Sour Dough Donuts Recipes

SOURDOUGH DONUTS WITH CINNAMON SUGAR

Steps:

• Combine the warm milk, butter and egg with the starter in a mixer bowl. With the mixer running, add sugar, spices, salt and 2.5 cups of the flour. Mix until it forms a thick batter.
• Switch to the dough hook and add the remaining flour (amount of flour may vary based on the hydration of your starter). The dough will start out quite sticky. Knead on medium low speed for 15 minutes (speed 2 on my stand mixer) until the dough clings to the hook and clears the sides of the bowl.
• Scrape the dough into a lightly floured surface and knead into a smooth ball. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat the dough. Cover and set the dough aside at room temperature for fermentation.
• After 1 hour uncover the bowl, lift one edge of the dough over into the middle of the dough. Repeat with the other three sides of the dough then flip the dough over. Cover the bowl and set aside.
• Every hour for another 2-3 hours repeat the folding as described above. After 3-4 hours of fermentation the dough should be lively, elastic and airy. If the dough is still sluggish give it another hour or two at room temperature. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator. While the dough is still cold, without kneading, roll to 1/2" thick on a lightly floured surface.
• Use a 4" round cutter to cut donuts. Use a 1.5" cutter to cut center hole. Line the donuts on a well-oiled, parchment or silpat lined baking sheet, leaving space between the donuts for the dough to rise (I used 2 baking sheets). Reroll the scraps of dough and continue cutting donuts until all the dough is used up. Brush the tops of the donuts lightly with oil.
• Cover the sheet pans with plastic wrap and set aside to rise. The donuts are ready when you poke the dough and the dent slowly fills in. If the dough bounces right back it's not quite ready. This rise should take about 1 1/2 hours. The time will vary based on the temperature of the room.
• Meanwhile, heat 2 quarts of oil to 350F° in a large heavy pot. Fry the donuts a couple at a time, about 2-3 minutes per side, until golden brown and puffy.
• As you take each donut out of the oil, immediately roll in the cinnamon sugar to coat the entire donut. Set on a cooling rack while you fry the rest of the donuts.
• Best eaten warm or within a couple of hours of frying.

SOURDOUGH DOUGHNUTS RECIPE

Steps:

• Start by feeding the sourdough starter: Use active sourdough starter. Starter should be ripe. Use a rubber band to mark your starter after feeding, and observe when it reaches its peak. (Once it begins to decline, it starts getting sour, use it before that point)
• Preparing the dough: Into the bowl of a stand mixer, add room temperature whole milk. Now add the ripe sourdough starter and mix well in the milk to form a smooth paste. Add the sugar and mix well. Further add in the vanilla extract, salt, and melted butter. Mix everything well. If you are going to add some nutmeg, go ahead and add some. Now add the flour. Combine with the help of a ladle or a fork.
• Kneading the dough: Now place the bowl on the stand mixer, and start kneading at low speed for 6-7 minutes. It will look super sticky initially. Now, bump up the speed, and knead for additional 6-7 minutes or until the dough becomes smooth and supple. It should leave the sides of the bowl completely. If it does not comes together and you feel that the dough is still very sticky, add 1-2 tablespoons of flour and knead again.
• Bulk rise: Transfer the dough to a greased bowl with enough room for it to rise. Cover with a cling wrap or kitchen towel and let it bulk rise at 70-85 0 F for 2 hours. Now place the bowl in a refrigerator for cold retarding the dough. Cold proof it for 8- 12 hours. It makes the dough much easier to roll and shape.
• Rolling the dough and shaping the Doughnuts: Remove the dough onto a flour-dusted work surface. Gather the sides and make a roundish ball. Now use your hands to flatten it. Switch to a rolling pin and start rolling the dough into a 1/2 inch thick layer. Keep dusting some flour under it occasionally, so that it does not stick. Now cut the Doughnuts using a cookie cutter or a donut cutter. Use the smallest cookie cutter to make the central hole.Carefully lift the Doughnuts and transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Also transfer the sourdough donut holes, as we are going to fry them as well to make the hole donuts. A pro tip: dust a little flour on the parchment paper before placing the doughnuts, as it will prevent them from sticking to the parchment paper when proofing.Gather the leftover dough and repeat the process, cut more Doughnuts and keep repeating until the entire dough is depleted. This recipe will make about 24 medium sized donuts.
• Proofing the Doughnuts: Cover these sourdough doughnuts with a kitchen towel, and let them proof till they become puffier. It should take about 1 hour or longer if your kitchen is cooler. (Refer to the process image to see how much rise we need.)
• Frying: In a pan heat vegetable oil deep enough to fry the sourdough doughnuts. The oil temperature should be around 320-330 0F. Gently lift the doughnuts and drop them into the oil.Doughnuts should take about 2-3 minutes to cook from one side. Then, gently flip them and cook on the other side for the same time. Do not let them brown too much as the crust will become hard. Look for the golden brown color.If the oil is too hot, the donuts will brown from the outside much faster and reman raw from the center. So, do check your oil temperature.When done, gently remove from oil and transfer to a plate lined with tissue paper, and continue with the rest of the doughnuts.Donut holes will fry much faster than the bigger donuts.
• Topping or dressing: If you are planning to just coat them in cinnamon sugar like me, so drop them into the sugar-cinnamon when they are right out of the oil. Sugar sticks better that way. But if you are planning to glaze them, transfer to a plate lined with tissues and let them cool a bit before glazing them or coating with chocolate, etc. ( Refer to the notes for my fav. glaze recipe)
• Eat, share, and store.

