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.
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
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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.
I’ve never made donuts before so I apologize if this question sounds stupid/silly. In the instruction section it says “Pour 2 inches of canola oil into a heavy bottomed pot…” followed by “…Fry on each side about 2 minutes”. I’m a little confused. “Fry on each side…” implies turning them over but if I have 2″ of oil at the bottom of pot and these things are 1/2″ thick to start wouldn’t they fry on both sides in 2″ of oil automagically on their own? At any point should I expect that I’ll need to turn them over during frying or do I just drop them in and leave them alone until they are done?
Hi Steve! These doughnuts will float in the oil as well as puff up just a bit, which is why you need to flip them after two minutes. I hope that helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions 🙂
I live in Italy and woke up with a craving for my favorite pastry in the world, an old-fashioned donut! Just wrapped up making these bad boys. I used whole fat greek yogurt and added a little cream to substitute for the sour cream (not easy to find here). Also I had to used unbleached flour, as someone else mentioned bleached flour is illegal over here. They flavor is good, but the glaze isn’t quite as thick as I like and double dipping was too sweet. I will use a different recipe for the glaze next time. Also I only got 8 donuts from this recipe and for the all the work it took to make them, I would probably double it next time. I shaped the holes into balls instead of leaving them flat because I prefer the appearance.
This is a recipe I definitely want to try. I have a New Range that will be delivered in about a month. It has an Air-Fryer and this is something I want to try in it. Any help from you will be greatly appreciated. I’ll gladly provide end results to you.
Hi Bill! We haven’t tested this recipe using an air fryer, though other readers have had success! Please let us know how it goes if you give it a try 🙂
Love this recipe.. it was a bit dry so I added another tablespoon of sourcream…. PERFECTION! Crunchy on the outside light on the inside.. delish…
So happy you loved them!
This Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts recipe seems so delicious . Thanks for sharing this one with us .
Hi, it’s really difficult to find cake flour where I’m from! I was wondering if I was to make a substitute to get the ‘best results’ I possibly could with what I have at hand, would I use homemade substitute cake flour or just use plain flour? Thank you!
Hi there! We explain the importance of cake flour for these doughnuts in the pink tip box above the recipe. You’re more than welcome to experiment with homemade cake flour (I wouldn’t suggest plain flour), but we have seen poor results from people who have substituted that ingredient. Could you order it online? Otherwise, you may be better off trying a different doughnut recipe on the site (we have a ton to choose from!). I hope that helps!
Sorry just a note not a comment. Double the recipe except 2 yokes and one whole egg. Add 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries defrosted to dough. Pinch of cinnamon. Milk in frosting is better then water.
Can I double this recipe or not?
That should be fine!
I don’t have a stand mixer, so will it work with a hand mixer
Hi Myra! We haven’t tried that, so I can’t say for sure! Please let us know how it goes if you give it a try.
My son made them this morning he put the amount of nutmeg in them that on the recipe and also put cinnamon in them
Based in the UK and have NO access to bleached cake flour – it’s illegal! Who knew! Any suggestions on substitutes for people that absolutely cannot get it?
Hi Jennifer! We tested this recipe extensively with bleached cake flour, so I can’t say for sure. Unbleached cake flour won’t absorb as much moisture and can actually result in doughnuts that crumble while frying, and AP flour won’t create the same soft texture. You’re welcome to experiment with a DIY substitution, but we haven’t had much luck using the DIYs in recipes. You can find more information in this article HERE. I wish I could help more!
Do you have any suggestions for how to make a chocolate version? Thank you.
Here’s a link to our chocolate version: https://handletheheat.com/chocolate-old-fashioned-doughnuts/. Enjoy!