Bomboloni - pistachio custard filled doughnuts are an Italian dessert prepared with my easy to make Sicilian brioche dough. These soft and fluffy doughnuts are rolled in sugar and are filled with a delicious pistachio infused custard. Perfect for breakfast, dessert or as a snack!Have you tried my Sicilian brioche recipe yet? I've been experimenting with this brioche recipe over several months and I'm thrilled to discover how versatile it is!
Until now I've transformed this sweet yeast dough into cinnamon rolls as well as Italian sugar doughnuts. And on the day I made doughnuts for the first time I knew that my next recipe would be bomboloni - pistachio custard filled doughnuts!
Why is brioche dough perfect for making bomboloni?
- This yeasted sweet dough results in airy, soft and fluffy bomboloni.
- The orange zest and vanilla in my brioche dough add extra flavor to the bomboloni.
- Brioche dough is easy to make either by hand or in a stand mixer.
What are bomboloni?
Bombolini are basically Italian filled doughnuts. They differ from your basic doughnut as they don't have the hole in the middle.
The word bomboloni refers to the Italian word bomba meaning bomb which describes the shape of these doughnuts! They are enjoyed all over Italy for breakfast or as a snack anytime of day.
What can bomboloni be filled with?
Given my weakness for anything with pistachios I chose to fill my bomboloni with a pistachio infused custard cream, also called pastry cream or crema pasticciera in Italian. However, bomboloni can be stuffed with a variety of fillings. Some popular choices include:
- vanilla flavored pastry cream
- lemon flavored pastry cream
- chocolate hazelnut spread
- jam or jelly
- or you can leave them as is and enjoy them simply coated in sugar!
The following are step by step instructions with images to guide you through this recipe. Please scroll to the end of this post for the detailed printable recipe card.
Step by step Instructions
Prepare the pistachio custard filling:
Place shelled, unsalted pistachios in a food processor and process until crumbly. Add honey and vegetable oil and process until a paste is formed. This may take up to about 5 minutes.The pistachio paste will be slightly crumbly, this is normal. Scrape into a bowl and set aside while you prepare the custard.
Heat milk, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt over medium heat in a medium sized sauce pan. Whisk in the pistachio paste until smooth. Set aside.
Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk together egg yolks and sugar until smooth. Add all-purpose flour and whisk until fully incorporated. Pour half the heated milk mixture into the bowl with the eggs and immediately whisk until smooth.
Place the sauce pan with the milk back on the burner over medium heat. Pour the egg/milk mixture from the bowl into the sauce pan and whisk continuously until it thickens, about 5 minutes. Immediately remove it from the heat to prevent the bottom from scorching.
Transfer the custard to a bowl and place a sheet of plastic wrap on the surface of the cream to prevent a skin from forming while it cools. After a few minutes transfer to the refrigerator to cool completely, from 2-3 hours.
Prepare the dough:
Follow the instructions for my Sicilian brioche dough recipe until step #7, that is until the first 3 hour rising period.Divide the dough in half. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to ½ inch thickness (about 1 cm). Use a 3-inch doughnut cutter, or use a glass or mug with a similar sized opening, to cut into rounds.
Reroll the scraps to cut out more bomboloni, or if you prefer roll the dough into small balls to make mini doughnuts. Continue with the remaining dough.
Place the bomboloni on 2 parchment paper covered baking sheets. Let rest in a warm part of your kitchen for 1.5 hours, or until doubled in bulk.
To fry the bomboloni:
Place about 2 inches of vegetable oil in your fryer or heavy bottomed wide pan. Heat the oil until the handle of a wooden spoon immediately begins to bubble when submerged in the hot oil.
In order to prevent the bomboloni from losing their shape and deflating when handling them, cut the parchment paper into squares around the bomboloni, as shown above. Use the parchment paper to carefully lift the bomboloni and place into the hot oil. Avoid overcrowding the pan and fry only 3-4 bomboloni at the same time.
Fry for about 1 minute on each side, until golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel lined tray to absorb excess oil. Toss the bomboloni in granulated sugar while still warm in order to enable the sugar to stick to the doughnuts. Let cool a few more minutes before filling.
Fill the bomboloni:
Place the cooled pistachio custard cream in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Make a small hole on the side of each bomboloni with the star tip and pipe with the pistachio filling until you feel the sides of the bomboloni swell. Enjoy immediately!
Tips and suggestions:
- Although I have read that bomboloni may be baked at 350 degrees F until golden, I have not attempted this myself. Let me know if you give it a try!
- I used vegetable oil to fry my bomboloni. Alternatives include canola; sunflower or peanut oil.
- The pistachio custard cream may be prepared a day in advance and kept refrigerated.
- Bomboloni, or any doughnut for that matter, are best enjoyed the day they are made as they tend to dry out over time. If you have any leftover, keep covered at room temperature until the following day after which they should be refrigerated due to the cream filling.
- For a bite sized snack, roll dough into tiny round bomboloni. This recipe will make approximately 45-50 mini bomboloni.
If you give this recipe a try, please let me know how much you enjoyed it by rating it in the recipe card below. Feel free to Pin it for later. Buon appetito!
Don't forget to check out these other recipes made with brioche dough!

Ingredients
- 1 recipe Sicilian brioche dough
For the pistachio custard
- ½ cup pistachios unsalted and shelled
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 3 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 2 cups milk preferably whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- 4 large egg yolks
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
For rolling in
- ½ cup granulated sugar
For frying
- vegetable oil
Instructions
Prepare the pistachio custard filling:
- Place shelled, unsalted pistachios in a food processor and process until crumbly. Add honey and vegetable oil and process until a paste is formed, about 5 minutes. The pistachio paste will be slightly crumbly, this is normal. Scrape into a bowl and set aside.
