Soft and light Italian Bomboloni Doughnuts rolled in sugar and filled with Italian pastry cream (crema pasticciera). These doughnuts are insanely delicious and make such a special treat!
I don't think there's much that can beat fresh, warm doughnuts?
Unless they are filled with thick limoncello spiked Italian pastry cream (crema pasticciera), now that is pure heaven!
I'm obsessed with crema pasticciera in every way whether it's used as a tart filling for Torta della Nonna, mixed with whipped cream and used to fill layer cakes or piped into Italian pastries like cornetti (croissants) or bomboloni.
In Italy bomboloni are often served in bars for breakfast alongside a cappuccino and like cornetti con crema they are generously filled, so much so that they feel heavy in your hand but are so light and delicious when you take a bite.
Fun fact: Bomboloni literally translates as big bombs which is such a perfect name for big round doughnuts jam-packed with an irresistible filling!
What you need to make Italian doughnuts
Bomboloni are made with simple store cupboard ingredients including; flour, eggs, butter, milk, sugar, vanilla, fast action yeast, salt and pastry cream.
For a super light doughnut dough use half Italian 00 flour (you can also use all-purpose) and half strong bread flour.
How to Make Bomboloni - Step by Step
How to make the dough
Put the flour, sugar and yeast in the mixer bowl and stir to combine (photo 1).
Scatter cubes of butter over the flour so it's evenly distributed then pour in the eggs and lukewarm milk (photo 2).
Attach a dough hook attachment to the mixer then knead on a low speed for 10 minutes (on a KitchenAid mixer I use speed 2).
After 10 minutes the dough should be smooth, elastic and slightly tacky (photo 3).
Tip the dough out onto a clean work surface (you don't need any flour and extra flour should be avoided if possible). Shape the dough into a smooth ball by kneading it 2-3 times (photo 4).
Place the dough in a clean bowl lightly greased with oil and cover with plastic wrap. Leave to prove for 2-3 hours or until tripled in size (photos 5 & 6).
Once the dough has risen, tip it out onto a clean work surface, knock out the air then knead it a few times back into a smooth ball (photo 7).
Flatten the dough with your hands then roll out into a rectangle ½ inch (1.5cm) thick (photo 8 & 9).
Use a cookie cutter or glass to cut out round doughnuts about 3.5 inch in diameter. You can cut the scraps into random shapes for frying or re-knead them and roll out again to cut out more doughnuts (photo 10).
Place the cut out doughnuts on a surface lined with baking parchment and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Leave to prove for 1-1.5 hours or until doubled in size (photo 11).
While the doughnuts are proving, make the pastry cream and leave to cool (directions below).
Frying the doughnuts
When ready to fry heat a large deep pan or pot of oil until it reaches 170°C/337°F.
Cut the parchment paper into squares so that each doughnut is on an individual square of parchment (photo 12).
Top Tip: the parchment paper helps keep the doughnuts nice and round, you can easily knock air out if you handle them.
Carefully drop the doughnuts into the oil and immediately remove the parchment paper with tongs (photo 13)
Fry the doughnuts for 2 minutes then turn over and fry for another 2 minutes on the other side (photo & 15).
Remove and drain on kitchen paper for around 2 minutes then roll the doughnuts in sugar. Leave to cool before filling (photo 16).
To fill the bomboloni insert a small knife into the side of a doughnut and move it around to make a small incision (photo 18).
Fill a piping bag with the pastry cream or desired filling and pipe it into the doughnuts (photo 19 & 20).
How to make the filling
Put the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest in a large bowl and whisk until well combined.
Add the cornstarch and whisk again until well combined.
Heat the milk in a saucepan until hot then turn off the heat and let it sit for 1 minute.
Slowly pour in the milk into the egg mixture while constantly whisking so the eggs don’t scramble and there are no lumps.
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and heat on a low heat whilst constantly stirring until thick and creamy (about 10-15 minutes) the mixture needs to be very thick. Don’t be tempted to turn up the heat or the eggs will scramble.
Once thick, turn of the heat and leave to cool before piping into the Bomboloni. For a more comprehensive guide on how to make the Crema Pasticcera check out our Italian Pastry Cream Recipe!
