Flaky, buttery pastries tossed in sugar, filled with your favorite jam, and finished with an irresistibly creamy peanut butter glaze. The perfect combination of salty and sweet!

Back by popular demand, I present to you my croissant donut (aka “Cronut”) recipe. Revamped and reimagined, this is one recipe you do not want to miss!

Peanut Butter and Jelly is perhaps the greatest and most popular flavor combination in American history. So, I couldn’t resist but creating a recipe to honor this magnificent duo!

I can only think of one thing that could make peanut butter and jelly even better… reincarnating them in donut form!

These pastries came out better than I could have ever hoped. They taste exactly like the real deal! The perfect balance of salty and sweet, these truly are the best croissant donuts ever. Donuts and PB&J seem to go tother like, well, peanut butter and jelly!

If you have yet to try making my homemade croissant donuts, put this on your weekend to-do-list immediately. While the process may be a wee bit tedious, I promise that the end product is worth every moment. I have broken down the process to make it as simple as possible. These amazing treats really aren’t that difficult to make, they just require a lot of time and patience.

Day One: Making & Proofing the Dough

When reworking this recipe, I decided to add another day to the process. I know, I know! Two days is already long enough to have your mouth watering over these delicious pastries. But trust me, the additional day for “proofing” makes quite a bit of difference in the texture of the dough. The first day is quite easy. Simply, make the dough, let is rise for a few hours, roll it out, and then refrigerate it overnight.

Day Two: Rolling & Turning the Dough

The following day, place the dough rectangle on a lightly floured work surface. Place the butter block in the center of the dough and fold up the two longer sides, until they meet in the middle, pinching the edges together.

Now for the “turns”! For turn one, turn the dough so that the short end faces you and roll out into a 22-by-9-inch rectangle. Fold the bottom third up and the top third down, covering the bottom third (as if folding a letter). Rotate the dough block 90 degrees, so that the flap in on the right (like a book). Cover and place it in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Repeat this process three more times, for a grand total of 4 turns, putting the dough in the freezer between each turn. Once all of the turns are completed, go ahead and refrigerate the dough overnight.

Day Three: Cutting, Frying, and Garnishing

On the final day, roll out the dough until it is 1/4-inch thick. Use round cookie cutters to cut the dough. Don’t throw away the centers! You haven’t lived until you’ve tasted a “Cronut” hole!

Next, place the pastries on a baking sheet, put it inside a plastic bag, and allow the donuts to rise for 3 hours (until doubled in size).

Fry the donuts, then wait until they are slightly cooled before rolling them in granulated sugar.

Assembling

To assemble the donuts, use a piping bag fitted with a narrow pastry tip to fill them with your favorite jam or jelly. The easiest way to do this is to poke holes into the bottom of the donut and pipe the jelly in. I did 4-5 pockets of jelly per donut.

Finally, dunk the donuts into the creamy peanut butter glaze and allow it to harden.

Enjoying

Since donuts are for breakfast, and PB&J is for lunch, it’s okay to eat these pastries for both right? In all honestly I had one for dinner last night.

These irresistible, unique croissant donuts just made mealtime a whole lot sweeter.

Anytime is “Peanut Butter Jelly Time”.

Recipe:

*Yields 9 croissant donuts

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons water, boiling
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons milk, warm
1/3 cup + 1 1/4 teaspoon (75 g) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
3 3/4 cups + 3 tablespoons (500 g) bread flour
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons (15 g) salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very cold

Frosting

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons milk

Jelly/Jam
Crushed peanuts (optional)

Directions

Day One

1. Pour the milk and boiling water into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Stir in the yeast and sugar. Let the mixture sit until frothy and sugar is dissolved, approximately 5 minutes.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and nutmeg. Gradually add flour mixture to the yeast mixture and mix on low speed until the dough comes together in a ball (approximately 2 minutes) scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Knead the dough on medium speed for 5 minutes.

3. Put the dough into an oiled bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise in warm spot until doubled in size, approximately 3 hours.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll into 8-by-9-inch rectangle. Place on sheet pan lined with parchment paper, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

Day Two

1. To make the butter block, place a piece of parchment paper on flat surface. Put cold butter on parchment paper, cover with a second piece of parchment paper and use a rolling pin to mash butter into a 9-by-4-inch rectangle. Place the butter block in the freezer for 15 minutes to stiffen up again.

2. Tip the dough out onto the lightly floured work surface. Place the butter block in the center of the dough. Stretch and fold the two longer sides over the butter block, meeting in the center, and pinch the edges to seal in the butter. Roll the dough (with the short side facing you) into a 22-by-9-inch rectangle. Fold the bottom third of the dough up as if you were folding a letter. Fold the top down to cover the bottom third. Turn the block 90 degrees so that the flap is on the right (like a book). This is called a “turn” Place the dough into a plastic bag and chill in the freezer for 20 minutes.

3. Repeat this process three more times, for a total of four “turns”. Refrigerate the dough block overnight.

Day Three

1. Roll out the dough until it is 1/2-inch thick. Use a 3 1/2-inch round cookie-cutter to cut out the donuts. Use a 1-inch cookie-cutter to cut out the donut holes. Place pastries on a cookie sheet, 2-inches apart (to allow for spreading), cover with a plastic bag, and allow them to rise at room temperature for 3 hours (donuts should double in size).

2. Heat 3 inches of oil in a large pot until it reaches 350 degrees F. Using a spoon with openings, gently place the donuts into the oil (no more than three at a time). Allow the donuts to brown before flipping (approximately 1 to 1 1/2 minutes each side). Place the donuts onto a bed of paper towels and dab to absorb as much oil as possible. When you are done, toss in the donut holes and fry for 1 minute.

3. When cool enough to handle, dip pastries in sugar, covering completely and allow them to cool.

4. Once cooled, use a pastry bag fitted with a long narrow tip to pipe jelly into donuts.

5. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whisk together powdered sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla. Then stir in 2 tablespoons of milk, adding additional milk until desired consistency is reached. Continue mixing until smooth.

6. Dip donuts in glaze. Top with crushed peanuts.