Making these sourdough donuts to share with friends and family this fall! Baked to perfection and dipped in cinnamon sugar, these easy treats are sure to satisfy your sweet tooth. Invite some friends over or you’ll end up eating the whole batch yourself!
Something about fall always makes me want cinnamon. Cinnamon spice tea, cinnamon applesauce, and of course, cinnamon donuts! The addition of sourdough to traditional cinnamon donuts adds just the right amount of tang to keep them from tasting too sweet. After all, if you can add sourdough to something, why wouldn’t you?
In addition to using sourdough, these donuts are baked instead of fried, which makes them so much easier to bake. You don’t have to worry about oil burning your skin or accidentally crisping your donut or oil spattering all over your kitchen. All you have to do is put them in the oven and set a timer. No burns, no mess. Easy peasy!
If you’re more of an old-fashioned donut lover, you can easily customize these donuts by adding a simple vanilla glaze (or if you’re a chocolate lover, make chocolate glaze). Sprinkles, powdered sugar, and of course cinnamon taste amazing on top.
Tips for making Sourdough Donuts:
- This dough is a bit on the stickier side so that your donuts will turn out moist and fluffy. However, this will make the dough a bit harder to handle, which is why I’d recommend using a stand mixer to knead the dough for you. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can certainly use your hands to knead the dough. Just know the dough will stick to your hands more than normal.
- If you don’t have a donut mold, you can make your own using a muffin pan and foil! Just roll up a small ball of foil and put it in the center of each muffin. Put your donuts in the tin around the foil and let them rise. The foil ball will keep them from losing their hole. Make sure to spray your tin with baking spray so they don’t stick!
- If you prefer, you could alternatively fry these donuts. Fill a skillet with about an inch of oil and turn on the stove to medium heat. Fry them a few at a time until golden brown and then roll in cinnamon-sugar.
- If you’d like to make a glaze for these donuts instead of using cinnamon sugar, you can mix 1 cup of powdered sugar with a few tablespoons of milk. Drizzle this over the donuts once they’ve cooled for a few minutes so the glaze doesn’t melt off.
- To make chocolate glaze for the donuts, you can mix 1-2 tablespoons of cocoa powder with 1 cup powdered sugar and a few tablespoons of milk. Drizzle it over the donuts once they’ve cooled for a few minutes.
Tools you will need
Making baked donuts only requires a few tools:
- Stand mixer with a dough hook (if you don’t have one, you can knead your dough by hand).
- Donut mold or muffin pan
Ingredients you will need
Likely you already have everything you need in the pantry! Here’s the list:
Dough:
180 grams all-purpose flour
100 grams active sourdough starter
25 grams sugar
25 grams melted butter
1 egg
25 ml milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
Cinnamon Sugar Topping:
60 grams sugar
25 grams melted butter
2 tsp cinnamon
(Substitute your favorite milk alternative to make these dairy-free and use coconut oil instead of butter if you need.)
How to make sourdough cinnamon donuts:
The night before you want to enjoy your donuts:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Add in the starter, melted butter, egg, and vanilla. Mix it well. Add in the milk a little bit at a time until it forms a ball of dough. The dough will seem a bit wet, but that’s ok.
Mix for about 10 minutes on medium speed. If you don’t have a mixer, you can knead the dough yourself for 10 minutes or so, until it forms a smooth ball. After this, cover the dough with a towel and let it rise until doubled in size. This will take about 10-12 hours depending on the temperature in your kitchen.
The next morning:
Once the dough has proofed, take it out of the bowl and set it on a sheet of parchment paper. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to about 1/4″ thickness. Next, use a circular cookie cutter to cut out the donuts. To make the holes in the center, I used a bottle cap, but you can use whatever you have on hand.
If you have a donut mold, spray the mold with baking spray and then place the donuts in the mold. If you don’t have a donut mold, you can make your own. Take a cupcake pan and put a ball of foil in the middle of each. Then place the donuts in the pan. This will prevent them from losing the hole in the center when they rise.
Cover the pans with a towel and let the donuts rise until doubled in size, which should take about 2-4 hours.
Once the donuts have proofed again, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. I like to use the convection setting on my oven because it helps cook the donuts more evenly.
Bake the donuts for 10 minutes, until just golden brown.
While the donuts are baking, mix the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. When the donuts come out of the oven, dip them in the melted butter and then in the cinnamon sugar to coat. Enjoy your fresh sourdough donuts while they’re still warm!
Did you enjoy this recipe for sourdough donuts?
If so, please check out other fun sourdough recipes at the Kitchen Counter!
Let me know how you like your donuts in the comments section below!
Sourdough Cinnamon Donuts
These homeade sourdough donuts are easy to make and taste delicious! Enjoy them warm right out of the oven!
Ingredients
- Dough:
- 180 grams all-purpose flour
- 100 grams active sourdough starter
- 25 grams sugar
- 25 grams melted butter
- 25 mL milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 egg
- Cinnamon Sugar Topping:
- 60 grams sugar
- 25 grams melted butter
- 2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Add in the starter, melted butter, egg, and vanilla. Mix it well. Add in the milk a little bit at a time until it forms a ball of dough. The dough will seem a bit wet, but that's ok.
- Mix for about 10 minutes on medium speed. After this, cover the dough with a towel and let it rise until doubled in size. This will take about 10-12 hours depending on the temperature in your kitchen.
- Once the dough has proofed, take it out of the bowl and set it on a sheet of parchment paper. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to about 1/4" thickness. Next, use a circular cookie cutter to cut out the donuts. To make the holes in the center, I used a bottle cap, but you can use whatever you have on hand.
- If you have a donut mold, spray the mold with baking spray and then place the donuts in the mold. If you don't have a donut mold, you can make your own. Take a cupcake pan and put a ball of foil in the middle of each. Then place the donuts in the pan. This will prevent them from losing the hole in the center when they rise.
- Cover the pans with a towel and let the donuts rise until doubled in size, which could take 2-4 hours.
- Once the donuts have proofed again, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. I like to use the convection setting on my oven.
- Bake the donuts for 10 minutes, until just golden brown.
- While the donuts are baking, mix the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. When the donuts come out of the oven, dip them in the melted butter and then in the cinnamon sugar to coat. Enjoy your fresh sourdough donuts while they're still warm!
Nutrition Information
Yield 10 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 229Total Fat 5gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 30mgSodium 42mgCarbohydrates 44gFiber 3gSugar 24gProtein 3g
Allie says
Oh man! These look- so good! I cannot wait to make these! They just scream ‘eat me while cozied up in a chair with a book in your lap and your favorite sweatshirt on’!