This Old-Fashioned Donuts recipe is tender in the middle with the perfect crisp on the outside. It has a yummy glaze and is made without any special equipment.
Want more yummy desserts? Try Dulce de Leche Cake, Biscoff Cookies, Sticky Toffee Pudding, No-Bake Cheesecake, or Bananas Foster.
Old Fashioned Donuts
Old Fashioned DonutsI'm a big sucker for an old-fashioned cake donut and these are really fun to make from scratch. You don't need a special donut pan, or any weird ingredients, and they come together pretty quick.
There's something about the crisp edges, and soft, cake-like inside that's so delicious. What's your favorite donut?
How to make Sour Cream Donuts:
Make Dough: Sift cake flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a small bowl. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar, then add egg yolks, mixing well. Starting and ending with the dry ingredients, alternate adding dry mixture, and sour cream, a little at a time to the dough. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour.
Cut Out Donuts: Roll out donut dough to about ½ inch thickness on a floured surface. Use a donut cutter or two round biscuit cutters to cut as many donuts out as possible, you should get about 12.
Fry Donuts: Heat 2 inches of canola oil to 325°F in a heavy bottomed pot. Fry two donuts at a time, making sure to not overcrowd. Cook on each side for about 2 minutes, watching carefully so they don't burn. Remove from oil and place on a paper towel lined plate.
Glaze: Whisk all glaze ingredients together in a shallow bowl. Dip each cake donut in the glaze, covering on each side then place on a wire rack above a baking sheet. Let donuts sit for 15-20 minutes until glaze is set. Old fashioned donuts are best enjoyed fresh, but if you have leftovers you can keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days.
More of my Bakery Favorites:
- Cinnamon Rolls
- Homemade Scones (any flavor)
- Sopapillas
- Cinnamon Roll Biscuits
- English Muffins
- Homemade Dinner Rolls
- Buttermilk Biscuits
- Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
- Oatmeal Creme Pies
- Orange Rolls
- Snickerdoodle Muffins
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Recipe
Old Fashioned Sour Cream Donuts
Equipment
- Donut Cutter , optional
Ingredients
Donuts:
- 2 1/4 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons butter , room temperature
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- canola oil , for frying
Glaze:
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar , sifted
- 1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup hot water
Instructions
- Dry Ingredients: In a small bowl sift together the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
- Wet Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until well combined (the texture will be sandy). Add the egg yolks and mix well.
- Combine in batches: Add the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with the sour cream, and ending with flour.
- Chill: Wrap the dough in plastic wrap then chill for 1 hour.
- Form Donuts: Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out on a floured surface to about ½ inch thickness. Use a donut cutter (or two round biscuit cutters) to cut as many donuts out as possible. You should get around 12.
- Fry: Pour about 2 inches of canola oil into a heavy bottomed pot. Heat the oil to 325° F. Fry 2-3 donuts at a time, being careful not to overcrowd the pot. Fry for about 2 minutes on each side, then remove to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Glaze: Whisk together glaze ingredients in a shallow bowl, until smooth. Place a wire cooling rack above a sheet pan. Dip donuts in the glaze, covering on each side, and place on the wire rack. Let sit for 15-20 minutes until glaze is set.
Notes
Nutrition
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*I originally shared this recipe July 2014. Updated July 2018 and October 2024.
Original recipe adapted from Handle the Heat
This post contains affiliate links.
Can I use all-purpose flour or does it need to be cake flour?
You can use all-purpose, but you’ll loose some of the light and soft texture.
Could I bake these in a donut pan instead of frying them?
Yes, sure! I haven’t tested it to tell you the exact bake time.
I made this donuts today and they turned out just as the pictures show. Hubby is happy with them. Will be making again.
This is the worst doughnut recipe I have ever used. The end result was flat, flavourless and dense. I followed the instructions precisely but it was a waste of ingredients and time.
Though I have not tried this recipe yet, I feel that your review is quite harsh. Simply stating that the recipe didn’t turn out as expected/hoped for & you won’t be using again is sufficient. No need to be rude!
Trying this recipe this weekend because these are my favorite donuts and can’t find them anywhere near me. I don’t have cake flour, so will be subbing with all-purpose. Do you foresee any issues? Maybe just a bit more dense? Thank you!
Turned out fantastic! I let the dough cool in the fridge overnight because I made it at 11pm and wanted to fry first thing in the morning. Impressed my in-laws who are visiting.
Great recipe!! I tried your sour cream donut recipe because it’s my father favorite donuts… he LOVED it!! Lets just say he didn’t want to share. lol. HUGE hit! 🙂 Thank you!
Mine turned out decent. A little different than what we expected and found the oil in the end product to be overwhelming. There was a bit of breakage when removing them from the oil. Not bad and would try again. Any suggestions for tweaking this would be greatly appreciated.
You have to fry at 350. 325 is way too low of a temperature to fry anything.
I absolutely loved the donut, but went to the original recipe and saw the only adaptation you made to the recipe, is not telling the grams of flour in addition to the cup amount. It’s nice you refer to the other recipe. But personally, that doesn’t feel ethical to me, because your website is getting money for someone else’s recipe. I know lots of lots of people do it, and of course, it’s your judgement call.
And you could notice that that person adapted the recipe from another website, who adapted it from a cookbook –see the reference notes at the bottom of their posts (and who knows where the trail ends). So I guess all three (or more) of us are guilty for testing the recipe, taking our own step-by-step photos, and writing up an entire post that walks readers through our experience so they can make it successfully too :-). Haha. (And for reference, I don’t often adapt my recipes–they’re typically originals that were created in my own kitchen. But baking recipes particularly that you see anywhere on the web have usually been adapted again and again. 🙂 ).
It worked perfectly. I added some food colouring to the glaze and added sprinkles on the top right away and it made some great birthday donuts!