Baked Sourdough Donuts

Baked Sourdough Donuts combine the tangy flavor of sourdough with the light, soft, airy texture of a yeast donut with no deep frying required. All you need are some simple ingredients and a little patience to let the dough rise to perfection. Whether you're enjoying them with your morning coffee or as an afternoon snack, these perfectly soft, fluffy donuts will quickly become a favorite in your baking rotation. We tested so many versions of these donuts, but the baked version was the unanimous favorite in our house. Enjoy!

What you'll need to make Baked Sourdough Donuts at home-

This dough is a sweet, enriched dough, which means it includes sugars and/or fats to soften the dough. The milk, sugar, and butter make for a perfectly silky, delicate dough that bakes up to be fluffy, tender, and perfectly soft.

We will also be leavening the dough with both active/ripe sourdough starter and a bit of commercial instant yeast. (My favorite instant yeast is SAF Gold label.) This allows the dough to proof a bit more quickly and also makes these donuts a bit more foolproof and forgiving if your starter isn't extremely active.

This recipe calls for all-purpose flour instead of bread flour because I found that the texture of the donuts was a bit lighter and fluffier when using all-purpose flour and the donuts still held its shape well.

Now for the fun part- the toppings/glazes! I've included instructions for cinnamon/sugar coated donuts as well as vanilla glaze, chocolate glaze, and my personal favorite, maple glaze. Feel free to get creative!

As for equipment/supplies, you'll need a donut cutter and donut pans. If you don't have a donut pan, you can just bake on a baking sheet, but they don't won't have quite the same perfect donut shape.

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Baked Sourdough Donuts

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Baked Sourdough Donuts combine the tangy flavor of sourdough with the light, soft, airy texture of a yeast donut with no deep frying required. All you need are some simple ingredients and a little patience to let the dough rise to perfection. No frying required!

• Author: Mandy
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Proofing time: 3-12 hours
• Cook Time: 11-15 minutes
• Total Time: 0 hours
• Yield: 16-18 donuts 1x
• Category: sourdough

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the donuts:

225 g. warm milk

½ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon instant yeast

150 g. active sourdough starter

425 g. all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon sea salt

For the glaze/toppings:

Cinnamon Sugar-

1 cup granulated sugar + 1-2 tablespoons cinnamon

-Immediately after baking, brush with melted butter then toss in cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Chocolate Glaze-

1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

¼ cup milk or cream, +/- as needed

1 teaspoon vanilla

-Whisk ingredients together until smooth, then dip donuts into glaze. This works best when the donuts have cooled slightly but are still warm.

Vanilla Glaze

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 cup confectioners sugar, sifted

¼ cup milk/cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

Pinch salt

-Whisk ingredients together until smooth, then dip donuts into glaze.

Maple Glaze

2 tablespoons melted butter

¼ cup pure maple syrup

½ teaspoon vanilla

Pinch salt

1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

-whisk ingredients together until smooth, then dip donuts into glaze

Equipment

Donut cutter

Donut baking pan

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Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the milk, sugar, melted butter, yeast, and starter until combined. Add flour and salt, then using the dough hook, knead on medium speed for 7-10 minutes until dough reaches windowpane status.  Dough will be sticky but smooth and sides of bowl should be clean.

Cover and let rise at room temperature until doubled, about 1 ½ -2 hours. Dough should appear bubbly.

Punch dough down and roll out on a lightly floured surface until ¼- ½ inch thickness. Cut into 16-18 donuts and arrange in donut pans sprayed with nonstick spray.

Cover and rise in fridge overnight or at room temperature until nearly doubled. About 1 ½ hours at room temp or about 2-3 hours after refrigerating. Dough should be risen about ¼ to ½ inch above the rim of the donut pan.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake 11-15 minutes, rotating after about 7 minutes. Bake until lightly golden and internal temperature reaches 195-200°F with an instant read thermometer.

Glaze/frost immediately. To prepare the glazes, whisk the ingredients together until smooth in a small bowl (but still big enough to dip a donut into). When the donuts have cooled just slightly but are still warm, dip the donuts into the glaze and arrange on a wire rack to allow the excess to drain.

Enjoy!

Keywords: sourdough, donuts, doughnuts, baked donuts,

Thank you so much for visiting my site! If you love sourdough, you might also enjoy these other recipes:

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