This post was created as in partnership with Imperial Sugar. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
You’ll want to skip the doughnut shop once you see how easy it is to make these Old Fashioned Doughnuts. These easy Old-Fashioned Doughnuts have crisp edges and soft, cake-like insides with a sweet glaze on the outside. Perfectly spiced with a hint of nutmeg and the tang of sour cream, everybody loves an old-fashioned!
We love donuts at our house! Some of our other favorite homemade donut recipes are Homemade Apple Fritters, Apple Cider Donuts, and Carrot Cake Baked Donuts!
My husband grew up doing Saturday morning bike rides over the to doughnut shop to get doughnuts with his dad, and it’s a tradition Paul has carried on with our girls. We are a doughnut loving family, even though I think they are better as an afternoon treat rather than as a breakfast food.
There is nothing like a freshly made old-fashioned sour cream doughnut though. Their cracked, craggy tops have the best texture and provide more surface area to be coated by glaze. And they are much easier to make at home than you might think. You don’t even need a deep fryer!
Cake doughnuts vs. yeast doughnuts
There are two major types of doughnuts – cake doughnuts and yeast doughnuts. Old-fashioned doughnuts are a type of cake doughnut with a more dense crumb and that crispy on the outside, soft on the inside texture. Yeast doughnuts are fluffier, puffier, and generally larger than cake doughnuts. The biggest reason for the difference is that yeast doughnuts are made with a yeast dough, which helps them rise, while cake doughnuts are made with baking powder or baking soda.
But generally speaking, there are only three base doughnut flavors – chocolate cake, white cake, and yeast. The variety typically comes in how they are topped with glazes, sprinkles, nuts, and other toppings.
Old-fashioned sour cream doughnuts are the exception. They are a type of cake doughnut that is special because rather than getting their flavor just from however they are topped, the dough itself is gently spiced with ground nutmeg and made tangy and moist with the addition of sour cream.
You can eat them plain, or dip them in a simple glaze, cinnamon sugar, or powdered sugar. Also, why dip just the top when you can coat the top and bottom in glaze by double-dipping?
Is it a doughnut or donut?
Either spelling is actually correct. Donut is just a shortened version of the original “doughnut”.
Why is it called an old-fashioned doughnut?
No one seems entirely sure why this type of doughnut is called an old-fashioned. Especially when yeast doughnuts actually predate all versions of cake doughnuts and have been around for hundreds of years.
Cake doughnuts were created in the U.S. around 1829 shortly after chemical leaveners were introduced. But their popularity really gained traction during WWI when Salvation Army workers in France served doughnuts with coffee to American servicemen for a taste of home!
Personally, I think these are called old-fashioned doughnuts because the appearance and flavor are less flashy than their sprinkle-topped counterparts. The simple but wonderful flavor gives them a classic, timeless quality that truly is “old-fashioned” in these days of crazy doughnut flavor combinations.
How to Make Old-Fashioned Doughtnuts
- Mix cake flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
- Beat sugar and butter in a stand mixer.
- Add egg yolks, one at a time, then add vanilla.
- Alternately add the dry ingredients with the sour cream, a little at a time. Mix just until combined to create a sticky dough.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour in the fridge.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/2-inch thick, then cut out into doughnut shapes using a doughnut cutter or a large and small circular cutter. I don’t have a small circle cutter, so I just use the base of a large piping tip and it works great!
- Heat a large skillet filled with 1 inch of oil over medium-high heat until it reaches 350°F.
- Working in batches, brush excess flour off the doughnuts and fry them, a few at a time, in the hot oil for 1-2 minutes on one side. Flip and fry on the other side until golden brown, then transfer to a wire rack.
- Whisk together a simple glaze, then dip one or both sides of the doughnuts in the glaze and place back on the wire rack. Let the glaze set for 20 minutes before eating.
You can save the leftover oil and reuse it to fry more donuts or make homemade french fries or hush puppies.
More Donut Recipes You’ll Love!
- Carrot Cake Baked Donuts with Cream Cheese Glaze
- Homemade Apple Fritters
- Apple Cider Donuts
- Powdered Sugar Donuts
- Maple Glazed Donuts
- Red Velvet Donuts
- French Cruller Donuts
- Jam Filled Donuts
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.
Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 1/3 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons salted butter softened
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Canola oil for frying
Glaze
- 3 cups (360g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup very hot water
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.2 ⅓ cups cake flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- Beat sugar and butter together in a stand mixer until sandy.½ cup granulated sugar, 2 Tablespoons salted butter
- Add egg yolks, one at a time, mixing until light. Add vanilla.2 egg yolks, ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Add ⅓ of flour mixture to sugar mixture, mixing just until combined. Add ½ of sour cream, mixing just until combined again. Repeat with remaining flour and sour cream to create a sticky dough. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.⅓ cup sour cream
- Sprinkle a clean surface with flour, then roll out chilled dough to 1/2-inch thick.
- Cut out doughnuts using a doughnut cutter or one large and one small circular biscuit cutters. If your dough gets sticky, dip your cutters into flour or powdered sugar before pushing into the dough.
- Fill a large skillet with at least one inch of oil. Heat over medium-high heat until oil reaches 350°F when tested with a thermometer.Canola oil
- Working in batches so as not to crowd the pan, shake off excess flour from each doughnut, then fry for 1-2 minutes on one side. Flip and fry for 1 minute on the other side until pale golden brown and cooked through.
- Carefully remove doughnuts with tongs or a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels to absorb excess oil. Cool 5 minutes before dipping in glaze.
- Whisk glaze ingredients together in a medium bowl. Dip one or both sides of each doughnut in glaze, then set on a wire rack. Let glaze set for 20 minutes before serving.3 cups (360g) powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, ⅓ cup very hot water, Pinch of salt
Notes
- Cake flour is a very highly recommended for this recipe. All-purpose flour will not produce a doughnut with the same soft and fluffy texture.
- You can re-roll once, but the remaining scraps of dough can be fried as donut holes. They will only take about 1 minute total to fry.
Yummy! I love making homemade doughnuts but don’t do it enough. Seeing you recipes makes me want to roll out a batch!
Same here!
Do you just estimate how much to use of each ingredient? I see the instructions for making them but no measurements.
No, don’t estimate! 🙂 The full recipe is on Imperial Sugar’s site since I partner with them and developed this recipe for them. You can find it here (and it’s also linked in the post).
Its simple but looks so tasty. Its really old fashioned. Hope I can get a bite right now. Thank you for sharing this.
I see the instructions but I can’t seem to find the ingredient list.
This post was sponsored and the ingredient list is in the link in the post to Imperial Sugar’s website.