Over the last week or so, I thought about making these s’mores doughnuts. I haven’t made nearly enough s’mores recipes this summer. And I mean, they’re s’mores, so it’s not like I really need much of a reason. I just really wanted to make some!
Then I started seeing all these signs. Really there were like two, but still.
The first one was when I read that Sunday was National S’mores Day. I knew I probably wasn’t going to make that deadline, but I really needed to do something s’mores flavored just because it’s one of my favorites. Way up there with Oreos and red velvet.
The second sign was when I got a text message from my dad on Friday. It said, “I just ate a maple bacon doughnut and it was delicious.” He then proceeded to tell me that someone had given him a box of doughnuts at work, he was bringing them home, and there was a s’mores one. So obviously I replied, “DIBS.”
I had already decided on s’mores doughnuts at that point, so the whole thing was kind of weird. And tasty. It was meant to be!
After these Lemon Meringue Pie Doughnuts I posted last week, I really wanted to do a toasted marshmallow frosting and a chocolate pastry cream filling.
But I couldn’t figure out how to get the graham crackers in there. The only thing I could think of was to roll the dough in graham cracker crumbs before frying. Coating the dough in egg and then dredging in graham crumbs? I felt like there had to be a better idea than that, but I went with it since I couldn’t think of anything else.
Turned out to be a good decision! The coating isn’t super thick, the egg gives the doughnuts a nice golden brown color after frying, and you totally get that graham cracker flavor.
As for the marshmallow…well, I think that speaks for itself.
This is basically homemade marshmallow fluff and a thinner, more spreadable version of homemade marshmallows. I recommend this over store-bought marshmallow fluff (definitely do not use marshmallow creme) because it just holds up better. It keeps it’s shape before and after toasting. So you can get real crazy with the design.
I went for the super spiky look. Oh yeah.
Toasted marshmallow is definitely my favorite thing about s’mores. It’s just not right if it isn’t toasted or roasted over a fire.
The filling is a dark chocolate pastry cream, which TOTALLY makes these doughnuts. It might look kind of thick in the photos, but it’s definitely not. It’s creamy, fluffy, and absolutely full of dark chocolate flavor!
I may have eaten some of it with a giant spoon. You should definitely save it for the doughnuts though!
I was short on time over the weekend when I made these, so I used the biscuit dough method instead of homemade dough. And I also haven’t mastered the homemade version and knew I wasn’t going to have time to make these over if I messed them up. So if you want to make your own dough, go you! But they’re just as tasty with biscuits.
Also–there are a lot of steps to these doughnuts. This will be so much easier if you split it into two days, the second day being the day you plan on having the doughnuts. Make the pastry cream and marshmallow fluff the first day, then do your frying + assembling the second day.
Then eat some doughnuts!
ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 2 tbsp butter, cut into chunks
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips/dark chocolate, chopped
- 2 cans refrigerated Pillsbury biscuit dough
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 3 large egg whites
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup light corn syrup
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
instructions
- In a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk, half of the sugar, vanilla, and salt. Bring the mixture to a simmer.
- In a heat-resistant bowl, combine egg yolks, cornstarch, and the other half of the sugar. Whisk until the mixture is incorporated and thick.
- Whisking constantly, add about 1/2 cup of the milk mixture to the egg mixture at a time. Do this until you've use all the milk mixture and everything is combined.
- Transfer the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat (whisking constantly. Don't stir--whisk!) until the mixture thickens to the consistency of pudding and reaches 160 degrees on a thermometer. This will only take a few minutes. Remove from heat.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a bowl with a hand-held electric mixer (which is what I did), add the butter and dark chocolate and beat on medium speed until the butter and chocolate have melted and the cream has cooled.
- Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic onto the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Store in the fridge for at least two hours. Whisk again before using.
- In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, pour about 2-3 inches of oil. Heat oil over medium heat until it reaches 350 degrees on a thermometer.
- While the oil is warming up, coat all the biscuits, one at a time, in egg, and then graham cracker crumbs. Lay them on a baking sheet until they're ready to fry. Layer several sheets of paper towels under a wire rack for the doughnuts to cool.
- When the oil has reached 350 degrees, carefully drop two biscuits into the oil and cook for two minutes on each side. Lift each doughnut out of the oil with a slotted spoon and place on the wire rack to cool and drain. Repeat with all of the doughnuts.
- Remove the pot of oil from the heat and let it cool completely before throwing it out.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the egg whites and two tablespoons of the sugar. Whip on medium-high speed until fluffy and stiff peaks form.
- In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the rest of the sugar, corn syrup, and water. Bring the mixture to a soft boil, stirring occasionally. Let the mixture cook until it reaches 240 degrees on a thermometer.
- While mixing the egg white mixture on low speed, slowly pour the syrup into the bowl of the stand mixer. Then turn it up to medium-high speed, add the vanilla extract, and whip the mixture until fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Once the doughnuts have cooled, spread the marshmallow fluff on top of each. Place the doughnuts on a baking sheet and turn on the broiler on your oven. Place the doughnuts in the oven, and then stand right there and watch them. Do not leave your oven at this time! Let the marshmallow fluff toast for about 30-45 seconds, or until golden brown. (You may have to do this step in two batches.)
