It was discusses and explained in a previous shiur by Chacham Yitzchak Yosef shlit”a. The question of reciting a beracha on sufganiyot during a meal.
In a prior halachah one who eats cake in the middle of a meal (when eating bread) does not recite a beracha upon it.
The reason for this is because the cake is covered by the beracha that one recited on bread. The same is the case with other types of pat haba’ah bekisnin, such as crackers, filled pastries, or other sweet cakes.
Therefore, on Chanukah, when one is eating a sufganiya (a jelly-doughnut), one does not recite a beracha on it when eating it in a meal.
On Shabbat, if one wants to be able to recite more berachot, then one should eat the doughnut after reciting Birkat hamazon, and this way one can recite mezonot upon eating it.
There are those who claim that the reason why we do not recite a mezonot on a pat haba’ah bekisnin during a meal is because if one were to have 216g of it, he would be required to recite hamotzi anyways.
However, since a sufganiya is fried and not baked, according to this reasoning, one would have to recite mezonot in the middle of the meal since one would not be required to recite hamotzi even after eating 216g of it. This reasoning is really mistaken, since the real reason why we do not recite mezonot on such a food during a meal is because according to some Rishonim any pat haba’ah bekisnin can be hamotzi.
According to Chacham Chai Gaon, one would only recite mezonot on an item that is crackerlike, and one would recite hamotzi on cake or the like. Therefore, since according to some Rishonim a sufganiya is hamotzi, the general apporoach is safek berachot lehakel, and assume that it is covered by the hamotzi that one recited on bread at the beginning of the meal.
A logical end goal to this matter is though there are many different and good opinions that one can rely on that the beracha will still remain mezonot.
I would like to insert that in the sefer “Korban Isheh” (Siman 4) quotes a Chacham of Syria and writes that if one is only baking the item of food with intention that he will fry it afterward, then the berachah is mezonot and not hamotzi even if one is kove’ah seudah.
In conclusion: Shulchan Aruch (368:3; 409:7; 612:4) rules like the Rambam. However, since the rule of safek berachot lehakel is against the ruling of Shulchan Aruch (see Birkei Yosef 7:3; Chayim Shaal 2:15), it is acceptable to recite hamotzi if one was to eat 216g worth of mezonot, like the opinion of Rashi.
Have a Safe and Happy Chanukah!