These old-fashioned sour cream donuts don’t require any yeast or rising time, so they’re ready to eat in under an hour! Each one is soft and cakey beneath a golden, crackly crust that soaks up the creamy vanilla glaze.
Sour Cream Donuts Recipe
Glazed sour cream donuts always remind me of country fairs and amusement parks. They’re just like the ones you’d grab from a food stall next to the funnel cakes and jars of homemade strawberry jam. The best part is that classic sour cream donuts are surprisingly easy to make at home.
You’ll need to fry these, but if you prefer baking your donuts, try my baked cinnamon donuts and glazed pumpkin donuts.
All About These Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Donuts
- Easy ingredients, delicious results. These are cake donuts, meaning there’s no yeast or rising time needed. With only pantry staples, they’re quick to make, quick to fry.
- Soft inside, golden outside. Frying creates a gorgeous golden crust on the outside, while the inside of the donuts is moist and tender. They’re coated with glaze, just like you’ll get at the bakery!
- Perfect texture. Sour cream makes the inside of these donuts exceptionally moist, similar to how it works in my banana cake and blueberry muffins recipes.
Only 7 Ingredients
- Cake Flour – You can make a cake flour substitute by using all-purpose flour and replacing ¼ cup of the flour with cornstarch.
- Baking Powder – Instead of yeast, these cake donuts rely on baking powder for leavening. Make sure it’s fresh and not past its expiration date.
- Sugar – White granulated sugar is best.
- Butter – I recommend unsalted butter, melted and cooled before you start.
- Egg – You’ll need one whole egg, plus one egg yolk.
- Sour Cream – The star ingredient in these donuts. Please use full-fat sour cream.
- Powdered Sugar – Combined with water to make the simple donut glaze.
The Best Oil for Frying Donuts
The most important thing when choosing any oil for frying is to make sure it has a high smoke point that can withstand high temperatures. Vegetable oil, for example, is my first choice. Other oils with high smoke points include canola oil, peanut oil, and avocado oil. Avoid olive oil, as it has a low smoke point and will burn and turn rancid at high temperatures.
Tips for Successful Homemade Donuts
- Measure correctly. If possible, use a kitchen scale when measuring the flour. Otherwise, I recommend using the spoon and level method. Spoon the flour into the measuring cup, then level it off. Scooping directly from the bag leads to overmeasuring, and too much flour leads to dry donuts!
- Don’t overwork the dough. Mix until you get a sticky dough, but don’t overmix, or the donuts will be tough.
- Heat the oil to the right temperature. The ideal temperature for frying donuts is 375ºF. If it’s too low, the donuts take too long to cook. Too hot, and the donuts cook too quickly outside while the inside stays raw.
- Don’t overcrowd when frying. I can fit 2-3 donuts at a time, but you may be able to fit more or fewer depending on the size of your pot or deep-fryer.
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Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
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Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the granulated sugar with the (cooled) melted butter, egg, egg yolk, and sour cream.
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Combine. Add your dry ingredients to the liquid ones, then mix everything until you have a sticky dough. Do not overwork the dough, or the donuts will be tough.
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Roll out the donuts. Roll the dough on a lightly floured kitchen surface using a rolling pin to ¼-inch thick. Cut out the donuts using a 2 ½-3 inch donut cutter. Gather the dough and reshape it again. Continue until you have used all the dough.
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Get ready to fry them. Transfer the donuts to a sheet of parchment paper dusted with flour. If you did not make donuts with a donut cutter, make a hole in each donut with a chopstick and stretch it gently.
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Fry the donuts. Heat 2 inches of oil in a pot to 375ºF. Carefully add the donuts to the hot oil. Do not overcrowd the pot. Fry the donuts for 1-2 minutes per side, then remove with a slotted spoon onto a plate lined with paper towels or a wire rack.
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Make the glaze. Whisk the powdered sugar with the water in a small bowl.
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Glaze the donuts. Drizzle the glaze over the donuts or dip the donuts into the glaze. Place the donuts on a wire rack until the glaze is set. Serve as desired.
- Measure correctly. For best results, weigh the flour and use 270 grams. If using cups, be sure to spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off.
- If you do not have cake flour, use all-purpose flour, but substitute ¼ cup of the flour with cornstarch.
- Use full-fat ingredients. Please try to use full-fat sour cream.
Serving: 1donut | Calories: 297kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 51mg | Sodium: 14mg | Potassium: 158mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 216IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 69mg | Iron: 0.5mg
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
How to Make Sour Cream Donuts
- Make the dough. Start by combining the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, cream the sugar with melted butter, egg, egg yolk, and sour cream. Add the dry mix into the wet batter, mixing just until you have a sticky dough.
- Roll out the donuts. Next, roll the dough out on a lightly floured counter. Aim for about ¼ inch thick. Then, use a donut cutter to cut the dough into 2 ½-3 inch rounds. Once you’ve used up most of the dough, gather it up and roll it out again. You should have enough dough for 10-12 rounds. Place the cut-out donuts on parchment paper dusted with flour.
If you don’t have a donut cutter
You can cut out the dough using any round object approximately 2 ½-3 inches wide, like a cookie cutter, biscuit cutter, or the rim of a glass. In this case, use a chopstick or similar to poke a hole in the center of each disc and gently stretch it.
How to Fry Donuts
The rule when frying with hot oil is safety first! Make sure your kitchen is free of small hands (and paws), and don’t leave the stove unattended while you fry your donuts.
- Heat the oil. Get your frying oil heating to 375ºF in a heavy-bottomed pot. A quick way to check if the oil is the right temperature for frying is to stick the handle of a wooden spoon into the oil. If bubbles start to form right away, it’s ready.
- Fry the donuts. Carefully lower the donuts into the hot oil. You can use gloves if you’re worried about splashes. Fry the donuts in batches for 1-2 minutes per side. They should puff up and turn golden. Afterward, use a slotted spoon or metal tongs move the fried donuts to a paper towel-lined plate or a wire rack.
- Add the glaze. Whisk powdered sugar with water to make the glaze. You can use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the donuts, or you can dip the donuts into the glaze to coat the tops. Set the glazed donuts aside on a wire rack so the glaze can set before serving.
Storage
As with most deep-fried foods, donuts are best when they’re freshly fried. If you do have leftovers, make sure the donuts have cooled completely before storing them in an airtight container for 1-2 days.
