Yield: 8 paczki // Total Time: 2 hr. 30 min. // Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links.

What are paczki?

Paczki [paunch-key] are polish-filled donuts that are made with enriched dough. This means that they contain more eggs and butter than the standard donut you might find at many of the chain donut shops in the U.S. (a.k.a. they are more delicious!) They are typically filled with a jam or other sweet filling and sold around Fat Tuesday in the United States (although in Poland they celebrate Fat Thursday, the week before Fat Tuesday.)

Why you’ll love these small batch paczki

1. They’re SUPER light & fluffy: The dough for these donuts is so light and fluffy, thanks to it being enriched with eggs & butter.

2. They’re easy to make: while making your own yeast breads at home is often seen as a challenge, the hardest part about these really is waiting for them to rise! This blog post is packed with as many tips and tricks I could think of to lead you to success with this recipe, and with all yeast doughs really.

3. They’re super customizable: I filled these with a store-bought blackberry jam, but you could fill them with raspberry/strawberry/apricot jam, homemade jam, lemon curd, or even bavarian cream – the choice is up to you! My favorite way to coat them is with granulated sugar, but you can certainly coat them in a simple icing or powdered sugar as well. I also have these strawberry rose paczki with homemade strawberry rose jam.

Why do you post small batch recipes?

I love making small batch bakes because they are the perfect size myself and others who don’t have a lot of people to bake for in their home. Small batch helps cut down on waste and eliminates the feeling that all that excess dessert MUST be eaten. Here on my blog I post a lot of small batch bakes with a mix of some 8-10″ single layer cakes from time to time. All my recipes can easily be doubled or tripled to fit your need, so long as you use grams to measure!

Recipe tips

Weigh your ingredients

• Weighing your ingredients is important for getting the recipe perfect and getting consistent results. Not weighing your ingredients can lead to adding too much or too little of an ingredient and can easily throw off a recipe. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend purchasing a kitchen scale. This one is super cheap and worked well for me when I was starting out!

Kneading the dough

• 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.

Room temperature ingredients

• It is important for the ingredients to be at room temperature so that they properly incorporate with each other. Take out the butter and egg at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hr 30 min. before starting the recipe. To bring an egg to room temperature quickly, you can place it under hot water for 1 minute. To bring butter to room temperature quickly, slice it, place it on a plate, and microwave it in 5 second intervals!

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!

Dough rising environment

• For the first rise, I recommend letting the dough rise in the fridge overnight simply because it’s much easier to work with when it’s cold, and then you don’t have to worry about doing everything in one day. For the second rise (and if you do choose to do both rises in one day) – you’re going to want to make sure your dough is in a warm environment for it to rise faster. If the room is cold, the dough will take longer to rise. I like to place my bowl of dough on top of my oven, preheat the oven to the lowest temperature it will go, and then turn the oven off and let it continue to rise there.

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 and substitutions

For the brioche dough:

All purpose flour: for structure and chewiness.

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. We will use a bit of sugar for coating the paczki as well.

Eggs: for binding and adding moisture.

Unsalted butter: for tenderizing the brioche and giving it 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 donuts 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.

For the filling:

Dealer’s choice! I used bonne maman’s blackberry jam, but really these would be delicious with any jam (store-bought or especially homemade), lemon curd, bavarian cream, whipped cream – it’s up to you!

How to make paczki:

Here are the steps to follow to make these small batch paczki. You can find the complete recipe (which is printable!) at the end of this blog post.

1. Make the dough. Mix together the warm milk, sugar, and yeast and leave to rest until the mixture begins to foam. Then, combine all of the dough ingredients in a stand mixer and knead. You will know the dough is ready when it passes the windowpane test (more details earlier in this post!)

2. Let the dough rise. At this point, you could set the dough in the fridge to rise overnight or continue to do this 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.)

3. Shape the paczki. Once the dough has finished rising (either overnight or same-day), punch it down to remove any excess air in it. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, and roll it out to be 1/2″ thick. Cut out your donuts, re-roll, and cut out more donuts.

4. Let the paczki rest. Transfer the cut-out donuts to a parchment-lined sheet, and lightly cover them with a towel. Let the donuts rest for 30 more minutes in a warm area, or until they have slightly puffed up.

5. Fry the paczki. Keep a close eye on the temperature (should be around 365°F / 185°C). If the temperature gets too hot or isn’t hot enough, the cooking times will significantly vary. Once the donuts have cooked, coat them in granulated sugar.

6. Fill the paczki. Cut a hole into the side of each donut with a sharp knife, and fill with your favorite filling.

7. Serve and enjoy!

Small batch paczki Q & A

How big are these paczki?

• I used a 3″ round cutter to yield 8 paczki! If you use a bigger or smaller cookie cutter be sure to keep a close eye on the donuts as they’re frying, as you may need to adjust the time.

Can I double this recipe?

• Yes! I can’t emphasize using a kitchen scale enough for especially this recipe already, but if you are going to double the ingredients it is even more important that you weigh your ingredients. The dough is very hydrated and slight alterations can change the texture of the dough.

Is it okay to use instant yeast instead of active dry yeast?

• Yes of course! You’ll do everything the same here, just note that the first rise will probably only take you ~30 minutes!

Can I make the dough ahead of time?

• Yes, and I recommend it! Simply knead the dough together, cover it, and leave it to rise in the fridge overnight. When ready to make the rolls simply take it out of the fridge and proceed with the recipe.

How should I store these paczki?

• These paczki, like most yeasted doughs, are definitely going to taste the best and be at their best texture on the day they are made. They will keep fairly well for up to 2 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge. I recommend filling the donuts as you want to eat them if you plan on saving some. That way, you can pop them in the microwave for ~5-10 seconds, then fill them for the best freshness.

Why do you measure in grams?

My recipes are all written in grams because it is a more 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. Here is my favorite kitchen scale, and here’s an article about why I use a kitchen scale, and why you should too!

Small batch paczki troubleshooting

The dough just isn’t coming together

• I can’t recommend the use of a kitchen scale enough, especially for this super hydrated dough. If you’ve been kneading and kneading and the dough still won’t come together, add 1 tbsp. of flour at a time and knead for 2 minutes until the dough comes together. Please note that the dough at times has taken me up to 20 minutes to knead and pass the windowpane test!

My dough is shrinking while I’m rolling it out

• No worries here! That just means that the dough is being overworked and needs to relax a bit. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then try rolling it out again.

My fried donuts are hollow and not fluffy

• 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!