These soft and sweet sourdough cake donuts will take you right back to grandma’s house. I remember growing up, my grandma used to make some of the best homemade cake donuts. They were soft, sweet, and the perfect Sunday, after-church treat.
With Valentine’s Day coming up, I thought it would be the perfect time to make some old-fashion, Valentine’s donuts! This year, I wanted to get a little bit adventurous and try out a sourdough donut recipe. Not only is this a great way to use up sourdough discard, but also adds a nice mild tanginess to your donuts, which is a nice compliment to the classic, old-fashioned cake donut rolled in sweet cinnamon sugar.
What Is Sourdough Discard?
Sourdough discard is the unfed sourdough starter. When you have a sourdough starter, you must feed it daily in order to keep the wild yeast and bacteria alive. This wild yeast and bacteria is what leavens the sourdough bread. However, in order to continually feed the starter, you need to also throw away or “discard” about half of the sourdough starter every time it is fed. In doing so, it helps keep your starter small and manageable to continually feed over time. This also is what gives you the sourdough discard.
A lot of bakers love using the sourdough discard to bake their cakes, cinnamon rolls, donuts, cookies, and much more. It is a great way to avoid wasting the flour and water used to continually feed the starter, as well as ferment the grains in the pastries. Fermenting the grains helps break down the glutens, aiding in the digestibility of the grains. This is a great technique to use if you are sensitive to gluten. It also adds a nice, subtle tang to compliment the sweetness of the pastries.
Why You Will Love This Cake Donut Recipe:
- Easy: Making donuts can be a process. It can take hours from start to finish due to the time needed for the dough to rise. However, this recipe bypasses all of that rise time! I love this recipe because it is a super easy donut recipe that requires very little skill and not a ton of time. All you do is make your donut dough, roll it out, and fry it up! You can have fresh donuts within 30 minutes!
- No yeast donut recipe: This donut recipe does not require any yeast. Our main leaven comes from baking powder. This is not only a great way to add leaven to pastries, but also cuts the rise time to non-existent!
- Sourdough discard: This is a great way to use up the extra sourdough discard you have on hand and eliminate any waste.
Difference Between Cake Donuts and Yeast Donuts
The difference between cake donuts and yeast donuts is that cake donuts are a little bit more dense and “caky” in texture. Think the classic, old-fashioned cider donut. Yeast donuts; however, are lighter and fluffier in texture. Think of your classic vanilla glazed Krispy Kreme donut. This is a great example of a yeast donut.
Tips For Making Healthy Donuts:
While donuts are definitely not the picture of health, you can definitely swap some ingredients out to create a more health-conscious pastry. Below I have outlined some tips that you can use, and I actually also use, to make a “healthier” donut.
- Coconut Oil: Using coconut oil to fry your donuts in is a great way to not only add a subtle sweet coconut flavor, but also a great way to avoid inflammatory oils such as canola, soybean, and vegetable oil. Swapping out seed oils for high omega-3 oils, such as coconut or avocado oil, is a great way to cut down unwanted inflammation in the body. Just because you are eating donuts doesn’t mean that it has to be super unhealthy!
- Raw Sugar or Coconut Sugar: Swapping out white granulated sugar for either raw sugar or coconut sugar is also a great way to cut down the chemicals and processing in your donuts. The less processing in your ingredients, the better!
- Sourdough: Adding sourdough to your donuts is a great way to add some additional probiotics and help ferment the grains for better digestion.
- Greek Yogurt: If you do not have sourdough discard on hand, no worries, you can always sub out the discard for plain Greek yogurt. This will also add a little bit of protein to your dough.
Note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Butter
- Eggs
- Sourdough discard
- Vanilla bean (or vanilla extract)
- Whole milk
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Unrefined coconut oil
- Cinnamon
Materials Used:
- STAND MIXER
- SILICONE SPATULA
- CAST IRON PAN
- ROLLING PIN
- DONUT CUTTER you can also sub this for a mason jar rim or a large glass.
- DEEP FRY SPATULA STRAINER
Tips For Making Old Fashioned Sourdough Cake Donuts:
- Do Not Overwork: Make sure to not overwork the dough when mixing everything together. This is super important in baking, especially for donuts. The more you work the dough, the more the glutens are activated and the tougher the dough can become. I recommend to stop mixing the dough once all of the dry ingredients are combined. This will help keep the donuts soft and fluffy.
- Do Not Burn: The donuts fry up very quickly, so keep an eye on them. They only need about 1-2 minutes in the fryer per side.
- Vanilla Bean: I love using fresh vanilla bean in the dough of the donuts. The fresh vanilla gives the donut a really strong vanilla flavor; however, if you do not have fresh vanilla on hand, you can always sub it out for vanilla extract. Both are great!
- Donut Cutter: If you do not have a donut cutter, no worries! You can always use the ring from a 32oz. Mason Jar or a wide mouth glass and cut out a circle in the center with a knife or use a water bottle cap. I have been guilty of doing this many a time!
- Browned Butter: Adding browned butter to donuts is a great way to add additional flavor. The browned butter has a nice nutty, buttery flavor which compliments the light sweetness of the donuts.
How to Make Old Fashioned Sourdough Cake Donuts:
Begin by melting and browning one stick of butter. Be careful as the butter can burn very quickly. To avoid burning, continually stir the butter. Once it begins foaming and turning slightly caramel in color, take the butter off of the heat.