- Heat milk, vanilla extract and salt over medium heat in a medium sized sauce pan. Whisk in the pistachio paste until smooth. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk together egg yolks and sugar until smooth. Add all-purpose flour and whisk until fully incorporated. Pour half the heated milk mixture into the bowl with the eggs and immediately whisk until smooth.
- Place the sauce pan with the milk back on the burner over medium heat. Pour the egg/milk mixture from the bowl into the sauce pan and whisk continuously until it thickens, about 5 minutes. Immediately remove it from the heat to prevent the bottom from scorching.
- Transfer to a bowl and place a sheet of plastic wrap on the surface of the cream to prevent a skin from forming while it cools. After a few minutes transfer to the refrigerator to cool completely, from 2-3 hours.
Prepare the dough
- Prepare the dough following the instructions for my Sicilian brioche dough recipe until step #7, that is until the first 3 hour rising period.
- Divide the dough in half. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to ½ inch thickness (about 1 cm). Use a 3-inch doughnut cutter, or use a glass or mug with a similar sized opening, to cut into rounds.
- Reroll the scraps to cut out more bomboloni, or if you prefer roll the dough into small balls to make mini doughnut balls. Continue with the remaining dough.
- Place the bomboloni on 2 parchment paper covered baking sheets. Let rest in a warm part of your kitchen for 1.5 hours, or until doubled in bulk.
To fry the bomboloni
- Place about 2 inches of vegetable oil in your fryer or heavy bottomed wide pan. Heat the oil until the handle of a wooden spoon immediately begins to bubble when submerged in the hot oil.
- In order to prevent the bomboloni from losing their shape and deflating when handling them, cut the parchment paper into squares around the bomboloni. Use the parchment paper to carefully lift the bomboloni and place into the hot oil. Avoid overcrowding the pan and fry only 3-4 bomboloni at a time.
- Fry for about 1 minute on each side, until golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel lined tray to absorb excess oil.
- Toss the bomboloni in granulated sugar while still warm in order to enable the sugar to stick to the doughnuts. Let cool a few more minutes before filling.
Fill the bomboloni
- Place the cooled pistachio custard cream in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Make a small hole on the side of each bomboloni with the star tip and pipe with the pistachio filling until you feel the sides of the bomboloni swell. Enjoy immediately!
Notes
- Although I have read that bomboloni may be baked at 350 degrees F until golden, I have not attempted this myself. Let me know if you give it a try!
- I used vegetable oil to fry my bomboloni. Alternatives include canola; sunflower or peanut oil.
- The pistachio custard cream may be prepared a day in advance and kept refrigerated.
- Bomboloni, or any doughnut for that matter, are best enjoyed the day they are made as they tend to dry out over time. If you have any leftover, keep covered at room temperature until the following day after which they should be refrigerated due to the cream filling.
- For a bite sized snack, rolls portions of dough into tiny round bomboloni. This recipe will make approximately 45-50 mini bomboloni.
- Please note that the nutritional information provided is approximate and may vary according to exact ingredients used and portion size.
Nutrition
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Brittany
The dough came out beautifully. However, I was not able to pipe the donuts with the custard. Followed the recipe exactly and gave it 6 hours to set up in the fridge but it was like soup. Even tried cooking extra flour into it and folding in whipped cream. Ended up just being a dipping sauce.
Nadia
Hello Brittany, glad you enjoyed the dough but I'm sorry to hear about the custard cream. Can I ask was it thickened when you first took the custard off the stove? Just wondering if I can help you figure out what went wrong so it doesn't happen again. Thank you for reaching out to me.
Brittany
Hi! I think it needed to cook longer. I didn't know how thick it was supposed to be. Like pudding consistency?
Nadia
Hi Brittany, thanks for replying! Yes it should be thick when you take it off the stove, pudding like. The key here is to bring it to a gentle boil and stir until it thickens, making sure that it doesn't burn. Hope it works out for you next time!
Giuliana Sparacino
The brioche dough for this is absolutely incredible, from someone that was raised in a very cultural Sicilian family, when we taste things we know there authentic. These were perfect, I filled them with Nutella how amazing was the dough, light and airy and the caramalized orange zest brought it to another level. LOVE LOVE
Nadia
Hello Giuliana, I'm thrilled to hear that you enjoyed my bomboloni recipe! Brioche dough is in fact so versatile and I'm looking forward to using it for more recipes. And of course you can't go wrong filling them with Nutella. Thank you for your comment Giuliana!
TC
Hi, just wanting to know if the 301 kcal count is per doughnut or for the whole tray baked? Thank you very much
Nadia
Hello TC, the calorie count is definitely only for 1 bomboloni, however not baked but fried as indicated in the recipe. Of course, the calorie count is always approximate as I indicate in my recipe card. The size of your doughnut may vary as well as how much filling you put inside. Hope this helps!
FM
Beautiful!
Nadia
Thank you!
Jamie
Hey! I'm making this dough right now. But I'm unsure about the rising time. Does it need to rise 3 hours first, then shape, and then 1,5 after rise or does it need to be shaped immediately and then 1,5 rise?
Nadia
Hi Jamie it’s 3 hours initially and 1.5 after you have shaped the doughnuts. Hope you enjoy them!