SOURDOUGH DONUTS

Steps:

• Prepare a frying pan with enough oil to fry in, and allow it to reach about 360 degrees.
• Line a plate with paper towels and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
• In a large bowl whisk together the starter, oil, egg, and milk.
• Mix the wet and dry ingredients together, until they just come together.
• Sprinkle some flour on your counter and dump the dough out of the bowl. Knead it gently 3 or 4 times until the dough comes together.
• Sprinkle the top of the dough with a tiny bit of flour and roll out until it is 2″ thick.
• Cut your donuts out, reforming the dough back together as often as you need to.
• Fry until golden brown, just a minute or two on each side.
• Drain/dry on the paper towels, and then coat as you see fit - powdered sugar, cinnamon and sugar, or glazed.
• Enjoy!!

SOURDOUGH DOUGHNUTS

Steps:

• 2 cups sourdough starter 1 cup lukewarm milk 1 1/2 cup flour 2 eggs 1/4 cup oil 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon soda 1 1/2 cup flour, divided, plus extra as needed Combine the sourdough starter, milk, and 1 1/2 cups flour in a bowl and mix until smooth. Add the eggs and oil and beat well until completely combined. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, salt, baking soda, and 1/2 cup flour. Mix well then work into the dough. Spread 1 cup of flour on a work surface. Place the dough on the flour and knead the dough until the dough is soft and most of the flour has been worked into it. Grease a bowl, place the dough in the bowl, cover with waxed paper and let rise in a warm, draft free place until doubled in size. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour on a work surface. Roll the dough out on the floured surface until it is 1/2-inch thick. Cut with donut cutters. Place the dough on a floured baking sheet and let rise, uncovered, until doubled in size. Heat oil to 365 degrees F in a deep fryer or deep, heavy skillet. When hot, add the donuts in batches and fry until golden brown. Remove from the oil and let drain on paper toweling. Store the donuts in an airtight container.

