Old Fashioned Donuts
Classic cake donuts made with sour cream and NO yeast!
Prep Time30 minutes mins
Cook Time3 minutes mins
Chill Time3 hours hrs
Total Time3 hours hrs 33 minutes mins
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cake donut recipe, how to make donuts, sour cream donut
Servings: 16 - 18 donuts (plus an equal amount of donut holes)
Calories: 295kcal
DONUTS
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large egg yolks (yolks only)
- 1 1/2 cups sour cream full fat works best
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch (optional - gives the donuts a softer texture inside)
- 4 cups all purpose flour
GLAZE
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar sifted or whisked to remove any lumps
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
MAKE THE DOUGH
To a large mixing bowl, add butter, sugar, and egg yolks, then use mixer to cream until pale yellow.
Add sour cream and mix until blended. Mix in baking powder and salt.
To another mixing bowl, add flour and cornstarch, whisking to combine well. Add flour mixture, about a cup at a time, mixing between each addition, until combined and no flour streaks remain. Dough will be pretty sticky.
CHILL THE DOUGH
Lightly spray the mixing bowl that had the flour in it with nonstick cooking spray, then line with plastic wrap. This is so the plastic wrap doesn't scoot around on you in the bowl.
Transfer dough to plastic wrap and fold excess wrap over the top of the dough. Place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours (or up to 3 days).
PREPARE THE FRYING AREA
Line a baking sheet with paper towels and top with a wire cooling rack. Set aside, on the counter next to your stove.
Add oil to a heavy bottomed pot (a dutch oven works great here) and heat over MED heat until it reaches 365°F.
ROLL AND CUT DONUTS
While oil is heating up, lightly flour a work surface (I use my counter), and turn out the donut dough and remove plastic wrap. Lightly flour the top of the dough and roll out until about 1/2 inch thick.
Use a donut cutter (or 3 inch biscuit cutter and 3/4-1 inch wide (at the base) piping tip), and cut out donut shapes. Brush any excess flour off the donuts.
FRY DONUTS
Carefully drop the donuts, a few at a time into the hot oil. Fry about 1-2 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.
Transfer cooked donuts to prepared wire rack, and cool.
If frying donuts holes, they'll only need to fry about a minute per side. Transfer to rack and cool.
MAKE THE GLAZE/GLAZE THE DONUTS
To make the glaze, add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla to small bowl and whisk until creamy and smooth.
Dip each donut about halfway into the glaze, rotating right and left to coat. Flip donut over and repeat with the other side.
Return to wire rack so the glaze can set.
- Recipe is adapted and tweaked a bit from an old church cookbook
Calories: 295kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 241mg | Potassium: 168mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 290IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 2mg