More filling options
There are so many filling options when it comes to bomboloni you don't need to stick to pastry cream, here are some more delicious options:
- Chocolate spread (If you're like me and avoid palm oil I have a super easy recipe for making homemade Nutella).
- Jam - strawberry, blackberry, raspberry or apricot just to name a few
- Whipped cream - simple and delicious
- Dulce de leche or a caramel cream
Top tips for making and frying Italian doughnuts
- If you are using cups to measure the flour you must spoon the flour into the cup then lightly tap the cup until the flour has settled and levelled. This is important to achieve as accurate a weight as possible. A kitchen scale is recommended for accuracy.
- If using a stand mixer keep it on a low-speed setting to avoid over kneading the dough (KitchenAid speed 2).
- The oil should be around 3 inches deep for best results when frying.
- Try not to overcrowd the pan when frying as the oil will cool down when you add more dough. Fry the doughnuts in batches to make it easier and safer to remove them too.
- Drain the fried doughnuts on kitchen paper for about 2 minutes to allow them to drain properly then roll in sugar whilst still warm. If you don't do this when the doughnuts are warm the sugar won't stick.
- Wait until the bomboloni are cooled before filling them.
Bomboloni making FAQs
I use a Kitchen Aid stand mixer to knead the dough but you can totally do it by hand. If kneading by hand you'll need to knead it for at least 10 minutes.
Mix everything in a bowl using a wooden spoon then once it comes together tip it onto a clean work surface very lightly dusted with flour and start to knead it.
It will start off sticky but don't be tempted to add more flour as the gluten develops in the dough it turns smooth and elastic.
The white ring around a doughnut is due to the doughnut floating on top of the oil as it fries. If there is no white ring it's because the dough has been too heavy and sinks further into the oil.
Make sure your dough is proved for long enough and there is the correct wet to dry ingredients ratio for a light dough.
I prefer to use sunflower oil for frying because it's very lightly flavoured and has a high burning point. Vegetable oil would also be a great choice but don't use an oil that's heavily flavoured or that has a low burning point such as olive oil.
The ideal temperature for frying is 170°C / 338°F. Don't go above 175°C/347°F or the doughnuts will brown on the outside before cooking right through. If your oil is too low it will result in oily and greasy doughnuts. I highly recommend using a thermometer so you don't go wrong.
Bomboloni like most doughnuts are best eaten the same day as they are made. You can store unfilled doughnuts in an airtight container for 1-2 days but they will dry out. Filled doughnuts don't dry out as quickly so will last a little longer, store them in the fridge in a dealed container for 1-3 days.
More Italian desserts you might like
- Mini Cannoli – Perfect For Parties
- Torta della Nonna: Italian Custard Tart
- Quick & Easy Tiramisu – Best Ever Recipe
- White Chocolate Panna Cotta
- Italian Affogato Recipe – Ice Cream And Coffee
- Lady’s Kisses – Baci di Dama (Italian Cookies)
If you tried this Bomboloni Recipe or any other recipes on my blog please be sure to leave me a comment below to let me know how you got on, I love hearing from you. You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
Bomboloni - Italian Doughnuts
Ingredients
For the bomboloni dough
- 2 cups strong bread flour (280g) see notes
- 2 cups 00 flour or all purpose flour (280g) see notes
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 6.5 tablespoon butter softened (90g)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
- ½ cup lukewarm milk (120ml)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla paste or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ teaspoon fast action yeast (7g)
- 1 small pinch of salt
- 2-3 tablespoon caster sugar or confectioners sugar for rolling doughnuts in
- sunflower or vegetable oil for frying
For the pastry cream (if using)
- 5 egg yolks
- 2.5 cups milk (½ litre)
- ¼ cup cornstarch (30g)
- ⅓ cup sugar (70g)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla pasta or 1 vanilla bean
- Zest of 1 lemon
Equipment
- Sugar thermometer, for frying the oil
- Piping bag and medium sized nozzle
- Large round cookie cutter about 3.5 inch diameter
Instructions
Before starting this recipe
- Please check the instructions on your yeast packet. Some yeast can be added straight to the dry ingredients (like we have done in this recipe) and others need to be activated in a little lukewarm liquid first. If this is the case, you can activate it in a little of the lukewarm milk, don't add extra liquid.
