These old fashioned sour cream donuts are cakey, tender, and made with no yeast! Fried to perfection and dipped in a simple vanilla glaze, these donuts are easy to make and are a classic favorite.
Once you’ve tried a fresh, warm, homemade sour cream donut you’ll never be able to enjoy one from a bakery the same way again! Like my popular donut hole recipe, these are great to make with no yeast or rising required! Recipe also includes a step-by-step video.
Some mornings you just need a donut for breakfast.
Maybe it’s not as ideal as, say, a homemade granola bar, but the weather today is at least 30 degrees cooler than it was last Monday, it’s grey outside, the wind is howling, and the baby pool in our backyard (Leia’s) that was empty on Friday is about to overflow with rain. The weather forecast says that things aren’t expected to look any brighter this week as hurricane Florence heads for the East Coast (stay safe, everyone).
This gloomy morning I could go for a donut, a freshly fried sour cream donut. With vanilla glaze. I bet you could go for one, too?
Honestly, I wish I’d waited for this cooler weather to come before I started experimenting with this recipe. I spent a few hot summer days standing over a Dutch Oven full of oil working on perfecting these sour cream donuts, but ultimately it was worth it.
These donuts are tender, cakey, and packed with flavor. My recipe uses a combination of both white sugar and brown sugar, egg yolks only (no whites), and a full tablespoon of cornstarch for the best sour cream donut recipe out there (in my humble opinion, of course 😉).
Also see my yeast-raised homemade donut recipe
Tips for Making Sour Cream Donuts
- I do not recommend baking these donuts, they are meant to be fried for best results. If you’re looking for a good baked donut recipe please check out my baked pumpkin donuts or my baked baked chocolate donuts. I do not own an air fryer so I’m not sure how they would work in one of those (but if you try it out please let me know!).
- Don’t skip the chilling. Chilling the dough for an hour is mandatory, otherwise it will be too sticky to roll out. It’s also important that your donuts be chilled before frying, they will need to be cold in order for them to hold their shape when you transfer them to the oil.
- If your glaze begins to solidify while your donuts are frying, just pop it in the microwave for a few more seconds and give it a good stir.
- If you’re feeling too lazy to make the glaze (been there) you can just dip these donuts in sugar or a cinnamon/sugar mixture instead. It’s quicker, easier, and my taste-testing siblings enjoyed the sugared donuts just as much as the glazed ones.
Enjoy!
More Recipes to Try:
My video for these Sour Cream Donuts is at the bottom of the recipe! If you enjoy watching my cooking videos, I’d love it if you would consider subscribing to my YouTube channel <3
Sour Cream Donuts
Ingredients
- Vegetable or canola oil, for frying
- 3 Tablespoons (42 g) unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup (50 g) sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) brown sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup (160 g) sour cream
- 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (267 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg optional
Glaze**
- 1 ½ cups (185 g) powdered sugar
- ¼ cup (57 g) salted butter melted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ½-2 Tablespoons hot water
Instructions
- Combine butter and sugars in a large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until creamed together.3 Tablespoons (42 g) unsalted butter, softened, ¼ cup (50 g) sugar, ¼ cup (50 g) brown sugar
- Add egg yolks and beat until ingredients are well combined.2 large egg yolks
- Add vanilla extract and sour cream and stir well (be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl if using a stand mixer).½ teaspoon vanilla extract, ⅔ cup (160 g) sour cream
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cornstarch, salt, and nutmeg (if using).2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (267 g) all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, ½ teaspoon salt, ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Add dry ingredients to wet and use a spatula and stir by hand until ingredients are combined (I don't recommend using your electric mixer at this point, you don't want to over-work the ingredients or it can make your donuts tough).
- Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.
- Once dough has chilled, remove from refrigerator and turn out onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll to about ½" thickness and use a donut cutter to cut out donuts (save the holes, I always fry the donut holes as well!).
- Re-group any scraps and work them together, re-roll out, and repeat to cut out as many donuts as possible from your dough.
- Transfer cut out donut shapes to a wax paper lined cookie sheet and return to the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes while you heat your oil.
- While dough is chilling, fill a Dutch oven at least 2-3" deep with canola or vegetable oil. Fix a candy thermometer to the edge (make sure it is in the oil but not touching the bottom of the pan) and set your heat to medium-low. Oil will need to reach 350-360F (175-185C) before you can continue. Meanwhile, prepare your glaze.Vegetable or canola oil, for frying
- To prepare the glaze, combine melted butter, sugar, vanilla, and hot water in a small bowl and whisk or stir until smooth. Set aside.1 ½ cups (185 g) powdered sugar, ¼ cup (57 g) salted butter, ½ teaspoon vanilla, 1 ½-2 Tablespoons hot water
- Once oil has reached 350-360F (175-185C), remove donuts from the refrigerator and use tongs to carefully transfer donuts or donut holes in the oil, just 3 or 4 at a time. Adding donuts will cause your oil temperature to drop, so make sure you allow it to come back to the correct temperature between batches.
- Allow to cook for about 1-1 ½ minutes and then use tongs to flip. Cook another 1-1 ½ minutes and then use tongs to remove them from the oil and transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Allow to cool 1-5 minutes.
