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When I first discovered that you could use sourdough to make things other than bread I was seriously surprised! Since then I have made several things with sourdough including muffins and tortillas. Sourdough donut holes are definitely my favorite though. Nothing beats a warm sugary donut.
These sourdough donut holes are easy to make. They do need some active sourdough starter to get them to rise. If you do not have time to make a starter from scratch and do not have a starter currently on the go, you can replace the starter in the recipe with 1 teaspoon of normal dried bread yeast that has been soaked for 5 minutes in the warm milk.
You can make the mixture in to traditional donut shapes if you prefer by rolling the donut dough in to long sausages then pinching the ends together before sitting them to rise. I prefer making donut holes however as you just roll them in a small ball so it is less fiddly and just as yummy.
Sourdough Donut Recipe
Dough Ingredients
- 2 c. High Grade White Flour
- 1/2 c. Milk
- 1 Egg
- 1/4 c. White Sugar
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 1/2 c. Active Sourdough Starter ***
Topping Ingredients
- 1/2 c. Sugar
- 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
Plus, oil or fat for frying.
*** Active sourdough starter is one that has been fed within the last 12 hours and has visible bubbles within its structure. If you’re not sure, this video shows you how to tell if your sourdough starter is alive and well.
Instructions
In a small pot warm the milk so that it is warm but not hot.
In a large bowl place the flour, sugar, salt, egg, milk and sourdough starter. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon until it is well combined. It should form a soft but knead able dough. Tip out on to a floured board and knead for 3-5 minutes.
Split the dough in to 24 even pieces. This is easily done by cutting it in half, then each half in half again. Then each of those halves split in to 6 pieces. Roll the pieces in to balls and place them on a lined cookie sheet with about 1/2 an inch between them.
Place these somewhere warm to rise. If you do not have anywhere suitable in your house you can set your oven on very low until it is about 100ºF. Place a dish with 1/2 inch of boiling water in the bottom of the oven to create steam, turn your oven off, place the donut holes on the tray in the oven and close the door. Bread rises really well in a warm and steamy environment.
Leave the donuts to rise for about one hour. You can leave them for up to 6 hours to rise if you have other things to be doing. They will rise a lot further when they cook, so they don’t have to have risen too much before cooking. While they are rising place the second measure of sugar and the cinnamon in a bowl ready for dusting the sourdough donut holes with.
Heat some oil in either a deep fryer or on the stove top to about 330ºF. Keep a close eye on the oil as it is flammable and keep children out of the kitchen while you are using it.
Place the donuts in the oil a few at a time. They will sink at first, but will rise to the top as they are cooking. Flip them over with some tongs or a slotted spoon when the bottom goes a rich golden color.
It takes about 3 minutes on each side. Once they are cooked drain them for 30 seconds and then pop them in the bowl of cinnamon sugar and roll them around. After coating place them in a bowl.
- 2 c. White Flour
- 1/2 c. Milk
- 1/2 c. Active Sourdough Starter
- 1/4 c. White Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 c. Sugar
- 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
- Oil or Fat
- In a small pot warm the milk so that it is warm but not hot.
- In a large bowl place the flour, sugar, salt, egg, milk and sourdough starter.
- Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon until it is well combined. It should form a soft but knead able dough.
- Tip out on to a floured board and knead for 3-5 minutes.
- Split the dough in to 24 even pieces. This is easily done by cutting it in half, then each half in half again. Then each of those halves split in to 6 pieces.
- Roll the pieces in to balls and place them on a lined cookie sheet with about 1/2 an inch between them.
- Place these somewhere warm to rise. If you do not have anywhere suitable in your house you can set your oven on very low until it is about 100F. Place a dish with 1/2 inch of boiling water in the bottom of the oven to create steam, turn your oven off, place the donut holes on the tray in the oven and close the door. Bread rises really well in a warm and steamy environment.
- Leave the donuts to rise for about one hour. You can leave them for up to 6 hours to rise if you have other things to be doing. They will rise a lot further when they cook, so they don’t have to have risen too much before cooking.
- While they are rising place the second measure of sugar and the cinnamon in a bowl ready for dusting the donut holes with.
- Heat some oil in either a deep fryer or on the stove top to about 330F. Keep a close eye on the oil as it is flammable and keep children out of the kitchen while you are using it.
- Place the donuts in the oil a few at a time. They will sink at first, but will rise to the top as they are cooking. Flip them over with some tongs or a slotted spoon when the bottom goes a rich golden color. It takes about 3 minutes on each side.
- Once they are cooked drain them for 30 seconds and then pop them in the bowl of cinnamon sugar and roll them around.
They will keep in a sealed container for up to a week, but they are best eaten within 2-3 days. You can reheat them in a warm oven for 10 minutes.
Enjoy!
I love them warm with caramel sauce and ice cream. You can also enjoy them with homemade hot cocoa or some Harry Potter inspired butterbeer.
They will keep in a sealed container for up to a week, but they are best eaten within 2-3 days. You can reheat your sourdough donuts in a warm oven for 10 minutes.
If you’re looking for more sourdough recipes, check out our Ultimate Sourdough Recipe Roundup.
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These were chewy and could do with maybe longer proof time or yeast to make more airy. It was a very wet dough and agree that oiling hands may help. Also added more cinnamon to the sugar for better flavor. Definitely needs more tweaking, but a nice recipe for a somewhat quick donut treat.
Just tried this recipe tonight. Workes great, but I made. a couple tweeks.
Mix all ingredients until combined and let rest for 30min towel covered. Do not mix on floured surface, but mix in bowl. If it is still too sticky to make into balls, use oiled hands to work the dough and let it rest again. Was easy to work with after this! I let the 24 balls rest for 8hr before frying.
They ended up about 2xs the size of donut holes and would consider making 48 smaller donuts next time.
Used 113 gram starter.
Can they be baked or airfried?
Any chance you can add the ingredients by weight?
These came out tough and chewy.
This is useless. I’ve baked with sourdough for 20 years, and know how a “revived sourdough starter looks, and this simply does not work. I should have known better than to trust a recipe with ingredients in volume. Avoid! Or add yeast.
Warm with caramel and ice cream? You betcha!