Homemade Sour Cream Glazed Doughnuts (the best & easiest)

These sour cream donuts are cakey, tender with a delicious vanilla glaze that seeps into all the nooks and crannies of the doughnut. These require zero yeast and are fried to perfection. They are easy to make and you will be hooked after the first time you make them. They are just as good if not better than the ones they serve at your favorite doughnut shop.

You all know I’m not into any thing deep fried. But when hubby requests doughnuts - I make doughnuts. We have a lot of amazing doughnut shops in the area and so he doesn’t ask often but considering the circumstances - homemade everything is in order. Hubby goes nuts for any doughnuts - me; not so much. My weakness though is a good sour cream glazed doughnut. I will never pass up a sour cream glazed doughnut or doughnut hole (Tim Bit). So I decided to make some at home. Crazy idea right- the smarter thing would have been to make my least favorite doughnut then there would be zero temptation to eat the whole dozen. Obviously today wasnt for smart decisions. You will definitely thank me for that bad decision just like my family did.

How to make sour cream glazed doughnuts?

It’s a simple process of making a simple non-yeasted dough made from cake flour, baking powder and some spices and ofcourse sugar and a bit of butter and we can’t leave out the sour cream. The dough needs to rest in the fridge after it’s mixed with a mixer (standing or hand held) and then it’s rolled out. It’s a very easy dough to work with. Once it’s rolled out you just cut out your doughnuts and then they are ready to be fried to perfection. After they have cooled for a couple of minutes they get dipped and flipped in a delicious vanilla glaze and then you can eat them warm or allow the glaze to set and let them cool. A simple process. The only intimidating part is the deep frying. The key is to make sure you use a deeper pot or dutch oven and carefully place and remove doughnuts into and out of the oil.

What do I need to make the perfect doughnuts?

You need something to cut them into doughnut shapes. You can use the commercial doughnut cutters that are available out there but a round biscuit cutter would work perfectly. You would need one larger one and a smaller one for the doughnut hole. I used a biscuit cutter for the doughnut and a piping tool with a large base for the doughnut hole. A mason jar lid would work well too and even the rim of a glass could work. The other thing I strongly recommend having to make the perfect doughnuts every time is a thermometer. Whether you have a clip on candy thermometer or one you have to periodically place in the oil to read the temperature- it’s a great way to keep an eye on the temperature of the oil to ensure your doughnuts don’t cook too quickly and are burned on the outside and still not cooked through on the inside. If you don’t have one and absolutely need these doughnuts in your life, feel free to use your doughnut holes as tests to the temperature. Obviously the doughnuts themselves will take longer to cook so take that into consideration. The next thing you will need is a good metabolism because you will not be able to resist having multiples of these babies.

Can I replace the cake flour with all purpose flour?

Cake flour/pastry flour has a low-protein content (sometimes also called soft flour) and is what gives baked goods their fluffy and meltingly tender texture. That is what you want in a sour cream glazed doughnut. If you don’t have cake flour you can use all purpose flour but substituting with all-purpose flour may result in a slightly dry batter for these doughnuts.

Can I bake these instead of deep fry?

This recipe calls for deep frying these doughnuts. Baking them will not give you the same texture or lift on these so I wouldn’t recommend it. Some people recommend air frying these but I have not tried doing that yet with this recipe but it’s on my list of things to experiment more with. If it works it is definitely a healthier way of making doughnuts.

I tried a few recipes before I found this amazing one by Completely Delicious and I have to say it’s the best I have made by far. The only thing I altered was the spices. The original recipe called for nutmeg alone. I added cinnamon and cardamom to the mix along with the nutmeg and I loved the hint of spice in the background of all the vanilla. I know many don’t like using corn syrup in their baking or sweets so feel free to use honey or maple syrup instead of it or leave it out completely. Corn syrup is often used in glazes - this one included. It helps keep the glaze from getting grainy, instead It helps keep it looking shiny. No one could resist these doughnuts and I know you won’t be able to either. They are tender, cakey, and packed with flavor. You are welcome!!

Recipe

Servings: Makes 10-12 Doughnuts and Doughnut Holes

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 25 min

Dough needs to rest for approximately 1 hour

Total time: 1 hour 40 min

Ingredients

For the doughnuts

• 2¼ cup cake flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature (cool room temp not too melty)
• 2 large egg yolks
• ½ cup sour cream
• Canola oil, for frying (I used a whole 946ml bottle)

For the Glaze

• 3½ cup powdered sugar
• 1½ teaspoons corn syrup
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ⅓ cup hot water
  

Directions

1. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom.
2. In a large bowl beat together the butter and sugar together until sandy with a standing mixer or a hand mixer. Add the egg yolks and mix until light and thick.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl in 3 additions, alternating with the sour cream, and ending with the flour. The dough may be sticky make sure to scrape the bowl and incorporate all the dry ingredients even if you have to knead it in a couple of times. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour, or until firm
4. Lightly flour a clean surface and roll out the dough to about ½ inch thickness. Use a doughnut cutter or two differently sized biscuit/cookie cutters to cut out as many donuts as possible, dipping the cutters into flour as needed to prevent sticking. If the dough starts to get sticky, or greasy at any point return to the fridge to firm before continuing. Place the cutout doughnuts and holes onto a lined baking sheet dusted with a little bit of flour. Refrigerate while you heat the oil
5. Pour 2 inches of canola oil into a heavy bottomed pot with a deep-fry thermometer attached. Heat oil to 325°F. Fry the doughnuts 2-3 at a time, being careful not to overcrowd the pot. Fry on each side about 2 minutes, being careful not to let them burn. Keep an eye on the thermometer and adjust heat to maintain the correct oil temperature. Let drain on a paper towel lined plate to soak up the excess grease
6. While the doughnuts cool slightly make the glaze. Mix all ingredients for the glaze in a large shallow bowl with a whisk until smooth and then set aside.
7. Dip each doughnut into the glaze to fully coat. Place on a wire rack above a sheet pan to catch any excess glaze. Let sit for 20 minutes until glaze is set.
   

* Best served and eaten the day of but can be stored in an airtight container for up to two days.

Adapted from Completely Delicious