One of my very favorite things to eat is donuts, and my absolute number one choice when it comes to donuts is an Old Fashioned Glazed Buttermilk Donut. I guess you could say these are the best of the best for me! I was so happy when I found this recipe from Annalise on her blog, Completely Delicious. She has so many other recipes I can’t wait to try too.
Thinking back, my love of donuts comes from my dad. He used to take me with him to the hospital to make rounds before church on Sundays. We’d get up early in the morning, and maybe stop at Dunkin’ Donuts on the way so he could grab a cup of coffee and some donuts. We’d always get Buttermilk Bars.
Please tell me you’ve had one?
I loved visiting with nurses and some of his patients and having that one on one time with my dad. And of course, I loved the donuts.
This recipe only makes nine smaller donuts, which is great if you just have a small craving but don’t want to eat them for days and days. But go ahead and double it if you are feeding a crowd. They are best eaten the same day, but the glaze does keep them fresher on day two than if you leave the glaze off.
These Old Fashioned Glazed Buttermilk Donuts are all about the texture. They are soft and cakey on the inside, and golden brown on the outside with these beautiful nooks and crannies for that sweet glaze to hold onto. More dense than a yeasted donut, they really fill you up and are the perfect donut for dunking. Milk or coffee – you pick.
There is just a hint of nutmeg and a splash of vanilla in the glaze. The donut itself is not overly sweet so that there is plenty of room for the glaze to do its thing.
Be very careful not to overcook them when you are frying. My first batch of the “holes” were definitely on the dry side because I let them go too long. Aim for pale golden brown and know that the “holes” will take about half the time to cook compared to the donuts.
Please tell me if you have special memories tied to donuts, and what is the best donut you’ve ever eaten?
PrintOld Fashioned Buttermilk Donuts
These Old Fashioned Buttermilk Donuts are all about the texture. They are soft and cakey on the inside, and golden brown on the outside with these beautiful nooks and crannies for that sweet glaze to hold onto.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 9 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Fry
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the Donuts
- 2 1/4 cups cake flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (fresh if you can!)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- Oil for frying (I used vegetable oil)
For the Glaze
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons corn syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 1/3 cup warm water
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream sugar and butter together until sandy. Add egg yolks and mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy.
- Turn speed to low, and alternate adding the flour mixture with the buttermilk, ending with the flour. Stop the mixer and scrap down the sides as needed.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap (it should be sticky) and flatten into a disk. Chill for one hour.
- Pour two inches of oil into a large, heavy bottomed pot. Using an oil thermometer, bring the temperature to 350-375 degrees.
- While you are waiting for the oil, roll out your dough (3/4 inch thick) onto a well-floured surface. Dip your donut cutter (2 1/2 inches in diameter) in flour and cut out donuts, gathering and re-rolling the dough as needed.
- Carefully and slowly drop a few donuts at a time into the hot oil. Fry about 1 minute per side, aiming for a pale golden-brown color.
- Use a slotted spoon or spatula to remove the donuts from the pot and set onto a paper towel to drain. Repeat until all the dough is fried. The donut holes will only take about 1 minute total.
For the Glaze
- Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. Dip cooled donuts into the glaze, covering the whole surface of the donut and then set them on a rack so that excess glaze will drip off. Allow the glaze to set for 20-30 minutes. Store in an airtight container.
Notes
This recipe is very slightly adapted from a recipe posted on the blog, Completely Delicious.
You are killing your dad with the pictures of these donuts!!!!He may have to have one before in-n-out!
Haha! We may need to have some on hand when you guys return!
This recipe just isn’t right. Followed the steps and the middle were underdone. Taste had something to be desired too.
Followed recipe and made hard, compact pucks, more like hard biscuits than doughnuts. Since I had all ingredients out, I tried another recipe, very similar, but one that had 2 eggs and a yolk, (Versus 2 yolks) and came up with a better result. Still wishing to emulate the Sidecar, buttermilk old-fashioned donuts I love. I have a long way to go.
Did not turn out at all. Seemed to crumble in the oil before they were done.
Would love to know what happened far as I know I followed the recipe to a T.
Flavor was very good but a pile of crumbs.
HELP !!!!
can you make the dough ahead?
like the night before
I’m not sure why the other reviews are saying the recipe is wrong. These turned out great! I will say, I added about another 3/4 cup of buttermilk to the dough, as it wasn’t quite wet enough. But these turned out really good. They were true old fashioned buttermilk doughnuts.
If you had to add 3/4 of a cup of buttermilk, then by definition, wouldn’t that mean that the original recipe was wrong?
Mine turned out great. I love them.. thank you so much.. I’m so grateful.
I will forever love these donuts. Thank you so much for SHARING your gift..
Taste is good but they did not rise in my deep fryer. Crunchy biscuits, not donuts. I will try adding more buttermilk next time like other reviewer said.
I loved the recipe!
They LOOK Great! Thank You FOR sharing 👍🏼♥️G-d♥️Bless😊
Recipe definitely needs at least 3/4 cup of butter milk (otherwise they are too dry and crumbly). I also doubled the nutmeg (first time making them they could have used more flavor). Otherwise, delicious!! 😀
Just lime many others that tried this recipe. It does not work
Excellent donuts! Follow the recipe, people! Nothing wrong with her recipe 😋
Thanks so much for the great review, and I’m so glad to hear these worked out for you!
This recipe is fantastic! I really love old fashioned donuts and this recipe hits the nail on the head for an authentic “old fashioned” taste. I doubled the recipe and the dough was slightly dry so I added another 1/4 cup of buttermilk and that worked well. Next time, I may add a little more buttermilk to make them a little less dense- but even if I didn’t do that they’d still be a hit. I wish I had fresh nutmeg instead of from the jar- I’m sure this elevates the recipe even more!
Can you bake or air fry these instead?
Can I make these in a mini donut pan and bake them??
How do you get that perfect craggy,.crusty top for the donuts ? These look exactly like from the bakery, beautiful. Looking for tips on how to get that type of texture !
No these Sour Cream donuts do not have very much taste.
I should’ve known when I read only 2 tablespoons of butter…. I ended up adding 4 tablespoons and 1 cup buttermilk to get a doughy consistency. We’ll see how they fry.
Thank you so much for this amazing donut recipe its even better than krispy cream donuts. I followed the recipe exactly but added extra 1/4 cup of buttermilk, my kids loved it even without the glaze !!!
Great flavor and I followed recipe exactly! I messed up and rolled to thin. So next time I will make sure to leave them thicker!
Thanks for sharing!
Not even close to tasting like buttermilk donuts these weren’t even cake like they were almost like a fluffy cracker. All I could taste is the nutmeg horrible donuts terrible recipe.
Can you use all.purpose flour for this recipe