An American Housewife: Homemade Old Fashioned Sour Cream Donuts

August 04, 2016

Homemade Old Fashioned Sour Cream Donuts - (Whole Grain Sour Cream Donuts)

After craving cake donuts and crullers for a couple months now, I decided to give in and make some old fashioned sour cream donuts. Better to give in, have one, get a little sick from the wheat and sugar and not want them again for a couple years than to crave them and build them up in my brain. Yesterday was the day! And yes, I did use sugar in these instead of a substitute - but I've gotten picky about the sugar I use as I found out last year during Christmas baking that the brand and style of sugar I used made ALL the difference in how my baked goods turned out. I used Zulka Morena Pure Cane unrefined, non-gmo sugar. I had bought it at Sam's Club - which my Sam's doesn't have anymore, I saw some at Amazon so I linked to it if you are interested.

I also grind my own wheat berries - so these donuts are not only sweetened with unrefined, pure sugar, but are whole grain wheat, ground with soft white wheatberries (also non-gmo and organic - I'll put a link at the very bottom of this post to the kind I order and use in our home).

I do not have a donut cutter, but I have various sizes of round cookie cutters, so I used one large and one small to cut the donut and the hole. The only other hint I have this recipe would be use fresh, clean oil to fry - as the flavor of the oil is a big part of how your finished donut tastes.

Homemade Old Fashioned Sour Cream Donuts

3 c flour - I used soft white wheat berries, ground in my WonderMill on pastry setting which is similar to 'cake flour' but whole grain
1 1/2 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
1/4 t nutmeg
2/3 c good quality sugar
3 T butter, soft
1 t vanilla
2 egg yolks
1/2 c sour cream

In a bowl, place the cake flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy and creamed together well. Add the vanilla and egg yolks, beat briefly, add the flour mixture and the sour cream. Mix just until blended smooth. Chill for about 30 minutes while you prepare the oil for frying and get out a sheet of parchment paper, sprinkled with flour.

Roll the dough out about 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick. Cut out rounds and smaller rounds in the center for the donut shapes. When the oil is hot enough to sizzle drops of water but not too hot (I use about a number 7 on my 1-10 stove) carefully add about 4-5 donutes in 1 inch hot oil. They should cook about 1 minute per side - if they are dark immediately, your oil is too hot - remove from heat and turn it down. If they sink and are taking 2-3 minutes to get golden brown, your oil is too cold and they are going to be a greasy mess. Remove and throw away. If they break apart, you don't have enough flour in the dough - gather up the cut raw donuts, put them back in the bowl and mix in 1/2 or more cups flour until you have a nice dough you can work with.

When both sides are golden brown, remove with a slotted spoon, drain on thick layers of paper towels. Drain well. If the paper towels are saturated with oil for the 2nd batch, use new ones. You want them drained nicely.

You can sprinkle with powdered sugar, sprinkle with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar, or eat plain but to make them like bakery and store bought donuts, use a simple glaze.

3 c powdered sugar
3 T warm water
dash salt
dash vanilla

Whisk and then dip the tops of the donuts into the glaze, place on a wire rack or parchment paper to let the glaze harden. These donuts are best the next morning after setting overnight in a container that allows air flow - nothing with a lid or air tight.

Showing the 2 cookie cutters I use - round circles