
I love baking with sourdough! These easy homemade sourdough donuts have been such a fun treat to make for my family!
Jump to RecipeI have been wanting to make sourdough donuts for quite awhile now, but they seemed intimidating. Finally I searched online for some recipes online and found a few to try. After trying some, tweeking and combining them, and using my own no fuss method, I now have a easy, go-to sourdough donut recipe!
Light and Fluffy
These donuts turn out light and fluffy and a bit like old fashioned donuts. There are endless varieties of icing flavors and toppings you can add to these donuts to dress them up. I have done, vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and lemon icing. You could also add sprinkles or simply roll them in powedered sugar or cinnamon sugar.



Great for Summer
I love making these homemade sourdough donuts during the hot summer months because they do not use the oven and I can fry them in the morning before the house gets hot. I simply mix up the dough the night before I want fresh donuts for breakfast. Then in the morning I shape the dough, let them rise a bit, and fry them.
What Kind of Oil to Use
I like to fry my donuts in a combination of beef tallow and coconut oil, but any quality cooking oil with a higher smoke point will work. I also don’t use a thermometer to moniter the exact temperature of my oil, but I keep a very close eye on it to keep it at an even medium heat.
How to Make the Donut Dough
The dough for donuts has a few more ingredients and is richer than a typical bread dough, so it takes a few extra minutes to mix up but it is worth it.
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough starter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 cups flour
Mix all ingredients except flour together well. Slowly add flour until a soft, workable dough forms. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth and let sit overnight.
Shaping the Donuts
The next morning roll the dough out on a floured surface to about 1/2 inch thick. Use a donut cutter to cut out the donuts. Allow to rest for 10- 2o minutes.
Frying the Donuts
I fry my donuts in my enamel Dutch oven and it works very well. I can fit 3 donuts in a time.
Add about 1 inch of preferred frying oil into bottom of pan.
Heat the oil over medium heat. Test the oil with a small piece of dough, it should sizzle nicely, but not brown too quickly. If you are using a thermometer the ideal temperature for donuts is between 365- 380F.
When the oil is the right temperature carefully place donuts in the hot oil. Fry about 2 minutes on each side. be careful not to overcrowd the pan.
Place donuts on a wire rack to cool for a few minutes before icing.
Making the Icing
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2-3 Tbsp milk
Other flavor ideas
- replace part of the powdered sugar with cocoa powder for chocolate icing
- add a bit of lemon zest and lemon juice for lemon icing
- make a concentrated strawberry juice by boiling a few strawberries with a bit of water. Strain and replace the milk with the juice for strawberry icing.
- replace the milk with maple syrup for maple icing
Melt butter in a saucepan large enough for dipping the donuts. Add all other icing ingredients and mix well.
Dip the donuts in the icing and set on the wire rack to dry for a few minutes.

Easy Homemade Sourdough Donuts
Course: Breakfast18
donuts15
minutes20
minutesIngredients
1 cup sourdough starter
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
2 eggs
1/2 cupsugar
4 cups flour
Oil for frying
- Icing
1/4 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2-3 TBSP milk
- Other flavor ideas
1. replace part of the powdered sugar with cocoa powder for chocolate icing
2. add a bit of lemon zest and lemon juice for lemon icing
3. make a concentrated strawberry juice by boiling a few strawberries with a bit of water. Strain and replace the milk with the juice for strawberry icing.
4. replace the milk with maple syrup for maple icing
Directions
- Mix all ingredients except flour together well. Slowly add flour until a soft, workable dough forms. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth and let sit overnight.
- The next morning roll the dough out on a floured surface to about 1/2 inch thick. Use a donut cutter to cut out the donuts. Allow to rest for 10- 2o minutes.
- Add about 1 inch of preferred frying oil into bottom of pan.
Heat the oil over medium heat. Test the oil with a small piece of dough, it should sizzle nicely, but not brown too quickly. If you are using a thermometer the ideal temperature for donuts is between 365- 380F. - When the oil is the right temperature carefully place donuts in the hot oil. Fry about 2 minutes on each side. be careful not to overcrowd the pan.
- Place donuts on a wire rack to cool for a few minutes before icing.
- Make the Icing
- Melt butter in a saucepan large enough for dipping the donuts. Add all other icing ingredients and mix well.
Dip the donuts in the icing and set on the wire rack to dry for a few minutes.
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Can you please tell me what % of tallow and coconut oil you use for your fry oil. Thanks!
I don’t really measure exactly. I would say about half and half.