Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Doughnuts
These are your favorite glazed cake doughnuts, made easily in your own kitchen!
Doughnuts and I have been on quite the rollercoaster ride. I utterly despised them as a kid (I know, I was crazy). Now that I’m all grown up and have seen the error of my ways, and I just can’t get enough. Maybe I’m just making up for lost time.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that doughnuts are currently enjoying their 15 minutes of fame and artisan doughnut shops have popped up all over the country (Top Pot in Seattle and Blue Star in Portland are my current faves!).
Sadly, no such doughnut shop has made it to my small town and so I’m forced to make my own. But there are worse things, am I right?
Old-fashioned cake doughnuts (i.e. made with baking powder, not yeast) with a simple vanilla glaze remain my favorite, even with so many create creations and flavor combinations out there. Sometimes simple really is best.
This recipe has been here on the blog for several years, in need of and update, and so last week when I had a doughnut hankering it just made sense to fry up a batch and accomplish two things at once. Craving satisfied!
The main problem with making a dozen doughnuts in your home is that you are then surrounded by all these fresh doughnuts begging to be enjoyed all at once while they’re super fresh. And who am I to say no?
Okay, so I didn’t eat all 12 doughnuts myself but I definitely ate more than I should have. And I have no regrets.
If you’ve never made homemade doughnuts before, you gotta give it a try. And you can totally do it! You probably have all of the ingredients and most of the tools in your kitchen right now. The only thing you’ll need that you might not already have is a thermometer, but you should be able to pick one up at the grocery store store easy enough.
So no excuses!
Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Doughnuts
Ingredients
For the doughnuts:
- 2 ¼ cup cake flour (255 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter , cubed
- 2 large egg yolks
- ⅓ cup buttermilk (80 ml)
- Canola or vegetable oil , for frying
For the glaze:
- 3 ½ cup powdered sugar , sifted (350 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoon corn syrup
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup hot water (80 ml)
Equipment
- Electric mixer
- Heavy-bottomed pot
- Candy/deep fry thermometer
Instructions
To make the doughnuts:
- In a bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until sandy. Add the egg yolks and mix until thick and pale yellow in color, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients, scraping the sides of the bowl down as necessary. The dough will be sticky.
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
- On a floured surface, roll out the chilled dough to about ½ inch thick. Use a donut cutter or two differently sized round cutters to cut out 3-4 inch doughnuts, dipping the cutters into flour as necessary to prevent sticking.
- Pour the canola oil into a heavy bottomed pot to at least 2 inches deep. Insert a thermometer and heat to 375°F over medium high heat.
- Add the donuts to the heated oil a few at a time, careful not to overcrowd the pot. Fry on each side about 2 minutes, but watch to make sure they don’t burn. Doughnut holes will fry about 1 minute on each side.
- Remove with a slotted spoon and set on paper towels or a paper bag to soak up excess grease.
- Fry remaining doughnuts, adjusting heat as needed to maintain 375°F.
To make the glaze:
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl with a whisk until smooth. Dip each donut into the glaze, making sure they are covered completely. Place on a wire rack above a sheet pan to catch any excess glaze. Let sit for 20 minutes until glaze is set.
- Store in an air tight container at room temperature for a few days.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in 2012, photos have been updated and slight improvements to the recipe have been made.
45 Comments on “Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Doughnuts”
Oh my, these look delish. And so ironic that you posted these today, because my co-worker and I were talking about old-fashioned donuts just YESTERDAY and how I needed to make them. Funny 🙂
I pinned this recipe and will be testing them out shortly!
They look fabulous! I’m thinking you could bake these too.
I squealed with joy when I saw this recipe! I LOVE old fashioned donuts, there’s nothing better. I’ve searched and searched for a recipe that looks promising, and I haven’t found one… ’til now!
They look fantastic, I am making these ASAP! Thank you for sharing 🙂
wow they look perfectly crispy on the outside and so moist and fluffy on the inside, this is just how I like them and I can’t wait to make them
Looks wonderful. and I love the old fashioned look.
Josh would love these!
Seriously feel like having some.
Oh my. My husband would faint from delight if I made these. Sour Cream Donuts are is fav!
Yum! I have a similar relationship with doughnuts and have been on a kick lately. I made some from a KAF recipe recently and was totally let down, so I have high hopes for these. It’s a snow day here and I’ve been trying to figure out what comfort food snack to make, and now I know. Thanks!
I love donuts. I love homemade donuts, most especially. The old fashioned variety is my fave too. Thanks for sharing! Have to try this out. Enjoy your pregnancy…how far along are you, I think a donut here and there will still be good for the little one, just don’t over indulge. 😉
I’m currently 26 weeks, getting closer! 🙂
I use the excuse that I’m nursing to indulge – I don’t know what I’m going to do when I don’t have that to fall back on anymore! 🙂 But these look absolutely amazing. I need them now.
