Tessa's Recipe Rundown
Taste: The little bit of nutmeg combined with the sour cream and sweet glaze makes these doughnuts taste just like the ones at your favorite bakery, if not better!
Texture: Slightly crunchy on the outside, cakey and soft on the inside. All the little cracks in these doughnuts just soak up the shiny, crackled glaze.
Ease: There’s no yeast in this recipe so you can have these doughnuts IN YOUR MOUTH in a little more than an hour from start to finish.
Pros: I think the pros are inherently implied, they’re doughnuts!
Cons: Deep fried sugary goodness ain’t too good for your diet.
Would I make this again? Yes, whenever I’m craving these old-fashioned cake doughnuts I’ll whip this recipe out.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
I have huge sweet tooth cravings on the regular. Can you relate?
When I get a doughnut craving, it’s intense.
In my experience, a lot of doughnut shops make pretty bland and greasy doughnuts that leave a weird residue on your tongue.
There are a few local shops that I LOVE, but I rarely have an excuse to make a trip to one of them.
This recipe honestly takes about the same amount of time that it takes to drive across town to my favorite bakery, so it’s kind of perfect. Plus, if you only eat doughnuts when you make them from scratch, you can’t really go overboard, right? That’s my logic at least.
These Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts are just like the old-fashioned cake doughnuts from the bakery. They’re kind of crunchy and cracked on the outside, making those nooks just perfect for soaking up the thick, shiny, crackled glaze.
We completely dunk the doughnuts in that glaze in the recipe, and it’s amazing. The inside is soft and cakey with a more firm bite than yeast doughnuts. Plus you can’t beat sour cream – it’s good with just about everything.
I don’t always prefer old-fashioned cake doughnuts to yeast doughnuts, but when I do this is absolutely the recipe I use. You can’t beat how much less time these take than yeast doughnuts, too.
Sprinkle of Science
Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts Recipe Tips
1. Use a Scale to Weigh Your Ingredients
Using a scale is a smart idea for these sour cream doughnuts. Any issues I hear about the dough being too dry or sticky are likely due to inaccurate measuring! If your doughnuts aren’t as fluffy and light as you’d like, it’s due to compacting too much flour into your measuring cup. You can learn more about how to measure flour the RIGHT way here.
2. Use REAL Bleached Cake Flour
- This is a must for these sour cream doughnuts.
- Purchased cake flour will yield light and delicate doughnuts, just like the ones from a good bakery.
- DIY substitutions don’t really cut it.
- AP flour will not create doughnuts with that same soft texture.
- Bleached cake flour will work best. Unbleached (like King Arthur Flour) won’t absorb as much moisture and you may end up with doughnuts that crumble while frying.
- You can learn more about cake flour here.
3. This Recipe is FRIED
- Yes, you must fry these sour cream doughnuts
- This recipe was specifically designed to be fried and not baked.
- USE FRESH OIL. Oil goes rancid quickly, often before the date on the bottle.
- If it has *any* unpleasant smell, don’t use it, as that flavor will transfer to your doughnuts.
Can I Air Fry These Doughnuts?
I don’t personally own an air fryer, but a reader recently messaged me, letting me know that she had success air frying this recipe. Let us know in the comments below if you have success air frying these doughnuts, too!
My Favorite Doughnut Tools:
- Digital Scale – to ensure your ingredients are measured correctly
- Doughnut Cutter – for perfectly uniform doughnuts
- Deep Fry Thermometer – to ensure your oil maintains the correct temperature
- Dutch Oven – perfect for frying!
More Recipes You’ll Love:
- Krispy Kreme Copycat Glazed Doughnuts
- Baked Strawberry Lemon Doughnuts
- Chocolate Old-Fashioned Doughnuts
- Pumpkin Old Fashioned Doughnuts
- Classic Cake Doughnuts
Email This Recipe
Enter your email, and we’ll send it to your inbox.
Ingredients
For the donuts:
- 2 1/4 cup (255 grams) cake flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
- 2 tablespoons (29 grams) butter, at COOL room temperature
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup (113 grams) sour cream
- Canola oil, for frying
For the glaze:
- 3 1/2 cup (350 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 1/2 teaspoons corn syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup hot water
Instructions
For the donuts:
- In a bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until sandy. Add the egg yolks and mix until light and thick. Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl in 3 additions, alternating with the sour cream, ending with the flour.
