Sourdough Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts Recipe
Last Updated on December 20, 2024 by TheFarmChicken
A sour cream old-fashioned doughnut is the perfect Fancy Farm Food. I love how this sourdough old-fashioned sour cream doughnuts recipe is soft on the inside, fried golden brown with crunchy outsides, and is covered with a sweet glaze, giving you the perfect bite. A cold winters day with a cup of coffee is a wonderful way to enjoy these. You could also gift them as a homemade gift idea for friends and family.
What is your favorite doughnut? I love Bavarian cream doughnuts, raspberry filled, fritters and old-fashioned sour cream doughnuts. So many flavor options make making your own homemade sourdough doughnuts fun and so worth it!
Disclaimer: These sourdough doughnuts are dangerous. Let them cool all the way and you will be so happy with how delicious they are!
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Do you need a sourdough starter?
I can help! Check out Learning Sourdough with Agnes or purchase some of my dehydrated sourdough starter from my Farm Goods store.
Ingredients for Sourdough Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts:
- Cake Flour or All Purpose: I would recommend using cake flour if you want to ensure a tender texture, but all-purpose flour will work fine. Just be sure not to overwork the dough.
- Baking Soda, Baking Powder: Added to the dough to give you a fluffy and delicious doughnut. Baking soda and baking powder function as a leavening agent.
- Salt: Perfect for balancing the flavors. You can use kosher salt if you prefer or regular table salt.
- Nutmeg: Nutmeg is a necessary subtle flavor in these sourdough doughnuts.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: for flavor.
- Sour Cream: I use a full fat sour cream. This gives the doughnut the richness needed to make a soft inside and crunchy outside. Make sure to use room temperature sour cream.
- Brown Sugar: Added sweetness and rich flavor. I love using brown sugar for an extra flavor and texture element.
- Sourdough Starter: You can use either active sourdough starter or sourdough starter discard.
- Egg Yolks: I hate wasting the egg white, but you truly get a better texture in this doughnut with just the yolks.
- Melted Butter: both to enhance the flavor and texture.
The Glaze
- Powdered Sugar: the perfect sugar for a glaze.
- Corn Syrup: Just a little bit but it helps the glaze dry just right!
- Whole Milk: You will add just enough to make the glaze thick but still dippable.
Deep Frying:
Deep frying can certainly be intimidating but with a few helpful tips it can be more approachable and leave you feeling ready to tackle the project! Here are a couple of my tips:
- Use a metal slotted spatula to flip and transfer the doughnuts. I have one linked at the end of this post.
- Try to keep your temperature consistent. You might have to increase and decrease the heat as you put cold doughnut dough in and take hot doughnuts out of the Dutch oven.
- Place the doughnuts carefully into the oil to not splash yourself. Hot oil will burn you very easily so be careful.
- You can save the oil and use it a couple of times before discarding it. Simply strain it and put it in a container to be stored until you are ready to deep fry something.
Check out my other sourdough donuts recipes:
- Apple Fritters – A Yeast Doughnut
- Bavarian Cream Filled Sourdough Doughnuts
- Apple Cider Donuts (Baked)
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Sourdough Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts Recipe
- 2 ½ cups (300g) cake flour (or all-purpose)
- 1 tsp (3g) baking powder
- ½ tsp (2g) baking soda
- 1 tsp (3g) salt
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 2 tsp (6g) pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (247g) full-fat sour cream, room temperature
- ½ cup (118g) brown sugar
- 2 egg yolks, room temperature
- 2 T (30g) butter, melted
- ½ cup (130g) sourdough discard
Glaze:
- 3 cups (255g) powdered sugar
- 2T (20g) corn syrup
- ¼ cup + 2 T (80g) whole milk
For Frying:
- 1-2 quarts of canola oil or peanut, or coconut oil
Instructions:
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Whisk together to combine and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar and egg yolks. Beat together for 1-2 minutes
- Next add the vanilla extract, sour cream, vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add the sourdough starter and the vanilla extract and beat until well combined.
- Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and with a rubber spatula stir by hand until it just comes together.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least one hour or overnight.
- About 20 minutes before you are wanting to start frying your doughnuts fill a Dutch oven with 2-3 inches of oil. Using a candy thermometer, heat the oil to 350 degrees on medium heat.
Prepare the Glaze:
- In a medium bowl combine the powdered sugar and corn syrup. Add the milk a little at a time until you reach a good consistency.
- If you get too much liquid, then add a little powdered sugar to thicken it up again. Set aside.
Fry the Doughnuts:
- Take the chilled dough from the fridge and remove a quarter of the dough. Place the bowl back in the fridge with the other ¾ of the dough.
- Place the dough on a work surface that has been generously floured. You don’t want to skimp on the flour. This dough can be sticky so the flour will make it easier to work with.
- Generously dust the top of the dough with flour and with your hands pat the dough to about a ½ inch thickness. (You can use a rolling pin, but I prefer doing it by hand.)
- Cut the doughnuts out with 2 sizes of biscuit cutters, a glass and bottle top or a doughnut cutter. Roughly 3 1/2 inches.
