secret recipe club: old fashioned sour cream donuts

a couple months ago - november 22, to be exact - i was craving a good donut so badly that the next morning, we packed up the kids and headed to downtown rochester for a half dozen. we foolishly thought we would have leftovers. needless to say, my favorite was the old fashioned sour cream donut. like most great foods, i wanted to make them myself at home and immediately tucked the idea in the back of my mind.

fast forward a month when it was time to choose a recipe from erin's blog, making memories with your kids, for the secret recipe club. it took all of twenty seconds for me to scroll through her breakfast archives when i stopped abruptly with a shriek on these old fashioned sour cream donuts. a week later, they were mine! and while these donuts were killer, it took a lot for me not to make some of her cookies too!


for more information on the secret recipe club, including the list of participating bloggers, featured recipes from members, and instructions on how to join, visit the secret recipe club website!

check out my previous secret recipe club posts: italian sloppy joes, hard cider baked chicken & mushrooms, mini cinnamon roll cakes, double chocolate zucchini muffins with chocolate butter, butterscotch M&M oatmeal cookies, 30 minute baked tortellini, snickerdoodle bars & slow cooker chicken fajitas, meyer lemon iced raspberry yogurt cake & slow cooker chicken cacciatore, almond strawberry jam thumbprints, almond butter cookies, enfrijoladas, chocolate snack cake, bacon topped maple french toast cupcakes, cherry sorbet, slow cooker beans & mushrooms, mojito chicken tacos, maple glazed whole wheat spiced apple pizza, pig out cookies, pasta with blistered tomatoes & arugula and iced grapefruit cookies, mushroom barley soup, scalloped ham and potato bake & andes mint cake, chicken souvlaki with tzatziki, asian pork chops, lemon lime meltaways, blueberry peach crisp, minted lemon ice, white chocolate macadamia nut blondies, raspberry cream filled eclairs, jam swirled cheesecake, whole wheat grapefruit cake, chewy no bake granola bars & carrot cinnamon waffles, cannoli, gingerbread muffins, double chocolate peanut butter chip oatmeal cookies, butterscotch peach cake, whole wheat honey pancakes, minted pineapple lime agua fresca, breakfast tacos, simple almond sandwich cookies, & roasted banana rum cake.

old fashioned sour cream donuts
adapted from making memories with your kids
makes ~12 donuts & holes

i tried using my donut cutter to cut the donuts - the dough was way too sticky, and even when i floured it like crazy, they stuck. use two large cookie cutters instead - one for the outside of the donut, one to make the hole.

for the donuts:
2 1/2 cups cake flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons shortening

2 egg yolks

2/3 cup sour cream

6-8 cups vegetable oil for frying

for the glaze:

3 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup hot water

1. sift the flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg and set aside.
2. mix the sugar and shortening with a mixer for about 1 minute on slow speed until combined. add the egg yolks and mix for another minute , scraping the sides of the bowl as you go, until combined.
3. alternate adding the dry ingredients and the sour cream in three separate additions and mix just until combined. the dough will be sticky. cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes, and up to overnight.
4. heat oil in a deep fryer or in a large pan to 325F.
5. roll the dough out on a floured surface to about three quarters of an inch thick. be sure to well flour your cutters and cut donuts and holes out of the dough. reroll the scraps and cut until the dough is all cut. 
6. prep your frying station: line a cookie sheet with paper towels or newspaper and place a cooling rack on top. get a spoon or scoop ready to pull out the cooked donuts. whisk all of the ingredients together to make the glaze. have a timer or watch with a second hand ready. 
7. add 1 donut to the hot oil at a time; this is your test donut. when it floats, fry for 15 seconds, flip and fry for 60 seconds, flip again (back to the first side) and fry for another 60 seconds. let the donut cool for about 5 minutes, cut open, and test for doneness. if it's still raw inside, add 10-15 seconds to the 60sec fry times. if it's over cooked, reduce the fry times by 10-15 seconds. cook 3-4 donuts at a time, being careful not to overcrowd the pan.
8. remove cooked donuts from the oil and place on the cooling rack.
9. let the donuts cool for a few minutes. when they are still warm, dunk one or both sides in the glaze and return to the cooling rack for excess glaze to drip off. 

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