Cinnamon Sugar Buttermilk Donuts

Cinnamon Sugar Buttermilk Donuts are fluffy and soft cake donuts that are so good you'll be making them over and over again! They're delicious, easy to make, and even more fun to eat!

Love Donuts?! Try my Dalgona Coffee Brioche Donuts with Buttercream Filling and Blood Orange Sour Cream Donuts with Citrus Glaze!

Cinnamon Sugar Buttermilk donuts are a cake donut recipe. Admittedly, I prefer cake donuts over yeasted donuts. Why? They're easier to make and they stay fresh and light a lot longer than the yeasted donuts. With this recipe, you'll be happy to know that it doesn't require anything fancy. You don't need a stand mixer, you don't need to use yeast, and most importantly, it doesn't require any ingredient that's difficult to find!

I wanted to add a glaze to these donuts. But they didn't need it. I realized that they were delicious by themselves. They spoke for themselves. These donuts are a whole vibe and I really want to share this recipe with you so that you can experience this!

Cinnamon Sugar Buttermilk Donuts

They're fluffy, but still dense. Soft but still have a slight crunchy outer shell. These donuts are everything you'd want in a cake donut. Or any donut. In addition, they're sweet, but not too sweet. I mean, honestly, just give these a try. You won't regret it. What I love about these is that they are easy to make. Is this the fastest recipe? No, but it isn't too long either. Plus, the wait is well worth the result. These little beauties are so delicious!

low temp is king when deep frying

So, another admission of mine. I suck at deep frying (but I'm getting better). I made donuts (recipe here) for my blog last year around this time (foreshadowing, haha) and it took quite a few tries to get the oil to the correct temperature. SO many recipes state that you should have you oil around 350 degrees F to 380 degrees F. That simply doesn't work for me. I don't know what I'm doing incorrectly, but I've found that low and slow is KING when deep frying. These donuts are of no exception.

I test fried my first donut at 380 degrees F. Burnt it to a crisp. It was burnt out the outside and then undercooked on the inside. So, I tossed it. I lowered my oil temperature to 350 degrees F. It wasn't burnt, but still a little on the crispier side. lol The third time, I lowered my temperature to around 320 degrees and cooked it longer. The results were utter perfection. That crispy outer shell, fluffy center, beautifully buttermilk flavor! I was so happy.

how do you make cinnamon sugar buttermilk donuts?

It's pretty simple but there a couple of things I want to break down so that you don't make the same mistakes I made when developing this recipe. If you're anything like me and hate wasting ingredients, keep reading so that you don't have to make multiple trips to the supermarket. lol

So, you start by mixing together wet ingredients in one bowl and dry ingredients in the other. Just like a cake. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a silicone spatula or a wooden spoon. Be sure not to overmix. As soon as the flour is fully incorporated, stop mixing.

Once all ingredients are combined and dough is smooth with no dry spots of flour, cover with plastic wrap and let dough sit in the refrigerator for about 1 hour to an hour and 30 minutes. Add flour to a work surface and roll the dough out. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough until it's about ½ inch thick. Use a cookie cutter or a biscuit dough cutter (you can choose whatever size you like, I used a 3 inch round cookie cutter). Then I cut a hole in the center of the cut dough. I used the bottom of a piping tip. I find that these are the perfect size. However, again, you can use whatever you like!

dunk them in cinnamon sugar

Once the dough is cut, add them to a parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Begin heating oil to 320 degrees F in a deep pot. Oil should be around 2 inches deep in the pot. When dough is finished in the fridge, fry the donuts, about 2-3 at a time depending on your pot. Make sure as to not overcrowd your pot. Fry dough for about 6-8 minutes, flipping every 2 minutes. Once the donuts are a beautiful golden brown color, set them on a cooling rack. Let them cool for a few minutes and then dunk them in cinnamon sugar (or sprinkle on top). Then you're done! Be sure to let them cool before eating them. The donuts are still cooking when you remove them from the oil so be sure to let them cool to complete the process!

While you're enjoying this recipe, make these Vanilla Chai Donuts next! Also try these Baked Mimosa Donuts too!

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Cinnamon Sugar Buttermilk Donuts

5 from 12 votes

Recipe by Britney Breaks Bread Course: Dessert, Breakfast, SnacksCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Moderate

Servings

14-15

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Resting Time

1

hour 

Calories

190

kcal

Cooking Time

8

minutes

Cinnamon Sugar Buttermilk Donuts are fluffy and soft cake donuts that are so good you'll be making them over and over again! They're delicious, easy to make, and even more fun to eat!

Ingredients

• 2 eggs

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• ½ cup brown sugar

• ½ cup sugar

• ⅓ cup salted butter, melted

• 1 lemon, zest

• ½ cup buttermilk

• 3 cups all purpose flour

• 1 tbsp baking powder

• ½ tsp baking soda

• ½ tsp nutmeg

• ¼ tsp salt

• Vegetable oil, for frying

Directions

• In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, add eggs, vanilla extract, brown sugar, sugar, melted butter, lemon zest, and buttermilk. Whisk together until all ingredients are combined and smooth.
• In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk together.
• Using a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix until fully incorporated (about 30 seconds). Cover bowl with plastic wrap and cool in the refrigerator for 1 hour-1 ½ hours.
• Add flour to a work surface and roll out dough. Use a rolling pin to roll dough until about ½ inch thick. Use a circle cookie cutter to cut into donuts. Use a smaller circle cookie cutter (or the bottom of a piping tip, that's what I use) to cut the hole in the donut. Place donuts onto parchment paper and refrigerate for an additional 30 minutes.
• Heat vegetable oil to 320 degrees F. Fry donuts 2-3 donuts at a time for 6-8 minutes, flipping donuts every two minutes. Remove donuts once golden brown and put on a cooling rack.
• Allow donuts to cool for about 1-2 minutes. Mix together ¾ cup sugar and 1 tbsp cinnamon. Dunk donuts into cinnamon sugar.

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