How to make the Bomboloni dough
- Put the flour, sugar and yeast in the mixer bowl and stir to combine.
- Scatter cubes of butter over the flour so it's evenly distributed then pour in the eggs and lukewarm milk, vanilla and salt.
- Attach a dough hook attachment to the mixer then knead on a low speed for 10 minutes (on a KitchenAid mixer I use speed 2).
- After 10 minutes the dough should be smooth, elastic and slightly tacky (see recipe notes 1 & 2 if using cups it's important).
- Tip the dough out onto a clean work surface (you don't need any flour and extra flour should be avoided if possible). Shape the dough into a smooth ball by kneading it 2-3 times.
- Place the dough in a clean bowl lightly greased with oil and cover with plastic wrap. Leave to prove for 2-3 hours or until tripled in size.
- Once the dough has risen, tip it out onto a clean work surafce, knock out the air then knead it a few times back into a smooth ball.
- Flatten the dough with your hands then roll out on into a rectangle ½ inch (1.5cm) thick.
- Use a cookie cutter or glass to cut out round doughnuts about 3.5 inch in diameter. You can cut the scraps into random shapes for frying or re-knead them and roll out again to cut out more doughnuts.
- Place the cut out doughnuts on a surface lined with baking parchment and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Leave to prove for 1-1.5 hours or until tripled in size.
- While the doughnuts are proving, make the pastry cream and leave to cool (directions below).
Frying
- When ready to fry heat a large deep pan or pot of oil until it reaches 170°C/337°F.
- Cut the parchment paper into squares so that each doughnut is on an individual square of parchment.
- Carefully drop the doughnuts into the oil and immediatley remove the parchment paper with tongs. It's best to fry the doughnuts in batches and not overcrowd the pan.
- Fry the doughnuts for 2 minutes then turn over and fry for another 2 minutes on the other side.
- Remove and drain on kitchen paper for a around 2 minutes then roll the doughnuts in sugar. Leave to cool before filling.
How to fill the doughnuts
- To fill the bomboloni insert a small knife into the side of a doughnut and move it around to make a small incision.
- Fill a piping bag with the pastry cream or desired filling and pipe it into the doughnuts.
- Serve immediately for best results or store in plastic containers for 1-2 days.
To make Italian pastry cream (crema pasticciera)
- Put the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest in a large bowl and whisk until well combined.
- Add the cornstarch and whisk again until well combined.
- Heat the milk in a saucepan until hot then turn off the heat and let it sit for 1 minute.
- Slowly pour in the milk into the egg mixture while constantly whisking so the eggs don’t scramble and there are no lumps.
- Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and heat on a low heat whilst constantly stirring until thick and creamy (about 10-15 minutes) the mixture needs to be very thick. Don’t be tempted to turn up the heat or the eggs will scramble.
- Once thick, turn of the heat and pour into a clean bowl. Place plastic wrap directly over the pastry cream so a skin doesn't form and leave to cool.
Notes
- If you are using cups to measure the flour you must spoon the flour into the cup then lightly tap the cup until the flour has settled and leveled. This is important to achieve as accurate a weight as possible. A kitchen scale is recommended for accuracy.
- Texture of dough if using cups: there can be around 20-30g difference when measuring flour with cups. The dough should be tacky to touch and shouldn't be wet or stick to your hands. If you find the dough is wet and sticky add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time allowing it to absorb into the dough until the dough is at the right consistency.
- The parchment paper helps keep the doughnuts nice and round, you can easily knock air out if you handle them.
- If using a stand mixer keep it on a low-speed setting to avoid over kneading the dough (KitchenAid speed 2).
- The oil should be around 3 inches deep for best results when frying.
- Try not to overcrowd the pan when frying as the oil will cool down when you add more dough. Fry the doughnuts in batches to make it easier and safer to remove them too.
- Drain the fried doughnuts on kitchen paper for about 2 minutes to allow them to drain properly then roll in sugar whilst still warm. If you don't do this when the doughnuts are warm the sugar won't stick.
- Wait until the bomboloni are cooled before filling them.
Nutrition
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Rebekah
Do you use 4 cups of flour total? Our dough seems really dry, just wondering where we went wrong.
Emily
Hi Rebekah, yes, 4 cups total..did you spoon and level the flour into the cups? It's hard to know if the flour was over-measured using cups so I always recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh flour when baking. I know it's not the norm in the US but it really does give you accurate results every time.
