Deep-fried with a crisp exterior and fluffy, chewy interior, Pączki are mind-blowingly delicious yeasted Polish donuts with a fruit or custard filling.

Crispy outside, soft and fluffy with the perfect chewiness inside and a sweet filling, Polish donuts known as Pączki will set the bar for all other doughnuts. They really are that good!

Because a great donut is the best indulgence, right?

The story behind Pączki is that it was traditionally made in Poland before Lent started to use up rich foods like lard and sugar that weren’t allowed during the fast.

In Poland, these decadent donut-type confections are typically eaten on Fat Thursday (called Tłusty Czwartek), which is the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, which is when the Catholic season of Lent begins.

In the U.S., Pączki is a Fat Tuesday treat.You might also know the day as Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, and Pączki Day! It’s the day before Ash Wednesday.

I first had Pączki a few years back when I was still married. My mother-in-law Sahar was Syrian, but her sister-in-law Yanina was Polish. They were both amazing cooks, and of course they taught each other their favorites. Sahar brought recipes like Ma’amoul (Middle Eastern Date-Filled Cookies) and Yanina shared dishes like Pączki.

I learned so much from my amazing mother-in-law, especially in terms of cooking. In addition to a whole host of Middle Eastern recipes, Yanina’s Pączki was another recipe that Sahar shared with me.

Deliciously rich and decadent, soft and fluffy yet chewy, jam-filled Pączki are so much better than regular jelly donuts! Prune butter, stewed plum jam, or rose hip jam are traditional fillings, but just about any type of jam or custard you like would be delicious.

In This Article

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Softy, fluffy, and chewy texture. When you think of how the texture of a yeast doughnut should be, Pączki is it.
Crispy outside, but not oily. The trick to getting a crispy (not soggy or oily) exterior when you’re deep-frying Pączki is to add a touch of grain alcohol (vodka in this recipe) to the dough.
Eating Pączki is like biting into chewy, fluffy clouds of bliss. Did I mention that they will now set the bar for all other donut-type confections that you eat?

The Best Pączki Recipe

Ingredients in Polish Donuts

All-purpose flour
Whole milk
Instant yeast
Water
Sugar
Salt
Egg yolks
Vodka
Vanilla extract
Butter

Step-by-Step Guide for How to Make Pączki

How to Make Pączki Dough:

Add ½ cup flour to the bowl of a stand mixer, and carefully pour in the scaled milk.
Use the stand mixer’s paddle attachment to mix for 10 seconds on medium-low to medium. Let it cool until lukewarm, about 15 minutes.
In a small bowl, stir together the yeast, lukewarm water, and 1 teaspoon sugar until the yeast is dissolved. Add this mixture to the milk/flour mixture.
Mix with the paddle for 10 seconds.
Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, cover it with plastic wrap, and let the dough rest for 30 minutes (it will puff during this time).
Put the bowl of the stand mixer back onto the mixer and attach the dough hook. Add the salt, egg yolks, 4 tablespoons sugar, vodka, vanilla, melted butter, and remaining 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour.
Use the dough hook attachment to mix for 3 minutes on medium-low to medium. The dough will be sticky and wet when it’s done.
Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, cover it with plastic wrap, and let the dough rest until it’s doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Pro Tip: Follow the knead times carefully for this recipe, making sure not to over-work the dough.

How to Shape and Fry Pączki:

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface.
Flour your hands and knead the dough a few times until it comes together nicely.
This is how the dough should look when it's ready.
Lightly flour your surface, and roll the dough out until it’s a 10-inch circle about 1-inch thick.
Use a 2 ½ to 3-inch circle biscuit or cookie cutter to stamp out the dough. You can gather the scraps into a ball, roll it out again, and stamp out circles until the dough is gone.
Arrange the dough circles on a large baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Cover with plastic wrap, and let the donuts rise until they look puffed, about 30 minutes.
Heat oil to 350F, and then cook 4 donuts at a time. Adjust to the heat to try to keep the oil around 340 to 360F.
The donuts are done when they’re golden on both sides, about 4 minutes per side.
Remove the donuts from the oil and immediately put them into the bowl of sugar. Use tongs to turn them around in the sugar until they’re well-coated. Once coated in sugar, place the donuts onto a paper towel-lined baking tray. Cook the remaining donuts the same way. Let the donuts cool to room temperature before filling, about 15 minutes.

