A full hour of rest feels like a long time when you want muffins now. But that wait is what turns a simple baking powder batter into something that bakes up tall and light, with a crumb that actually mimics a fried dough interior. These jelly donut muffins deliver the nostalgic hit of raspberry jam and powdered sugar without a pot of oil, and the texture comes from a trick you can see happening in the bowl.
I once rushed and skipped the rest, thinking it wouldn’t matter. The muffins came out dense and flat, like hockey pucks.
Batter Rest for Lift
Letting the batter sit for a full hour does more than just hydrate the flour. You’ll notice it visibly aerates: tiny bubbles form throughout, and the mixture thickens slightly.
That air is what puffs the muffins into domed, light interiors, without it, they bake up flatter and denser. The rest is critical, not optional. Now I always let the batter rest the full hour while I clean up, and the muffins puff up.
Butter and Oil Together
Butter alone can make muffins dry or crumbly once cooled. Oil alone gives moisture but little flavor.
Using both gets you the rich, nutty taste of European-style butter, noticeable in the first bite, plus the tender, moist crumb that oil provides. The balance keeps the texture soft for days, mimicking a fried donut’s interior without any frying.
Powdered Sugar Coat First
Coating warm muffins in powdered sugar creates a soft, sweet crust that sticks. When the muffin is still hot from the oven, the sugar slightly melts and adheres to the surface, forming a delicate shell. This replicates the classic donut coating without deep frying.
You taste that sugary hit before the jam, just like a real jelly donut.
Jam Injected After Baking
Injecting jam after baking keeps the filling distinct. If you added it before baking, the jam would soak into the batter and turn the center gummy. Instead, the baked muffin stays dry and tender, and the jam remains bright and separate.
A skewer creates a clean channel, and a narrow piping tip lets you fill precisely until the jam just peeks out.
Prep: 1 hr 30 min · Cook: 15 min · Total: 1 hr 45 min · Servings: 10
Ingredient Picks for Jelly Donut Muffins
All-purpose flour or gluten free baking flour: Use the gluten free blend if needed; it swaps 1:1 without changing texture.
Unsalted butter (Irish or European-style): Higher butterfat gives a richer flavor that stands out against the sweet jam.
Full fat sour cream: Low fat or nonfat will make the muffins tougher and less tender.
Buttermilk: Real buttermilk reacts with the baking soda for lift; powdered buttermilk mixed with milk works too.
Raspberry jam: Seedless jam yields a smoother filling, but chunky jam adds texture if you prefer.
Build the Batter, Then Rest It
Mix dry ingredients
Whisk flour, sugar, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. The nutmeg should smell fragrant, if it’s faint, your spice is old.
Whisk wet ingredients
In a medium bowl, whisk melted butter, oil, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla until smooth. The mixture should look glossy and emulsified, not separated.
Add buttermilk
Pour in the buttermilk and whisk until homogeneous. It may look slightly curdled, that’s fine, the acid is doing its job.
Combine wet and dry
Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir with a spatula until no flour streaks remain. Stop as soon as it comes together; overmixing will deflate the bubbles you’re about to create.
Rest the batter
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature for exactly 1 hour. You’ll see tiny bubbles form and the batter thicken slightly, that air is what gives tall, domed muffins.
Prep the oven and pan
With 50 minutes into the rest, heat the oven to 425°F. Grease the muffin pan cups and the top rims, this prevents the muffin tops from sticking and tearing.
Fill the cups
Use a large scoop (like an ice cream scoop) to drop generous mounds of batter into each cup. Don’t press or tap the scoop, handle the batter gently so the air stays trapped.
Bake and reduce heat
Bake at 425°F for 8 minutes, then lower the oven to 350°F and bake another 6 to 8 minutes. The muffins should be golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool and sugar coat
Let muffins rest in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. While still warm, roll each muffin in powdered sugar until fully coated, the sugar will slightly melt and stick, forming a soft crust.
Inject the jam
Use a skewer to poke a hole into the top of each muffin and rotate to create a cavity. Fit a piping bag with a narrow tip, fill with raspberry jam, and inject until jam just begins to peek out. Stop there, overfilling makes a mess.
