Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts
These homemade old-fashioned doughnuts have a crisp golden-brown exterior, a soft, cakey interior, and just the right amount of sweetness from a crackly glaze. They’re easier to make than you’d think—no yeast, no deep fryer, just simple ingredients and a little bit of frying magic.
Servings: 12 doughnuts
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 ½ cups (320g) cake flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons salted butter softened
- 2 egg yolks
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Canola oil for frying
Glaze
- 3 cups (360g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup very hot water
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.2 ½ cups (320g) cake flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon 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, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Add half of the 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.½ cup sour cream
- Sprinkle a clean surface with flour, then roll out chilled dough to ½-inch thick.
- Cut out doughnuts using a 3-inch circle cutter and 1 1/4-inch round cutter or large piping tip for the centers. If your dough gets sticky, dip your cutters into flour or powdered sugar before pushing into the dough.
- Fill a large skillet or dutch oven with 1 to 2 inches of oil. Heat over medium-high heat until oil reaches between 325°F and 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. However, you can use 2 cups of all-purpose flour + 1/3 cup cornstarch to make a good substitute for this recipe.
- You can re-roll the dough, but the remaining scraps of dough can be fried as donut holes. They will only take about 1 minute total to fry.
Nutrition
Calories: 285kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 43mg | Sodium: 268mg | Potassium: 42mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 162IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 48mg | Iron: 0.4mg
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