Old Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts

These old-fashioned sour cream doughnuts are golden and crisp on the outside, soft and fluffy inside, and finished with a sweet glaze for bakery-style perfection.

When I was a child, chocolate was my sugar fix. I wasn’t big on cake, ice cream or doughnuts, but every now and then if I got my hands on a sour cream doughnut (I actually didn’t know what they were called then), all of a sudden I loved doughnuts.

At the time for some reason they didn’t seem as sugary to me as other doughnuts, although that thought process really doesn’t make any sense because all doughnuts are dough balls of pure sugar glazed with sugar. I will say this – I have never, and will never, have a sweet tooth quite like my children. Those two would make Willy Wonka proud.

Making these really aren’t difficult. Since I’m definitely no Martha Stewart, y’all should know that I would be candid about that. Although I have been branching out a little in the past few years in the baking arena, you won’t catch me making macarons or any thing with fondant. I tried using fondant ONE time because I was determined to make a beautiful cake for my daughter’s 15th birthday. It was going to be EPIC. If you’re a mama, you know how I felt; I was determined to do it big. I thought I was one, eh..maybe two YouTube’s away from a gorgeous three layer gâteau beauty straight out of Taste of Home. 

I mean, how hard could it be??

Well, it’s a good thing I got started the day before her party, because making this cake caused me to go from coffee to chardonnay pretty early that evening. The level of complete and total infuriation working with fondant caused me to feel was unreal and off the charts.

Needless to say, fondant and I are not friends.

Let’s Make Sour Cream Doughnuts

This, however, is easy enough.

My very favorite kitchen baby, my stand mixer, does the work for the first part.

I love her.

A hand mixer will give you the same outcome, just not quite as convenient and you will get an arm workout. Not to beat a dead horse, but my stand mixer is the best gift I have ever received, seriously. I use it SO MUCH MORE than I ever thought I would – I honestly wear it out. So if any of you are on the fence, get off of it already and buy one.

Moving on, do NOT, do not skip the chilling step.

The dough needs to chill enough to not fall apart while they’re frying, and you’ll mess your sweet little doughnuts up.

These are not really bake-able doughnuts.

I mean, I’m sure you technically can, but they aren’t gonna be quite as decadent. This is the time to throw out all the worries of counting calories, fat grams, sugar grams, whatever it is you count. Not today.

Tomorrow is never, ever promised, YOLO, all of those things, etc.

Eat the doughnut.

Or the cheeseburger. 

Look, I could sit here and wax poetic about the nostalgic charm of an old fashioned sour cream doughnut, but let’s be real: you didn’t come here for a lecture, you came here for fried dough covered in glistening sugar.

And honestly?

Same.

So go on, fry up a batch, glaze them good, and enjoy your victory lap around the kitchen. Will your family/friends/neighbors suddenly think you’re a domestic goddess?

Probably.

Will you share?

That’s between you, your conscience, and however sticky your fingers get.

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Old Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts

Yield: 12 doughnuts

Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Classic old-fashioned sour cream doughnuts - crispy edges, tender inside, and dipped in a sweet glaze like the bakery favorite.

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Ingredients

For the Doughnuts

• 2 ½ cup AP flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 large egg yolks
• ½ cup sour cream
• Canola or vegetable oil, for frying

Instructions

For the Doughnuts:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg together.
2. In a large bowl, mix the sugar and shortening on low speed for 1 minute. (texture should become "sandy") Add egg yolks and mix on medium speed for 1 minute or until the mixture is light colored and thick.
3. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients thoroughly.
4. Add sour cream and mix until combined. It will be thick.
5. Transfer dough to a clean bowl, cover with a towel and chill for an hour.
6. Heat 1 inch of oil to 325 degrees F.
7. On a generously floured surface, roll out the chilled dough to 1/2 inch thickness.
8. Use a round doughnut cutter (I used a wide mouth Ball canning jar lid) to cut out as many donut shapes as you can with the dough,
9. Add doughnuts to the hot oil a few at a time (don't crowd them or they won't fry properly).
10. When the doughnuts start to float, fry for 10-15 seconds, then use tongs to flip them over.
11. Fry for 1-2 minutes more until golden brown, then flip and fry the first side again for 1-2 minutes until golden brown. When they're getting golden, go ahead and take them out.
12. Transfer to cooling racks and cool 5-7 minutes before glazing.
    

For the Glaze:

1. Heat butter in microwave for 15-20 seconds, or until melted.
2. Whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth, then stir in water, 1 tbsp at a time, until just thickened.
3. Cool for 5 minutes,
4. Store any leftover glaze at room temperature in an air tight container.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 190Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 57mgSodium: 254mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 1gSugar: 9gProtein: 4g

The provided nutrition calculated may not always be accurate.

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This was updated on 09/16/2025.