These moist and airy donuts have a soft interior and with a slightly crisp exterior, making each bite heavenly! Sour cream donuts are the perfect companions for your morning coffee or an afternoon pick-me-up. 

For more donut recipes, check out my Cinnamon Sugar Donuts and New Orleans Style Beignets! 

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love these Donuts! 
• Key Ingredients and Equipment
• Pro Tips
• How to make Homemade Donuts
• Recipe FAQs
• Old Fashioned Sour Cream Donuts Recipe

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Why go to the donut shop when you can make old fashioned sour cream cake donuts at home? They're soft and pillowy on the inside with a crisp exterior and glaze that makes each bite heavenly! 

What sets these donuts apart from yeast doughnuts is the addition of sour cream, which elevates the taste to a whole new level of decadence. The sour cream imparts a subtle zing, balancing the sweetness and creating a soft crumb at the same time. It's SO yummy!

Why You'll Love these Donuts! 

Ah, let me count the reasons why you'll absolutely fall in love with old-fashioned sour cream donuts:

• Rich and Moist Texture - the addition of sour cream gives them an irresistibly soft and velvety crumb that melts in your mouth with every bite.
• Bakery fresh old fashioned donuts at home! These are better than the donuts that you buy at the bakery. They're just as soft but have more flavor. They have that "homemade" taste that you just can't buy at the store.
• Perfect anytime treat! Whether you're enjoying for breakfast with a cup of coffee, a fun snack, or even dessert, it's such a delicious treat.

Key Ingredients and Equipment

(full list of ingredients and exact measurement in the recipe card)

• Cake flour - cake flour is a flour that has a lower protein content, making it ideal for donuts, cakes, pastries etc. The benefit of using this kind of flour is that the baked goods will be softer and have a more delicate and tender crumb. If you don't have any cake flour or can't find it at the grocery store, you can use all purpose flour or cake flour substitute.
• Nutmeg - just a tiny pinch enhances the flavor of these old-fashioned sour cream doughnuts!  
• Sugar 
• Vanilla extract 
• Unsalted Butter - be sure to use room temperature butter. This allows the donut batter to come together smoothly.
• Egg yolks - egg yolks enrich the dough, making them soft and rich in flavor.
• Sour cream - make sure to use full fat sour cream! 

For the Glaze: 

• Powdered Sugar
• Corn syrup - corn syrup gives the glaze a nice sheen while allowing it to coat every morsel of the doughnut. It's not a necessity, but I highly recommend using it!
• Warm milk - You'll want to use warm milk that's been microwaved for about 20-30 seconds - it allows the glaze to come together nicely.
• Vanilla Extract - if you want perfectly white glaze, use a clear vanilla extract.

Equipment Needed:

Candy thermometer

3-inch Donut Cutter or Biscuit cutter

Dough Roller 

Pro Tips

• Skip out on the stand mixer! I don't recommend using a stand mixer for this recipe. It's REALLY easy to overwork the dough in a stand mixer so I use a hand mixer to mix together the wet ingredients and then a flat spatula to incorporate the dry ingredients. Trust me on this one!
• Use a candy thermometer to measure the temperature of the oil! One of the things that can make or break this recipe is the temperature being too hot or not hot enough. It's suuuper important to getting these homemade doughnuts just right!
• Measure ingredients with a kitchen scale! This prevents excess flour being added to the doughnut dough, which can skew the results. 
• Use room temperature ingredients! This includes the butter, sour cream, and egg yolks. All of these ingredients should sit at room temperature at least 30 minutes to an hour (depending on the temperature of your house/kitchen) prior to baking.
• Add more flour to your work surface as needed. If you find that your donut dough is sticking to your work surface, add a little more flour to the surface and continue roll out the dough.

How to make Homemade Donuts

• In a medium bowl, sift the dry ingredients - cake flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and kosher salt. (Image 1)
• In a separate large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to beat together room temperature butter and sugar. Beat butter for 2 minutes, then add the sugar and continue to mix for 3 minutes. Add egg yolks and vanilla extract mix until combined, about 2 minutes. (Image 2)

• Add half of the sour cream to the wet ingredients and mix in with the hand mixer. Then add half of the flour mixture. Use a flat spatula to mix the flour into the dough. Then add remaining sour cream and flour. Dough should be slightly firm, mix until all of the flour and sour cream are fully incorporated. (Image 3)
• Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for one hour up to overnight, until firm.

• Add fry oil to a large pot or dutch oven. Heat the oil to 350 degrees F. 
• Roll donut dough out onto a generously floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll dough out until it's a ½ inch thickness. Use 3 inch biscuit cutters to cut donuts into the dough. Then cut a small circle in the center of the donut (Pro tip: I use the cap of a soda bottle, it's the perfect size) (Image 4)

• Re-roll the dough and repeat until all of the dough is used.
• Place donuts onto a baking sheet and refrigerator uncovered for 20 minutes. Then add to hot oil, 2-3 donuts at a time, frying on each side for about 2-3 minutes each side until deep golden brown. (Image 5)
• Remove donuts from the frying oil and place onto a wire rack or paper towel to remove any excess oil.
• While the donuts are cooling, make the glaze by combining powdered sugar, corn syrup, warm milk, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Whisk together.
• Dip both sides of the donut into the glaze and place on the cooling rack so that the glaze can set. (Image 6)

Storing

Store your old-fashioned donuts in an airtight container or ziploc bag for up to 4 days. I don't recommend storing in the refrigerator, room temperature is best so that the donuts don't dry out. 

If you'd like to freeze them, 

Recipe FAQs