- Take the pastry cream out of the fridge and whisk it really well for a couple of minutes. It should be thick enough to hold its shape when piped. (You don't want your filling to be dripping out of the doughnuts. I'm speaking from experience here.) Transfer the pastry cream to a piping bag. Insert a knife into the side of each doughnut to form a space for the filling. Fill the doughnuts with pastry cream.
- And the doughnuts are finished! Enjoy!
Dark Chocolate Pastry Cream adapted from Martha Stewart & Marshmallow Fluff adapted from Baking A Moment.
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Oh my goodness Beth! These look INCREDIBLE! Like, I want to reach through the screen and devour these!!! Pinned 🙂
Thanks, Chris! And thank for pinning! 🙂
oh my goodness. . brilliant and amazing!!! love these, Beth! wow!!
Thanks so much, Alice! 🙂
WOW! My two favorite guilty pleasures!!! These look incredible.
Thanks, Tiffany! They’re two of my favorites too. 🙂
You are killing me with these donuts, Beth! Every one just gets more mouthwatering!
Haha, thanks Ashley! I think I need to make more doughnuts from now on. 🙂
I am a big fan of dense doughnuts. One national doughnut chain has doughnuts that melt in your mouth because there literally isn’t much dough to bite into. These are substantial even with the tasty filling. Very good. 🙂
Thanks, glad you enjoyed them! These were definitely some bigger doughnuts, haha. 🙂
You my dear are awesome. Those were for sure signs you had to make a s’mores treat. Isn’t it fun how you can draw inspiration from different things like your dad telling you he got some bomb doughnuts?! AND that one just so happened to be s’mores flavor?! Love it, thanks for sharing, Beth!
Haha, thanks so much Kelly! Inspiration is funny like that sometimes. 🙂
I haven’t made any s’mores treats this summer! Which is simply unacceptable! haha
This look amazinggggg.
That IS unacceptable, Ashley! Haha, you need to make some s’mores asap! 🙂
I haven’t made many s’mores recipes either. But I did make s’mores around the fire pit, so that will do I guess! This is one of the cutest s’mores ideas though. Who doesn’t love donuts?!
Making actual s’mores around a fire pit totally counts. 🙂 Thanks, Jules!
This is excellent!
Thanks! 😀
Amazing! They look outstanding! 🙂
Thank you! 🙂
I am dyin’ for a couple of these this morning Beth. They look amazing. Love your pictures!
Thanks so much, Matt! 🙂
Your pictures are stunning and these look to die for!
Thanks so much, Medha!
I haven’t had a doughnut in so long but I really love this flavour! I’m always amazed by the new flavour combinations that people come up with for doughnuts, it seems they are endless!
I totally know what you mean! I’ve been seeing some ridiculous doughnut flavors recently. Thanks, Katy! 🙂
This is such an awesome idea!! I’ve seen so many variations on s’mores baked goods, but this one is one of my favorites. The graham-coated doughnuts are such a great idea! I’m obsessed with these!
Thanks so much, Nora! I could see the graham-coating going very wrong while frying, but thankfully it worked out alright, haha! 🙂
You are killing me with these donuts! They look so good, Beth. Dangerous!
These were totally dangerous, Liz! I’m not going to tell you how many I ate. 😉 Thanks so much!
Love these, Beth! Toasted marshmallows totally make a s’mores really a s’mores. So good! Pinned.
Smores doughnuts?? AMAZING! They are the prettiest donuts ever!
I need you to teach me how to make doughnuts as awesome as these!!
Omg girl. You made s’mores doughnuts and they’re awesome!!! Love their spiky hairdo! These look seriously to-die-for, I’m drooling!
These are GENIUS Beth!! What a gorgeous doughnut! I love that toasted marshmallow topping and that filling. I could eat these all day 🙂 Pinned!
Oh my! The graham cracker coating is ingenious!
omg I think the universe is demanding more s’mores recipes of everyone (strangely enough, I’ve got a S’mores Doughnut going up next week!) since I noticed I had ALL the things needed for a s’mores recipe right in my pantry. It’s summer’s last hurrah and I am all for it! Your doughnuts are absolutely beautiful, Beth! Seriously diggin’ that chocolate pastry cream too. 🙂
Holy shizz, Beth! My eyes are bugging out of my head – your s’mores doughnuts are freaking amazing! Brilliant move on covering the dough with graham crumbs before frying. The marshmallow peaks have been toasted to perfection and I want to suck all the dark chocolate pastry cream out of each doughnut, leaving behind a few empty shells for the poor unfortunate souls after me (bwahahaha). Love your photos too – the ones with the whipped marshmallow on the whisk attachment and in the bowl are especially gorgeous!
Drooling over here!
Love the graham cracker coating! These doughnuts look amazing Beth!
yum.. chocolate cravings have definitely kicked in! these doughnuts look amazing!
Everyone’s s’mores posts are driving me crazy…I need some! These look absolutely fantastic, love this idea!
I’m dubbing you the donut queen.
You’re killing me with all of these amazing donuts. The decision to dredge them in the graham crumbs before frying sounds perfect. Crying tears of donut jealousy/saccharine ecstasy right now!
Now that’s just brilliant, Beth. Awesome spin on s’mores!!
Can you believe that I missed having smores this summer!? i need to end the strike with these awesome doughnuts! Obsessed!!!
Smore’s are my absolute favorite! These look amazing. I will definitely have to try. YUM!