Jelly Donut Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or gluten free baking flour 320g
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200g
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter 57g, melted (use Irish or European-style for the best flavor)
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil 56g
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup full fat sour cream 65g
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk 255ml
- 2 cups powdered sugar for coating
- 1 1/2 cups raspberry jam
Instructions
Whisk dry ingredients:
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt by whisking.Mix wet ingredients:
In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, oil, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla until homogeneous, then incorporate the buttermilk with a whisk.Combine and rest batter:
Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Wrap the bowl with plastic film and allow it to rest at room temperature for 1 hour so the batter aerates, leading to taller muffins.Preheat and grease pan:
When about 50 minutes have passed, heat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and grease the interior and top rims of a muffin pan to yield 10 muffins.Fill muffin cups:
Employ a large scoop (e.g., an ice cream scoop) to gently deposit generous mounds of batter into the 10 cups, taking care not to deflate the airy texture.Bake at two temperatures:
Bake for 8 minutes, then lower the oven setting to 350°F (175°C) and continue baking for an additional 6-8 minutes (there’s no need to wait for the temperature to adjust).Cool in pan:
Let the muffins rest in the pan for about 5 minutes, then carefully extract them and transfer to a wire rack.Create inner cavity:
Using a skewer or chopstick, pierce a hole into the top of each muffin and gently rotate to form an inner cavity.Roll in powdered sugar:
Put 2 cups of powdered sugar into a bowl. Roll the warm muffins one by one in the sugar to cover the entire exterior.Inject raspberry jam:
Attach a narrow tip suitable for jam to a piping bag. Fill the bag with raspberry jam and inject each muffin until the jam begins to emerge from the hole.Enjoy immediately:
Cut one open and savor! Best consumed immediately, akin to a donut.
Flour, Jam, Buttermilk: What You Can Swap and What You Shouldn’t
All-purpose flour: Gluten-free baking flour (1:1 blend). Use a cup-for-cup gluten-free flour blend that contains xanthan gum. The muffins will be slightly more tender and a bit more crumbly, but the structure holds.
Avoid all-purpose gluten-free blends without binders, they’ll make the muffins fall apart.
Raspberry jam: Any flavor jam or preserves. Strawberry, apricot, or grape jam all work.
The texture stays the same. If the jam has large fruit chunks, chop them smaller so the piping tip doesn’t clog.
If the jam is very loose (like a jelly), the filling may spread more inside the muffin, but that’s fine.
Buttermilk: Milk + lemon juice or vinegar. For each cup of buttermilk, put 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar in a measuring cup, then fill with milk to the 1-cup line. Let it sit 5 minutes until it curdles slightly.
The acid still reacts with the baking soda for lift; the flavor will be slightly tangy but close to real buttermilk.
Sour cream: Full-fat Greek yogurt. Use the same amount. The muffins will be nearly identical in tenderness.
Low-fat or nonfat yogurt adds too much water and makes the crumb tougher. Stick with full-fat or skip the swap.
Storage and Serving
These muffins are at their best the day they’re made, with a soft, tender crumb and a crisp powdered sugar coating that mimics a fried donut. For the same-day serving window, eat them within a few hours of injecting the jam; the sugar stays dry and the texture is spot on. If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
The coating will soften and become slightly sticky, but the muffin itself stays moist. To refresh after a day, pop a muffin in a 300°F oven for 5 minutes, then re-coat with a light dusting of powdered sugar. Avoid refrigerating; the cold dries out the crumb and hardens the sugar.
Freezing is not recommended: the jam filling and coating don’t survive thawing without turning gummy or soggy. Plan to make and eat these same-day for the full experience.
Tips
- Use a large scoop (3-tablespoon size) to deposit batter in one clean drop per cup; scraping or scooping twice deflates the air that formed during the rest.
- Hold the scoop close to the pan and release the batter without tapping the scoop against the rim; tapping knocks out the bubbles that make the muffins tall.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make these muffins ahead of time?
Best same-day, within hours of injecting the jam. The powdered sugar coating stays crisp, and the crumb is soft.
Leftovers keep in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days, but the coating softens. Refresh in a 300°F oven for 5 minutes, then re-dust with sugar.
Why did my muffins not rise tall?
Most likely the batter didn’t rest the full hour, that rest lets air bubbles form and thicken the mixture, which gives the lift. Overmixing when combining wet and dry can also deflate the batter. Next time, stir just until no flour streaks remain, then cover and wait the full hour.
Can I use a different flavor of jam?
Absolutely. Strawberry, apricot, or grape all work well.
If the jam has large fruit chunks, chop them smaller so the piping tip doesn’t clog. Very loose jelly may spread more inside the muffin, but the texture stays the same.
How is this different from a traditional jelly donut?
No deep frying, the muffins are baked with a combination of butter and oil for moisture and flavor, then coated in powdered sugar while warm to form a soft crust. The jam is injected after baking, keeping it bright and separate, just like a donut’s filling.