- Dip donuts in prepared glaze and then transfer to a cooling rack to allow the glaze to set.
- Enjoy warm. Donuts will keep for several days in an airtight container at room temperature, but they really taste best warm and freshly fried.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Taylor
Could you use an air fryer for these?
Sam
Hi Taylor! I have not tried using an air fryer, so I am not sure how it would turn out. If you try it, I would love to know how it goes. 🙂
Quail
I did these in the air fryer. I brushed both sides with melted butter. I preheated it to 350 and then cooked them for 5 minutes flipping half way. They came out great.
Sam
Thank you so much for the feedback! I have never used an air fryer. I need to get one. I am so glad you enjoyed the donuts. 🙂
Barb
My husband’s favorite is sour creme donuts and these are just like the ones from the bakery. Yummy! And they are not that difficult to make.
Sam
So happy to hear this 🙂
Barb
Mine weren’t as pretty as yours but the taste was yummy. This recipe is a keeper.
Sam
So happy to hear you enjoyed, Barb! Thank you so much for commenting 🙂
Rebecca
Have you made these as baked donuts? Just wondering how much changes, like does there need to be a chilling period or can you pipe the batter into the mold right away?
Sam
Hi Rebecca! I really don’t know how they would do being baked. If you try it, let me know how it turns out. 🙂
Kristin
Just tried this recipe and as soon as I put the donuts in the oil, they basically disintegrated! I thought maybe the oil was too hot the first batch, but kept an eye after and went no more than 350F but donuts still fell aprt and fried up in clumps. Don’t know what went wrong. Any thoughts?
Sam
O no I am so sorry that happened, Kristin! I have never had that happen. Were they really sticky when cutting them out?
Kristin
I didn’t think the dough was really sticky. I weighed most of the ingredients to ensure I had the right amounts. I followed your recommendation of not overmixing, so I mixed till dry and wet ingredients were just combined. Patted and rolled out dough with a bit of flour, and cut them out, with no sticking. Put them back in the fridge while oil heated up. I rolled them to about 1/2″ thickness – is it possible that it was too thin, hence not holding the shape? I was able to salvage the donut holes, glaze them, and just ate them today – they were actually quite delicious!
Sam
I’m really sorry, Kristin. I can do some research to try to figure out what happened, but I am really at a loss as to what could have happened here. I’m glad you were still able to enjoy them. 🙂
Bunny
What would you charge for a dozen donuts?
Sam
Unfortunately I don’t sell anything. 🙂
Hanne
Bakeries usually sell a dozen donuts for between $6 and $8.
Rose
Can you refrigerate the dough overnight? Thanks and Happy New Years!
Sam
I think that would be fine, enjoy! 🙂
Frann Todd
The text below is from your directions . . . my questions is – do I refrigerate or use the freezer for an hour? These 2 methods for chilling will produce 2 different results. I did not see this question addressed in previous comments. Looking forward to making these donuts.
Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Once dough has chilled, remove from freezer . . .
Sam
Sorry about that, it just needs to be refrigerated. Fixing it right now! Thanks for catching that. ☺️
María Rivera
Un consejo para quien no consiga crema agria: a la crema de leche, agréguele jugo de limón. ¡Listo!
Amanda Phillips
Could you change the shape of the doughnut to more of a maple bar shape?
Sam
Sure I don’t think that would be a problem 🙂
Monique
Can dough be frozen? If yes, for how long and what is best method to prepare it for freezing?
Thank you and I enjoy your recipes.
Sam
Hi Monique! I’m really not sure how it would work being frozen. Sorry. 😟
Naomi
Why the egg yolks only? What’s chemistry behind this? These look delicious…we had a very nice a cool week last week, but this week is a bit of summer back again, so I’ll probably wait until next week to try them out. 🙂 And me just starting (for the 189th time…) a new resolve to eat better….haha!
Sam
Using only the yolks helps with the texture. If you use the white it would be more airy and dry and I wanted them to be a little more moist so only use the yolks. Hope that helps! 😃
Jo Ellen Washburn
I just want to put this out there: Donuts also qualify as a dessert! I’m on a quest to make this a thing so that maybe donut shops will quit closing before noon! These sound wonderful. I will definitely be making these in the near future.
Sam
I am with you there!! Thank you, Jo Ellen! I really hope you love the donuts 🙂
Mikaru86
I have been meaning to try and experiment with frying stuff for a while now. Those look delicious enough to maybe get me to finally give it a shot 🙂
Sam
Haha I hope you do! These really were so good, there’s nothing like a fresh homemade donut. Hopefully I’ll have a yeast-made donut coming to the blog before too long, but you know how I am with yeast recipes, they take me a while!
Patience
Looks delicious. Thanks for the recipe. Please can sour cream be substituted for Greek yoghurt or plain yoghurt? Can’t get sour cream in my country.
Sam
Thank you! I honestly have not tried this recipe with greek yogurt but I do think it would work. If you try it out I would love to hear how it works for you using that substitute!
Lyn
This is the most delicious donut recipe just made it but doubled the recipe and used buttermilk instead of cream. Thank you so much just the type of recipe I was looking for <3
Sam
So glad it worked out for you! 😃