Here is the best recipe of sourdough doughnuts so far. I have a small stove burner, which I use outside on our patio, this makes doughnut production more pleasant, and my house doesn’t smell like fried oil. The doughnuts turn out soft, fluffy and delicious. Every other weekend my family patiently waits until I finish frying the doughnuts, then we deep them in the glaze together, and that’s a perfect start of any weekend.
Ingredients
Stiff Sourdough starter
- 10g sourdough starter
- 30g water
- 60g bread flour
Dough
- 280g bread flour (100%)
- 64g stiff starter (23%)
- 153g milk (54%)
- 50g eggs (18%)
- 55g soft butter (20%)
- 30g sugar (11%)
- 5g salt (1.8%)
- 0.5g yeast (optional) to reduce sourness
Directions
Day 1
Starter
- 10 pm add starter to the water and whisk together, add flour, mix well, form a ball, then roll it into a tight roll, place in a jar, cover with water, make sure it is covered with water, let sit at room temp 74-78F until it increases in size and starts to float on the top of the water.
- In about 8-10 hours the top of the starter will dry and the bottom will start to melt in the water. We will need only the center part of it.
- Keeping stiff starter in the water helps to reduce its acidity and sourness of the final product (learn how to make starter from scratch here).
Day 2
Dough
- 8 am mix starter, milk, eggs, flour, sugar (let it autolyse for 30minutes).
- During the autolyse period the flour becomes fully hydrated. This activates gluten development.
- 8.30 am mix the dough on low speed of your mixing machine for 2-3 minutes, or KitchenAid on speed 3 for 3-4 minutes until well incorporated.
- Add salt and mix for a couple more minutes. The dough should form a ball.
- Add soft butter, increase the speed, mix for 10-15 minutes until the dough comes up together. If its not coming up together, feel free to add a little more flour (20-40g).
- 9 am cover and let it proof for 3- 4 hours at 76-80F/ 24-28C.
- During that time perform 2 stretches and folds.
- The dough should become slightly puffy.
- 12 pm transfer the dough to the fridge for cold fermentation for 8-10 hours.
- 10 pm remove the dough from the fridge.
- Roll the cold dough on the floured surface.
- Cut the donuts with donut mold or just a regular glass.
- Transfer each donut on single piece of parchment paper, this will help with transferring the proofed doughnuts later into the pot with oil.
- Cover the doughnuts, let them proof overnight on the countertop. Temperature should be 72-73F.
- Next morning they should increase in size and become puffy.
Note : if it’s hot in your kitchen, better to put doughnuts in the fridge overnight, and make them proof next morning for 2-3 hours at 78-82F until they will become puffy and light.
Day 3
Morning
- If the doughnuts were proofing at room temperature, now they should be ready to be deep fried.
- Preheat the oil for about 30 minutes, and fry the doughnuts for 1-2 minutes on each side until golden brown.
- Then dip them into the glaze, or ice them the way you like them.
Note : if doughnuts were slowly proofing in the fridge, bring them back to the room temperature, let them proof for 2-3 hours, then deep fry them.
Glaze Options
Vanilla Donut Glaze:
- 170g powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients.
- Whisk until silky and smooth.
- If you want it thinner add a little more milk
Chocolate Donut Glaze:
- 170g powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- In a medium bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
- Slowly stir in milk and vanilla extract. Whisk until silky and smooth.
Enjoy your homemade sourdough doughnuts 🍩
In about 8-10 hours the top of the starter will dry and the bottom will start to melt in the water. We will need only the center part of it.
What do you mean “we need only the center part of it”? Do we pull out the entire stiff starter from the water and use it in the dough?
You have to pull out all starter from the water, but use only central part(because top part will be dry and bottom part will be too melty)
Thank you!
Hi! If I make balls will it work?
Yes, absolutely.
Working on these today. What oil would you recommend for frying?
You say preheat oil for 30 minutes… is that correct? Thanks!
Sorry, I’m proud too late with answer. Usually I’m using canola oil. Or any other oil without flavor.
Very excited about these! How thin should we roll out the dough and how many donuts can be made with this much dough?
Hi!
It should be about 1/2 inch thick. And you’ll be able to get about dozen donuts 😊
Ever used vegan butter? I’m dairy free.
Hi! After putting the dough in the fridge at 10pm am I able to leave it in the fridge for 24-48 hours before removing and shaping?
Maria, hi!
Yes! You can leave them in the fridge up to 48 hours.
Thanks so much!!
Hi
My kitchen temperature is around 22-24 C should I keep them overnight on the counter or fridge? Thank you
Hi! 22 is great! 24 is too warm, they will get overproofed.
Hi Natasha
I tried your pancake recipe it was just amazing, the kids loved it, thank you
Thank you! Happy to hear you liked the recipe. I’m making pancakes every weekend 😉
What oil temp do you fry the donuts? I’m frying now and just noticed I don’t see a temp – going to try at 370!
Hi!
I’ve never measured the temperature of the oil.
I was putting small piece of dough, to check when will it start yo get brown
Hi Natalya! Thank you for this great recipe. Im curious about the benefits of a stiff sourdough starter in this recipe vs a regular 100% hydration. Can you pls elaborate a bit? Thank you!
Hi!
Stiff starter will bring acidity of final product lower.
thank you for your amazing recipe!
Thank you 🙏
Hello Natasha,
When leaving the doughnuts out overnight to proof, how do we cover them so the skin doesn’t form or stick onto what we use to cover them?
I’m using plastic wrap to cover them
Legitimately, the best sourdough donuts. My family and I went from making them once every 2 weeks to almost once a week now 😅🤣.
The only addition I make to the plain glaze is a squeeze of lemon juice and zest!
That’s fantastic to hear! Adding lemon juice and zest to the glaze sounds like a delicious twist on traditional sourdough donuts. It’s wonderful that your family enjoys them so much that you’re making them more frequently now. Thank you for sharing your experience and the tasty tip!