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.
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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.
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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
Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts
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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.
Recipe Notes
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I liked the ingredients listed by weight. That was great.
That was way too much nutmeg. It’s almost overpowering. I wish I had read all the way to the bottom first, I would have halved it for sure.
I followed the instructions to the letter and the dough was absurdly sticky. We couldn’t roll it; we had to use spoons to roll them into little balls.
I made this recipe. The dough came out perfectly. I used cake flour and followed all directions. My only problem was frying them. I hoped they would puff up more and they came out heavy. Then glazed them. Still just too heavy for me. I had fun trying it.
I love trying your recipes. Biscuits were my fave.
Oh no, they certainly should not have been so dense. Did you weigh your flour? Was the oil the correct temp? Is it possible an ingredient was incorrectly measured or left out? I had great success with this recipe and many others have too so I’m thinking something went wrong along the way for you. Better luck next time!
Can these doughnuts be baked. If so what temperature and how long
This recipe was specifically designed to be fried. The results would probably be quite different in texture if you baked them. I have a few baked doughnut recipes you may want to check out if that’s what you prefer: https://handletheheat.com/category/donut 🙂
We had this at my aunts house. YOu should know, I am donut crazy and these are my VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY a million “verys” donut! TRY THEM!
I did make the dough the night before and they fried up perfectly the next morning. It was a little tough from the cold at first, but it worked itself out pretty well.
I ended up putting a bit more water in the glaze, as my first two got coated too thickly.
So glad you tried these doughnuts out!
how can i get on your mailing list
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Every doughnut recipe I’ve read tells you to fry doughnuts in oil heated between 350-365 degrees. Why do you recommend 325 degrees? Also I think the doughnuts would have been lighter if I used 3tsp.(1tablespoon) baking powder instead of 1 1/2 teaspoons. Appreciate your input. Doughnuts were still very tasty..
Thank you. Angela
Every doughnut recipe I’ve read tells you to fry doughnuts in oil heated between 350-365 degrees. Why do you recommend 325 degrees? Also I think the doughnuts would have been lighter if I used 3tsp.(1tablespoon) baking powder instead of 1 1/2 teaspoons. Appreciate your input. Doughnuts were still very tasty…I fried them @365 degrees.
Thank you. Angela
These looked great- just like the old fashioned ones from the store. Didn’t taste as good as they looked. Tasted the grease, not the sweet.
Made these tonight and they were delicious. Not near as pretty as yours but they didn’t go to waste so apparently looks didn’t matter.
So glad you tried this recipe out!
I love this sour cream cake, the taste is amazing
Glad to hear that!
I am in the middle of making this recipe and got a food scale and the bleach cake flour etc and let it sit in the fridge and when I went to roll out it seemed hard to roll out and when I finally got it…it was way too thin and would only make 6 donuts- i rolled it back up and put back in the fridge but not sure what I did wrong here I really followed everything as perfectly as I could! any suggestions?
Nevermind! Needed to sit in fridge for longer. Came out great! Thank you!