Next, add 1/2 a cup of granulated sugar to an electric mixer and add in your butter. Mix on medium-low speed until combined.
Once the sugar and butter are combined, add in 2 eggs, the seeds on one vanilla bean (you could also substitute this for 2 tsp. of vanilla extract), 3/4 cup of sourdough discard, and 1/3 cup of whole milk. Mix on low speed until everything is combined.
Next, add 2 and 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 Tbsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt.
Mix together until just combined. Do not over-mix the dough.
Allow the donut dough to rest for 2-3 minutes. While the dough is resting, add 16 ounces of unrefined coconut oil to a cast iron skillet. Bring the oil to 375° F. If you do not have coconut oil, you could also use avocado oil. I like using coconut oil though because it adds a subtle, sweet coconut flavor to the donuts.
After 2-3 minutes rest, lightly flour the countertop and dough.
Using a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to 3/4 of an inch thick.
Using a donut cutter, cut out the donut circles.
Once your oil has reached 375° F add in the donuts and fry for 1-2 minutes per side. Be careful not to burn the donuts.
Once golden brown, remove the donuts from the oil and add them into 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 2 Tbsp. of cinnamon. Thoroughly coat the donuts in the cinnamon sugar.
And there you have it, classic, old-fashioned cinnamon sugar cake donuts. They are soft, sweet, and the perfect addition to your holiday menu or casual Sunday morning. These donuts are quick, easy, and delicious!
FAQ:
-
- Can I sub sourdough discard if I don’t have any? Greek yogurt is a great substitute for sourdough discard for this recipe.
-
- How long do donuts save for? Donuts are best eaten within the first day or two. I recommend if you are eating them on the second day, to pop them in the oven for a couple of minutes to warm and soften them up a bit.
-
- Do these donuts taste like sourdough? They have a very slight tang due to the discard, however, because they are not long fermented, they do not have the typical “sourness” that a sourdough bread would have. They taste like a traditional donut.
-
- Can I long ferment the donuts? You definitely can! I have not tried doing it with this recipe; however, I would suggest leaving out the baking soda and allowing the donuts to rise in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours, using sourdough as the main leavening agent.
- Can I long ferment the donuts? You definitely can! I have not tried doing it with this recipe; however, I would suggest leaving out the baking soda and allowing the donuts to rise in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours, using sourdough as the main leavening agent.
My Favorite Sourdough Recipes:
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you would consider coming back to the site to give it a 5-star rating and tag me on Instagram or Facebook! Thanks so much 🙂
Old Fashioned Sourdough Donuts With Cinnamon Sugar
Equipment
- Donut Cutter you can also sub this for a mason jar rim or a large glass.
Ingredients
Cinnamon Sugar Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp. cinnamon
Donut Ingredients:
- 8 oz. butter (cold)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 vanilla bean (sub 2 tsp. vanilla extract)
- 3/4 cup. sourdough discard (unfed)
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 2.75 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 16 oz. unrefined coconut oil
Instructions
- Begin by whisking together 1.5 cups of sugar and 2 Tbsp. of cinnamon together in a bowl and set aside.
- Next, melt and brown 1 stick of butter in a pan. Be careful not to burn the butter.
- Once melted, add the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and add in 1/2 cup of sugar. Mix together on medium low until combined.
- Add in eggs, vanilla, sourdough discard, and milk and mix until combined.
- Next, add in flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix on low speed until combined. Do not over-mix.
- Allow the dough to rest for 2-3 minutes.
- While the dough is resting, add 16 oz. of coconut oil to a cast iron skillet. Heat the oil to 375° F.
- Flour the workspace and scrape the dough onto the floured workspace. Add a little bit of flour over the dough and a rolling pin, and begin rolling out the dough until it is 3/4 of an inch thick.
- Using a donut cutter, cut out your donuts.
- Fry the donuts for 1-2 minutes per side until golden brown.
- Once the donuts are done frying, add them to the boil of cinnamon sugar and coat them in the sugar. Be careful, not to burn your hands doing this.
- Set them on a wire cooling wrack and allow them to cool slightly before eating.
Notes
- Do Not Overwork: Make sure to not overwork the dough when mixing everything together. This is super important in baking, especially for donuts. They more you work the dough, the more the glutens are activated and the tougher the dough can become. I recommend to stop mixing the dough once all of the dry ingredients are combined. This will help keep the donuts soft and fluffy.
- Do Not Burn: The donuts fry up very quickly, so keep an eye on them. They only need about 1-2 minutes in the fryer per side.
- Vanilla Bean: I love using fresh vanilla bean in the dough of the donuts. The fresh vanilla gives the donut a really strong vanilla flavor; however, if you do not have fresh vanilla on hand, you can always sub it out for vanilla extract. Both are great!
- Donut Cutter: If you do not have a donut cutter, no worries! You can always use the ring from a 32oz. Mason Jar or a wide mouth glass and cut out a circle in the center with a knife or use a water bottle cap. I have been guilty of doing this many a time!
- Browned Butter: Adding browned butter to donuts is a great way to add additional flavor. The browned butter has a nice nutty, buttery flavor which compliments the light sweetness of the donuts.