Puding
Okay, so I never leave comment but now I just have to because this is just dellicious. My first doughnuts ever. Never gonna try different one. So perfect recipe. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this.
Stacy Young
Is it okay to leave the dough to rise overnight in room temp for the first rise?
Emily
Hi Stacy, if you want to leave it overnight I would put it in the fridge then bring it out and allow it to come to room temp. When we were testing this we found that leaving it too long at room temp it would over-prove and didn't work out so well.
Cindy
Can you freeze the dough for future donuts?
Emily
I'm really not sure, I've never tried it. You could test it with a small amount to see if it works?
Ludwina
Hi I love your recipe the inside so airy and soft, but my question is why my doughnut didn't come out as round as yours, tried to make it pretty but always turn out irregular instead of round circle like yours, did use the parchment paper and I avoid touching them can you please help any tips?
Thomas Oz
Prefect Recipe!…THANKYOU!! ☺️
Niharika Singh
Hey! I live in India and we don’t have anything called bread flour here. I was wondering if I can use 00 flour only. We have whole wheat flour available, also. Could you guide me please.
Emily
Hey! Yes, you can use all 00 flour instead, don't use whole wheat!
Julie haleb
Want to make these . They look delicious.
Can I use all bread flour or I have some panettone or cake flour ?
Emily
Hi Julie, I think using all bread flour would make the dough too soft. It's best to use half bread flour and half all-purpose flour or 00 flour.
Sonia
I am very thrilled finding Bomboloni here, I lived one year in Pisa, Italy and I loved Bomboloni. I will make them as soon as possible. When we returned to our country, we started with an ice cream soda and we named it Bomboloni!!
Lupita
The bomboloni are great but the cream has no taste of vanilla, I think you really misjudged the equivalence of a vanilla pod in teaspoons
Emily
Hi Lupita, I used vanilla bean paste which is much more concentrated than vanilla extract but I have mentioned if you are using extract to up the amount to 1 tsp. You have to make sure you use extract or paste and not essence which is synthetic and doesn't taste great.
Kim
Csn these be baked instead of frayed?
Emily
I'm really not sure, I've never baked them before. If you do be sure to let me know how it goes!
Chantal
What a strong bread flour ??? I live in Canada we have bread flour but strong I’ve never seen. Is it the same?
Emily
Hi Chantal, the bread flour you have will be fine.
Isabella
Hi I am wanting to try this recipe looks delicious! Can I make the dough tonight and then fry tomorrow afternoon? Or is it best to make the dough the same day? Thank you
Inside the rustic kitchen
Hi Isabella, unfortunately, I haven't had great results making the dough in advance so I'd say prepare it on the day.
Brittany
Oh I want to try these! I totally geeked out when I realized whose blog this was. I tried your eggplant Parmesan and mentioned in that about the new found dairy allergies (turned out pretty amazing btw using the dairy substitutes)
I am curious though how these would be using all the milk alternatives?
Inside the rustic kitchen
I'm so happy you enjoyed it! Hmm, I think something like oat milk would work but I've never tried it. Let me know how it goes!
Mega
Hi, how many grams total for the egg ? Cause 120ml for 560grm flour is a bit dry 😊
Thankyou
Inside the rustic kitchen
I didn't weigh the eggs just make sure they are large this recipe has been tested over and over many times it definitely works!
Margaret Longman
Hi, I’m wondering what or which other flour to use when you say all purpose flour, is it plain or self-raising?
Soon as I know which other flour to use I’ll be straight onto making these, they look so delicious ! I’ll be in touch with my results once I’ve made them.
Thank you
Maggie x
Inside the rustic kitchen
Hi Margaret, all-purpose flour is the same as plain flour. I strongly recommend using half plain flour and half strong bread flour (white) it really makes a difference and makes the doughnuts extra light. I hope you enjoy them, be sure to let me know how it goes!
Angela
Oh wow! How glorious do these look!I can almost smell them! The crema must be delicious with limoncello too! I must try to make these ASAP! What a treat, thanks!
Inside the rustic kitchen
Aw thank you so much, they are absolutely delicious with a little added limoncello! Hope you enjoy them 🙂