SOURDOUGH DOUGHNUTS RECIPE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a large bowl, mix 1 cup of water, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup bread flour, and the active starter until well incorporated. The mixture will be dry and you may need to remove it from the bowl and use your hands to mix. Scrape the sides of the bowl and form a dough ball. Cover and allow to autolyse (rest) for 1 hour.
• Heat the milk, butter, and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat just until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Allow the mixture to cool to 85 F.
• Transfer the dough ball to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.
• With the mixer running on low, slowly add the milk mixture to the flour mixture.
• Add the eggs one at a time. Slowly add the remaining 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup bread flour.
• Once incorporated, raise the speed to medium-high and knead until the dough comes together fully, about 8 minutes. Scrape the excess dough from the dough hook and knead on a clean surface until the dough is only slightly sticky. You may need to add more flour, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time.
• Once the dough is only slightly sticky and smooth, transfer to a clean and greased bowl and allow the dough to rest, covered for 30 minutes.
• Add the salt and remaining 2 tablespoons of water, then mix on medium speed with the dough hook for about 10 minutes, or until the dough is soft.
• Turn the dough out onto a clean, lightly floured surface and continue to knead, adding more flour when necessary, until the dough is smooth.
• Form into a ball and let it rest in a greased bowl, covered, for about 5 hours. The dough should increase in size dramatically, about double. At this point, you can continue to the next step or cover the dough with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and place in the fridge overnight.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to about 1/2 inch thickness.
• Cut out the doughnuts using round cookie cutters or a doughnut cutter and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving an inch of space between to allow for rising. Re-roll any remaining dough and repeat until you've cut all of the dough into donuts.
• Cover with lightly damp kitchen towels and allow to rise until doubled in size and puffed and the dough springs back when touched, about 3 hours. At this point, you can continue to the next step or cover the doughnuts with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and place in the fridge overnight.
• When the doughnuts are ready to be fried , heat about 2 inches of oil in a large cast-iron pan or Dutch oven until it reaches 360 F on a thermometer .
• Once the oil is hot, fry them in batches of 3 or 4 until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side and about 30 seconds per side on the donut holes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a baking sheet lined with paper towels.
• Let the donuts cool slightly, then dip both sides in a hot glaze or toss in cinnamon sugar and transfer to a serving dish. Serve immediately.

SOURDOUGH BOMBOLONI (DONUTS)

Steps:

• Starter/Levain (8-12 hours before you plan to mix the dough)
• Mix and then briefly knead the ingredients for the sweet stiff starter. Place the starter ball in a container with space for tripling and cover.
• Dough Mixing
• Combine all of the dough ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low-med speed for about 10 minutes using a dough hook. Scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically and check on the dough texture after about 5 minutes. The dough should be a little sticky, but shouldn't come apart on your fingertips. Add more flour in small increments (2 Tbsp/17 grams) to get to a lightly sticky feel.
• If you want to hand mix the dough, start by using a bowl and spatula, and then move to slapping and folding the dough on a clean work surface. This slapping and folding video shows the progress of a similar sticky dough.
• Bulk Fermentation
• Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled/buttered container and cover it. After about 30 minutes, give the dough a quick stretch and fold to confirm the gluten is developing nicely and the hydration is manageable.
• Let the dough rise for at least 4 hours in a warm place, low 80s if possible. You might place the dough in your oven with the light on, use a Raisenne hot pad, or a proofing box. The dough should have expanded by between 75% and 100% before you move onto the next step (see photos in the gallery below).
• Dividing and Shaping
• Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a floured work surface.
• Roll the dough into a tube and divide it into 16 pieces (about 70-80 grams each).
• Form the dough pieces into balls and place them on a heavily floured baking sheet with about 2 inches between each ball.
• Final Proof
• Cover the baking sheet and let the donuts rise 2-4 hours, until doubled (see photo gallery below). My tray of dough was in a cooler environment for this second rise, and the final proof took 3 hours.
• Frying
• In a cold 4-6 quart Dutch oven or heavy deep saucepan, add oil until its about 2 inches deep.
• Heat the oil, checking the temperature frequently. You may want to lower the heat on your stove when the oil reaches 350°F because the temperature of the oil may continue to rise too quickly if you don't.
• Begin frying the donuts when the oil reaches 355°F and if the oil climbs over 370°F, pause and let the oil cool down.
• If your oil temp is below the suggested range, the donuts will not form a skin and will absorb oil. And if your oil temp is above the suggested range, the donuts will burn on the outside while the inside remains uncooked.
• Using a metal spatula or dough scraper, transfer 3-4 dough balls, one at a time, from the baking sheet into the hot oil.
• Fry the donuts for 2-3 minutes per side, flipping with tongs or a slotted spoon. Use the tip of your thermometer to pop any air bubbles that form on the donut surface.
• When both sides of the donuts are golden in color, use a slotted spoon to remove the donuts from the oil and drain off the excess oil, then place them on paper towels.
• Topping, Filling and Storing
• As soon as the donuts are cool enough to handle, roll them in granulated sugar.
• If you're going to fill the donuts, let them cool completely beforehand. You can then make a cuts in the sides of the donuts with a knife or chopstick, and fill the holes via a pastry bag with a cream piping tip, or you can cut the donuts completely in half on the horizontal and spread filling throughout the center of the donuts, for more of a sandwich style donut.
• Store the donuts covered at room temperature for several days.
• For freezing info, see the blog post above.