! If you are using cup measurements and the dough just is not coming together after 15 minutes, try adding in 1 tbsp. of flour at a time.
be careful heating the milk
Heating the milk is important for bringing the yeast to an optimal temperature for rising. The milk should be heated to ~100°F / 38°C but it does not have to be exact. As long as the milk is between 95°F – 110°F, it is good to be used. If the temperature exceeds 110°F, wait for it to cool down before using so that you do not kill the yeast!
how to tell your dough is done kneading: the windowpane test
The windowpane test is (in my opinion) the best way to tell that your dough has been properly kneaded. Once the dough starts to pull away from the sides and the bottom of the mixing bowl, it is most likely ready. However, just to be sure that it’s good to go I check if it passes the windowpane test. To do that, take some of the dough in your hands and start to slowly stretch it out. If it can get thin enough to where light passes through it before tearing, then it’s good to go! If not, keep kneading until it does!
ingredients for chocolate coffee donuts:
chocolate brioche donuts:
- Bread flour: for structure and chewiness. You can also use all-purpose flour, just be sure that you are using a high-quality flour that has a high protein %, such as King Arthur (11.7%) so that your gluten will develop. If you’re using a low protein flour, the gluten will not develop enough and you will have to add a lot more flour to the brioche, which will alter the dough!
- Active dry yeast: for making the dough rise. You can easily substitute in instant yeast if that is what you have on hand. You will just skip the step of combining the warm milk, sugar, and yeast!
- Salt: for balancing and bringing out the sweetness of the brioche. Salt also “controls” the yeast to make sure that it does not overly expand.
- Granulated sugar: for sweetening the brioche and for helping the yeast with rising.
- Egg: for binding and adding moisture.
- Dutch processed cocoa flavor: makes the donuts chocolate flavored. I recommend dutch processed cocoa for the best flavor, but you can substitute in natural cocoa as well.
- Unsalted butter: for tenderizing the brioche rolls and giving them a buttery, melt-in-your-mouth feel. I would not recommend substituting in salted butter since salt is important to controlling yeast growth and the amount of salt in salted butter is quite variable.
- Whole milk: for tenderizing and hydrating the dough. Whole milk will provide the softest rolls because the extra fat helps tenderize the dough. You can however swap in 1%, 2% or your favorite non dairy milk alternative! Just note that the dough may be a little less soft and fluffy due to the varying fat content.
mocha custard (aka mocha Crème Légère):
- Whole milk & coffee grounds: we’ll steep these two together overnight which gives the custard such a rich and delicious coffee flavor.
- Egg yolk: for thickening and emulsifying the custard.
- Granulated sugar: for sweetness.
- Salt: balances and brings out the flavor and sweetness of the custard.
- Chocolate: use your favorite milk, semi-sweet or dark chocolate baking bar here.
- Unsalted butter: adds richness to the custard.
- Heavy whipping cream: for whipping up the custard to make it fluffy and pipeable for the donuts.
coffee sugar coating:
- Granulated sugar & coffee grounds
how to make chocolate coffee donuts:
Here are some of the photos of the process of making these chocolate donuts and mocha custard. The full recipe is at the end of this blog post!
- Knead the dough and let it rise until doubled in size, then punch it down and divide it into six pieces.
- Roll each of the pieces into a ball, then let the dough rise again.
- Make the mocha custard. Start by whisking together the egg yolk, sugar, corn starch, and salt.
- Heat your mocha milk to a simmer, then slowly whisk it into the egg mixture. Return the mixture to the heat and cook it until it thickens. Then, pass it through a fine mesh sieve & mix in butter and chocolate.
- Fry the donuts.
- After frying, immediately coat the donuts in coffee sugar. Once the donuts cool to room temperature, fill them with the mocha custard and enjoy!
mocha donuts recipe q&a
how to store mocha donuts
Fried donuts are definitely going to taste the best the day that they are baked, and I highly *highly* recommend serving them on the same day. Filled, they can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 hours at room temperature. I recommend filling them no more than 2 hours before serving so you don’t have to refrigerate them, which will change the texture a bit.
can I double this recipe?
Definitely – simply double the ingredients and split the dough into 16 balls. I even more strongly recommend using a kitchen scale if you are scaling up the recipe, for the best results.
can I use instant yeast instead of active dry yeast?
Definitely – just pop all of the dough ingredients into your mixing bowl to start kneading. I recommend refrigerating the dough overnight to make it easier to work with and more flavorful. However, if you are making the recipe all in one day, and using instant yeast, let the dough rest for just 10 minutes as the first rise (or whatever the instructions are on your yeast packet), then proceed with the rest of the recipe.
can I make the dough ahead of time?
Yes, and I highly recommend it! Brioche dough is a very enriched dough that can be hard to work with when warm. Knead the dough together, cover it, and leave it to rise in the fridge overnight. When you’re ready, take the dough out of the fridge and proceed with the recipe. You can also make the mocha custard ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to fill the donuts.
my yeast mixture isn’t foaming, what should I do?
The mixture should start foaming around 5 minutes in. If it has not foamed after 10 minutes, the yeast is likely dead. You want to make sure that the milk temperature does not exceed 110°F / 43°C or it will kill the yeast. If you try it again and it still does not foam, the yeast you are using may be expired and you will want to purchase some more before proceeding.
why are my fried donuts hollow?