- Mix for 30 seconds on low speed or until the dough is smooth but slightly sticky. You want to mix enough that the dough doesn't fall apart in the oil, but not so much that it becomes tough. If the dough is unbearably sticky, add extra flour one tablespoon at a time (especially if you live in a warm & humid climate).
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour, or until firm.
- On a floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thickness. Use a doughnut cutter or two differently sized biscuit cutters to cut out as many donuts as possible, dipping the cutters into flour as necessary to prevent sticking. You should get about 12 doughnuts and holes. If the dough gets too loose, sticky, or greasy at any point, return to the fridge to firm it back up before continuing. Refrigerate while you heat the oil so the dough is slightly cold when it fries.
- Pour 2 inches of canola oil into a heavy-bottomed pot with a deep-fry thermometer attached. Heat to 325°F. Fry the doughnuts a few at a time, being careful not to overcrowd the pot. Fry on each side about 2 minutes, being careful not to let them burn. Keep an eye on the thermometer and adjust your stove heat to maintain the correct oil temperature. Let drain on a paper bag to soak up the excess grease.
For the glaze:
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl with a whisk until smooth. Immerse each doughnut into the glaze. Place on a wire rack above a sheet pan to catch any excess glaze. Let sit for 20 minutes until glaze is set. Doughnuts are best served the day they are made but may be store in an air tight container at room temperature for a few days.
Any way I could make these at home, freeze them and bust them out while on vacation next week?
Hey Tessa! Can you air fry these doughnuts or do they have to be made with oil?
The dough was so sticky they would not maintain their shape, except the first three. More flour or more and longer chill?
Super recipe … followed to a T and they came out remarkably well, considering this is the first doughnut I’ve ever made. They are a tiny bit less sweet than the Doughnut Shop variety, but that’s a good thing! Was thinking next time I might try a lemon glaze. Five stars!
These look amazing! I was wondering if you knew if you could use AP Flour instead of Cake flour? And how different the textures would be? Thanks!
I followed this recipe to the letter (except with the temperature) including using a scale to measure the ingredients (where indicated). They are very tasty doughnuts. I do not think a typical everyday person will complain. However, I personally thought the doughnuts seemed a bit dry and dense. The icing was too watery for me so I added two additional coats. My mom, who also is a sour cream doughnut expert said, “you should add nutmeg.” Lol. I told her I added nutmeg to the recipe. So, based on that comment, I would actually add more nutmeg. I might if possible add more butter. I would add more vanilla to the glaze and make it thicker. Perhaps I would make a glaze with butter, as I have seen some recipes do. The main issue I had was trying to maintain an even heat which may have affected my results. My heat continued to increase. Of course it did not take me just two hours to make, but much longer. This was my first attempt so… Nevertheless, my mom and I had fun making them on my birthday. I just had one for breakfast and it was good. It definitely tastes like a sour cream doughnut
I wanted to add to my comment that my dough was sticky and the doughnuts kept form and rose beautifully in the grease bath.
Amazing and SO Easy! Dealing with oil is always the biggest headache for me, but don’t let it scare you away from trying this recipe! Since childhood I have been a true lover of old fashioned and cake doughnuts, preferably unglazed. I did use a bit less nutmeg as noted, but think it would have been fine with the full amount (grate it from the pod, newer/fresh spices make a real difference). In the future I will test freezing the dough, pre-shaped, as well as air-frying. I’d post a photo, but don’t seem to have the option.
Made these delicious old fashion sour cream donuts. For us, the glaze was a little too much. I think the next time I make them, I will drizzle the glaze rather than dunk the donuts. Otherwise they turned out great.
This is the first of your recipes that I have tried. I am going to do the liege waffles next. Thanks for all the great food science tips.
These didn’t taste the greatest to me but I didn’t weigh everything. They were easy and the looked really good. I will try them again though. Thanks for the recipe. Maybe my tastebuds are off.
Is it possible to exclude the nutmeg?
Do you have a good recipe for jelly filled donuts? I can’t find them in the store.
Yum! I have been craving these, and live on an island without this kind of bakery. I did used the cornstarch and all purpose flour substitute for cake flour, as we don’t have that either. I went by weight measurement, and am glad I did, used about a half cup less flour than I had measured due to humidity. They were perfect! Added in some freeze dried raspberries. 2nd batch I scooped into donut holes only and froze uncooked. This way we pull a few out at a time and cook them fresh. Thank you!