- Take the extra dough pieces and set to the side.
- Place the doughnuts, 2-3 at a time, into the hot oil. BE careful not to splash yourself or use anything with water on it in the oil.
- Cook for 2 minutes on each side flipping with a slotted spatula or spoon.
- After the doughnuts have cooked on both sides transfer from the hot oil to a plate lined with paper towels. The paper towels are used to absorb the extra oil.
- Let cool while you get the next batch ready to fry. (You can also fry the donut holes if you would like. Or add them back in to the dough to make another donut.)
- Once the doughnuts have cooled for 5 minutes dip in the glaze and place on a wire rack to cool and harden.
- Repeat this process until all the doughnuts have been fried.
- These sourdough doughnuts are best the first day, but you can store them in an airtight container for 3 days.
Makes 16 doughnuts
Notes:
- I would recommend mixing this dough up by hand. You don’t want to overwork the dough, and it is hard to control that in a stand mixer.
Sourdough Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (300g) cake flour (or all-purpose)
- 1 tsp (3g) baking powder
- ½ tsp (2g) baking soda
- 1 tsp (3g) salt
- ¼ tsp nutmeg heaping
- 2 tsp (6g) pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (247g) full-fat sour cream, room temperature
- ½ cup (118g) brown sugar
- 2 egg yolks room temperature
- 2 T (30g) butter, melted
- ½ cup (130g) sourdough discard
Glaze:
- 3 cups (255g) powdered sugar
- 2 T (20g) corn syrup
- ¼ cup + 2 T (80g) whole milk
For Frying:
- 1-2 quarts of canola oil or peanut or coconut oil
Instructions
Instructions:
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Whisk together to combine and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar and egg yolks. Beat together for 1-2 minutes
- Next add the vanilla extract, sour cream, vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add the sourdough starter and the vanilla extract and beat until well combined.
- Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and with a rubber spatula stir by hand until it just comes together.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least one hour or overnight.
- About 20 minutes before you are wanting to start frying your doughnuts fill a Dutch oven with 2-3 inches of oil. Using a candy thermometer, heat the oil to 350 degrees on medium heat.
Prepare the Glaze:
- In a medium bowl combine the powdered sugar and corn syrup. Add the milk a little at a time until you reach a good consistency.
- If you get too much liquid, then add a little powdered sugar to thicken it up again. Set aside.
Fry the Doughnuts:
- Take the chilled dough from the fridge and remove a quarter of the dough. Place the bowl back in the fridge with the other ¾ of the dough.
- Place the dough on a work surface that has been generously floured. You don’t want to skimp on the flour. This dough can be sticky so the flour will make it easier to work with.
- Generously dust the top of the dough with flour and with your hands pat the dough to about a ½ inch thickness. (You can use a rolling pin, but I prefer doing it by hand.)
- Cut the doughnuts out with 2 sizes of biscuit cutters, a glass and bottle top or a doughnut cutter. Roughly 3 1/2 inches.
- Take the extra dough pieces and set to the side.
- Place the doughnuts, 2-3 at a time, into the hot oil. BE careful not to splash yourself or use anything with water on it in the oil.
- Cook for 2 minutes on each side flipping with a slotted spatula or spoon.
- After the doughnuts have cooked on both sides transfer from the hot oil to a plate lined with paper towels. The paper towels are used to absorb the extra oil.
- Let cool while you get the next batch ready to fry. (You can also fry the donut holes if you would like. Or add them back in to the dough to make another donut.)
- Once the doughnuts have cooled for 5 minutes dip in the glaze and place on a wire rack to cool and harden.
- Repeat this process until all the doughnuts have been fried and the scraps have been used up.
Notes
I hope you enjoy making this fun doughnut recipe! I have enjoyed learning all about doughnut making and they are fun and delicious to make! Let me know below what you think of the recipe and comment with any questions you have!
Thank you for stopping by TheFarmChicken!
Happy Baking,
Mariah Nienhuis
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Psalms 103:1
Shop this Post:
- Candy Thermometer
- My Favorite Dutch Oven
- Cooling Rack
- Slotted Spatula
- Whisks
- Danish Dough Hook
- Donut Cutter
Frequently Asked Questions:
I would not recommend baking these. You sure can but you won’t get as nice of an end result. It will have less crunchy edges and might be drier if baked.
They generally have a thicker batter and are able to be shaped.
As a general rule sourdough doughnuts are leavened with a sourdough. It has active wild yeast. Regular doughnuts are usually leavened with commercial yeast or baking powder.
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Can you substitute the nutmeg for a different spice? My daughter is extremely allergic to nutmeg, so we avoid it in our home
I would say you could also do a bit of cinnamon. It just adds a little something so you could probably even omit it all together!
When you say cake flour, is there a particular cake flour you recommend? Also if cake flour is used, would it impact other ingredients from the recipe?
Hello! I used Pillsbury brand because that is what I had but King Arthur would be an even better option. Nope, you should be able to keep it all the same.