If you have to indulge in doughnuts, they may as well be homemade–they’re absolutely 100% more delicious than store-bought. 🙂
We have been working on really rocking some gluten free doughnut recipes around here, but haven’t ever though of sour cream. It makes sense (I have gfree chocolate cake recipe) that calls for sour cream. So… we’ll be trying this one out. Thanks for the inspiration.
Did you have any success using gluten free flour? Its so expensive I hate to waste it, I have tried 3 recipes in the past week that were fails.
I have never tried gluten free flour in this, or any other recipe on my site. I would imagine adjustments would need to be made to achieve the same results. I’m sorry I’m no help.
I just spent a week babysitting my grandkids in Mo. I baked everyday. This would have been a great idea! Your blog is lovely!
The donuts look so tasty and perfect in the pictures! I have never attempted to make doughnuts before, but maybe with this recipe I could try! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Just made the batter, in fridge now. I’ll let you know how I make out later—can’t wait.
Yummy!!!!! Need to measure 1/2 inch next time—-but still DELICIOUS. Taste is superb. You rock Annalise.
You rock Annalise!!!! These are yummy, taste is superb. next time I need to them 1/2 inch, I was a little short on these, but you can’t beat the flavor.
Recipe looks perfect! Just curious if you’ve tried baking them instead of frying? I’m wondering if they would come out totally different. I’m trying to stay away from fried foods 🙂
I haven’t tried it myself, but I imagine it would be possible, though it probably would change the results some. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!
do you have to use cake flour?? dying to make these tonight!
Sure, go ahead it will work in a pinch without changing the results too much.
Can these be made the night before?? Or should they be made morning-of for the best results??
They’re definitely best right after they’re made, but they were still enjoyable the next day and the day after that (I think, if they lasted that long!).
Can the dough be prepared the night before and chilled overnight in the fridge to be rolled out and fried in the morning? Thanks!
Annalise,
old fashioned’s are my favorite and I have never made doughnuts before – wow, what a great recipe and good instructions – these turned out great.doughnut shop taste and texture – thank you !
Old Fashioned’s are my favorite too! They’re the best. So glad you liked this recipe, thanks for the comment!
I followed the directions and I’m an expeirenced cook/baker. Mine fell apart into little pieces in the oil. I chilled the dough overnight…could that be the problem? Would AP flour stand up better?
The only thing I’m missing here is the perfect chocolate glaze for my favorite old fashioned donuts. 🙂 ty!
Same as above. Fell apart in a thousand pieces.
What a bummer, I’m sorry to hear this recipe didn’t work out for you. I’ve made this recipe so many times without any issues, feel free to email me at completelydelicious@gmail.com or comment here if you’d like me to help troubleshoot the issue!
I was confused. Made this recipe to the exact details. Ended up having to add much more liquid (Buttermilk) than stated. Also, even though I used fresh oil…they taste oil. I brought the Temperture up to 375+ and they cooked beautifully. But still had a very oily taste. Don’t know why. Funny thing is…we still ate them. Nomnom
I’ve been looking for an old fashioned donut recipe for so long it and seems like half of them use buttermilk and the other half uses sour cream. What’s the difference between the two? Thanks!
Annalise, am really wanting to make these for our Sunday brunch. Wondering if the dough chill time can be extended to overnight? Trying to save some morning time to be with family, and would find it so much more convenient to have all ready except for frying and frosting. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
Absolutely! Such a great make-ahead idea!
Hi Annalise!
I had them same problem – donuts crumbing in the oil. I live at 6,000 ft. Could altitude be a factor? We still ate them (even though they were ugly, haha) and they were delish!
I had the same problem as a few others. Dough was very dry. Added more buttermilk. They were a bit dense. I’m thinking add one egg white. Do you think that would make them too puffy?
I’ve never made donuts before. But I’m excited to make this recipe. It’s really simple it seems. I do hope mine don’t fall apart as some of the women I read about. There’s another recipe for regular donuts I’m gonna try as well. Thanks hun for sharin.
I had to add 1/2c of extra cream/buttermilk in addition to the 1/3c the recipe calls for, to get it to come together at all. I then turned the dough out on a cutting board and gently incorporated the rest of the crumbly bits. After an hour in the refrigerator it did roll out well and the donuts turned out great!
I made these doughnuts today and the texture was perfect and exactly what I expect from both the doughnut itself and the glaze, however I felt that the doughnut part lacked in that classic cake doughnut old fashioned flavor. I did add some vanilla to the batter, but it still lacked in flavor. Other that that I thought it turned out fairly well.
I have a question, so as a beginning baker I have learned that you can “chill proof” doughs that have yeast in it. (Chill the dough overnight)
For this recipe could I make it the day/night before, chill it overnight, and then make it the next morning?
Would it affect the texture and outcome of the doughnuts?
Hi Hayden! These doughnuts are leavened with baking powder, not yeast. So it’s a little different as baking powder loses its power over time. I think as long as you prepared the dough, chilled it, and made the doughnuts within 12 hours max you might be okay. But I haven’t tested it to say for sure.