While they will still be delicious, this has happened to me and it’s definitely frustrating! This could either be that the donuts did not rise for long enough, or that you didn’t get enough air out of the dough when punching it down. Note that every environment is different and while they should only take ~60 & ~30 minutes for the first and second rise in a warm environment – it could take longer if your kitchen is on the colder side. The dough is ready once it has doubled in size!
tools and ingredients:
You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!
other recipes you might enjoy:
did you make this recipe?
I’d love to see and know your thoughts! please leave a comment and review below, and tag me on instagram @freshbeanbakery. #freshbeanbakery
Chocolate Coffee Donuts
Ingredients
Chocolate Brioche Donuts
- 90 g whole milk (3 ¼ oz.)
- 16 g dutch processed cocoa powder (2 ⅔ tbsp.)
- 1 tsp. active dry yeast
- 25 g granulated sugar (2 tbsp.)
- 160 g bread flour (1 ⅓ c.)
- ¾ tsp. salt
- 1 egg room temperature
- 56 g unsalted butter room temperature (4 tbsp.)
Mocha Custard
- 110 g whole milk (4 oz.)
- 1 tbsp. coffee grounds
- 1 egg yolk
- 35 g granulated sugar (~3 tbsp.)
- 5 g corn starch (2 tsp.)
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- 30 g semi-sweet chocolate finely chopped (3 tbsp.)
- 14 g unsalted butter room temperature (1 tbsp.)
- 75 g heavy whipping cream (⅓ c.)
Coffee Sugar
- 100 g granulated sugar (½ c.)
- 2 tbsp. coffee grounds
Instructions
- The night before frying the donuts, stir together the 110g whole milk and 1 tbsp. coffee grounds for the mocha custard and let it steep in the fridge overnight.
Chocolate Brioche Donuts
- Add the cocoa powder to the bottom of the bowl of a stand mixer. In a microwave safe measuring cup, heat the milk to 100°F / 38°C. Pour about ½ of the warm milk over the cocoa powder, mixing until no clumps remain. To the rest of the milk, whisk in the yeast and sugar. Set aside until the yeast mixture begins to foam (~5 minutes)
- Add the flour, salt, egg, butter, and yeast mixture to the cocoa powder mixture.
- Knead the dough on low speed for 1 minute to allow the ingredients to come together. Increase the speed to medium-high and knead for an additional 10-20 minutes, or until the dough cleans the sides and bottom of the bowl, and passes the windowpane test.*
- Once the dough is done kneading, butter the inside of the bowl, form the dough into a ball and place it back in the bowl. Then cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap. At this point, you could set the dough in the fridge to rise overnight, or continue with completing the recipe in one day. If doing in one day, set the dough in a warm area and wait for it to double in size (~1 hour.)
- While waiting for the dough to rise, make the mocha custard.
Mocha Custard
- Add the egg yolk, sugar, corn starch, and salt to a small mixing bowl. Whisk the mixture until combined.
- Pour the steeped coffee ground milk mixture over a fine mesh sieve into a medium sized saucepan to remove the grounds, then heat the milk to a simmer.
- Once the milk is simmering, slowly whisk a little bit of milk at a time into the egg yolk mixture. Be sure to whisk constantly to avoid curdling the eggs.
- Once the two mixtures are combined, pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Set the mixture over medium heat and constantly whisk until it thickens.
- Once it's thickened, pass the custard through a fine mesh sieve into a small mixing bowl. Then, whisk in the butter and chopped chocolate until they melt and the mixture is completely smooth.
- Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the custard, and leave it in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the donuts.
Assembling the Donuts
- Cut out 6 parchment squares that are ~4" each and place them on to a lined baking tray.
- Once the donut dough has doubled in size, punch it down to remove excess air and transfer it to a clean, lightly floured surface.
- Divide the dough into 6 equally sized pieces (~64g each) and roll each tightly into a ball.
- Transfer the donuts to their own parchment square, then gently press down on them to flatten them a little bit. Cover them loosely with a towel and allow them to rise in a warm environment for ~30 minutes, or until they have slightly puffed up.
- Make the coffee sugar by stirring together the sugar and coffee grounds in a shallow bowl.
- Once the donuts have puffed up, fill a large saucepan with at least 2” of vegetable or any neutral oil. Heat the oil to 365°F / 185°C.
- Carefully place the donuts into the hot oil (3-4 at a time, depending on what your pan can comfortably fit). Fry the donuts on each side for 3 minutes. You can also check that they are done by making sure the internal temperature is at least 180°F / 82°C.
- Remove the donuts from the oil and immediately toss them in the coffee sugar.
- Once the donuts are done, finish making the mocha custard. Use a hand mixer or stand mixer to beat the custard for one minute. Then, while still mixing, slowly pour the heavy whipping cream into the custard.
- Once all the heavy cream has been added, continue to beat the mixture for 1-2 minutes, or until it is light and fluffy.
- Transfer the mocha custard to a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Use a sharp knife to poke a hole into the top of each donut, then fill each donut generously with the mocha custard. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition facts are only an estimate and may vary based on different brands of ingredients and any substitutions made.
Can these donuts be made without eggs