How to Fill Pączki with Jam:

Use a sharp paring knife to cut a slit into the side of each donut.
Put the jam into a piping bag fitted with round tip that’s big enough for the jam to flow through. Insert the tip into the slit you just cut in the side of each donut, and squeeze about 1 tablespoon of jam into the center of each donut.
I like to let just a little bit of jam show so you can tell what the filling is.

Storage

Like most fresh homemade donuts, these are best eaten on the same day that they're fried. However, there is a way to make this recipe ahead of time!

To Make Pączki Ahead of Time:

Make the dough as the recipe directs up to the point that the dough circles are stamped out and arranged on a baking tray – but don’t let it do the 30 minute rise!
At this point, pop the uncovered baking tray into the freezer to flash-freeze the raw donuts. Once they’re frozen solid, you can arrange them in an air-tight container stacked between pieces of parchment paper for up to 3 months.
When you want to fry the doughnuts, thaw as many as you want to room temperature. Once they’re at room temperature, lightly cover them with plastic wrap and let them rest until puffed (about 30 minutes). After that, fry them as the recipe directs.

Variations on This Recipe

Bake them in the oven. I find that about 8 minutes in a preheated 375F oven is perfect.
Air fry them. Preheat an air fryer to 350F. Once hot, add as many donuts as will fit without crowding the basket into the unlined basket. Air fry for 6 minutes, and then flip and air fry for 2 to 4 minutes longer.
Fill them with whatever jam you like. Instead of raspberry, you can go with a more classic filling like plum jam or rose petal jelly. Custard, crème patisserie, or crème diplomat are also delicious. Or go with something wild and crazy like peanut butter mousse.
Instead of a sugar coating, use powdered sugar, icing, or chocolate glaze. Instead of rolling the hot donuts in sugar as soon as they come out of the oil, place them on a wire rack set over a paper towel-lined tray. Let them cool, fill them, and top with one of these other suggestions.

Tips for Making This Pączki Recipe

Use vodka as your alcohol of choice. I definitely don’t recommend skipping the alcohol in this recipe! I’ve made these doughnuts with and without it, and just a touch of alcohol really helps these fried treats absorb less oil from frying, yielding less greasy donuts. And I couldn't taste the vodka at all! But I’ve also made them with rum and brandy, which I could subtly taste. For that reason, I prefer to use vodka in this recipe.
The sugar sticks to the exterior best if you use fresh sugar each time. If you want the sugar to uniformly coat the outside of the donuts, you can change out the sugar each time and just add less sugar to the bowl each time. You will need about ⅓ cup of sugar to coat 4 Pączki.
When you select a tip for the piping bag to fill the donuts with jam, choose a tip large enough to let the jam flow through. Some types of jam have larger pieces of fruit that others, so make sure you pick a tip that’s large enough for the jam (and its fruit pieces) to fit through.

Pączki (Polish Doughnuts) FAQs

How do You Pronounce Pączki?

The “ą” in the word Pączki has an ogonek, which looks like a little hook or a tail under the letter “a”. In Polish, this produces an “ohn” or “awn” sound.

The phonetic pronunciation of Pączki is “pohnsch-key” or “pawnsch-key”.

What is the Difference Between a Donut and Pączki?

The difference between Pączki and regular jelly donuts is that Pączki are richer. These Polish doughnuts are made from an enriched dough similar to brioche that contains eggs, sugar, butter, and milk.

I’ve also made brioche doughnuts, and I have to say, Pączki are even better! Both brioche donuts and Pączki are soft and fluffy, but the difference I’ve noticed between them is that Pączki has a delicious chewiness as well.

Why is Alcohol Added to Pączki Dough?

Traditionally, a little bit of grain alcohol, such as vodka, is added to Pączki. As the pastry is deep-fried, the alcohol evaporates off and prevents the dough from absorbing excess oil. The end result is a less-greasy fried pastry.

I know this might sound like an old wives’ tale, but I’ve made these Polish donuts with and without alcohol. I was surprised when the ones made with vodka were noticeably less oily! And nope, you can't taste the vodka.

More Decadent Treats to Make

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This Pączki Recipe Will Be Your New Favorite Doughnut (Polish Donuts)

Why You’ll Love This Recipe