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Wait until you try these baked sourdough donuts! This sourdough donuts recipe is naturally leavened with sourdough starter and baked in the oven rather than fried. I love making these for my kids because I know they are a little better for them without the deep frying. They also love helping to poke holes in the dough and dip them into the glaze!
Table of Contents
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
- Ingredients
- How To Make Baked Sourdough Donuts
- Cutting Sourdough Baked Donuts
- How To Make Sourdough Discard Baked Donuts
- How To Make The Glaze
- Baking Timeline for Baked Sourdough Donuts
- How To Store + Freeze
- Want More Homemade Sourdough Treats?
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Baked Sourdough Donuts Recipe
Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
Non-Greasy – Baking them is an easier way to cook them than deep frying in fat or oil. It makes much less mess and less effort. The donuts are not greasy and are very easy to handle.
Lots of Flavor Variations – There are lots of ways you can add flair to these donuts – we love them glazed, with cinnamon sugar and even made with pink strawberry glaze and sprinkles!
Naturally Leavened – They use your sourdough starter to leaven them – not yeast or baking powder!
Ingredients
- Sourdough Starter – I’ve created this recipe using active sourdough starter however I have added instructions further down for using sourdough discard.
- Bread Flour – I recommend using good quality bread flour rather than all-purpose flour, however if you really want to use all-purpose flour, decrease the milk by 30 g to ensure the dough isn’t too wet.
- Whole Milk
- Eggs
- Butter – Salted butter, plus extra for brushing prior to baking. The butter for the dough should be soft, not melted.
- Granulted Sugar
- Salt
- Powdered Sugar – This is for making the glaze once the donuts are baked.
How To Make Baked Sourdough Donuts
This baked sourdough donut recipe is really very easy. I have used a stand mixer to knead the dough for convenience, however as always, you can knead by hand if you prefer.
To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add the milk, sugar, vanilla, sourdough starter, flour, egg, melted butter and salt. Use the dough hook on your stand mixer to knead the dough. It should be stretchy and elastic and pull away from the sides of the bowl. This takes around 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the stand mixer you are using. You can see the stages my dough went through in the photos below. If your dough is just not coming together and is sticky (like the photo on the left), leave the dough to sit for 10 minutes and then resume kneading and it will come together more easily.
Transfer the dough to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the sourdough donut dough to bulk ferment until the dough doubles. Depending on the temperature of your home this could take up to 12 hours or so. Remember, lower hydration dough takes a long time to bulk ferment.
Once the dough has doubled you need to shape the donuts. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out into a rectangle. You want the dough to be around ¾-inch thick.
Use a donut cutter or biscuit cutter to cut out approximately 12 donuts. If you don’t have a cutter, you can cut the dough into pieces (I recommend around 80 grams) and shape them into balls. These still work perfectly well.
Place the shaped donuts onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with a cloth and allow them to proof until they are lovely and puffy. You can use a donut tray here if you have one.
Kate’s Pro Tip
Cutting Sourdough Baked Donuts
I’ve used a donut cutter to make the donuts in these photos. If you don’t have one, you can use a biscuit cutter and then a smaller circle cutter to cut out the hole. When baking the donuts, a donut tray can help to ensure the donut holes stay open. If you don’t have one and the holes close up during baking, you can cut them out using a small circle cutter once the donuts have cooled.
Place the shaped donuts onto a donut tray, or a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with a flour sack towel and allow them to proof until they are lovely and puffy.
Bake the donuts in the oven until golden brown. Once you’ve removed the sourdough baked donuts out of the oven, brush them with melted butter to ensure they stay lovely and soft. Once the donuts are cooled, dip into your chosen glaze and allow the glaze to set before serving.
Kate’s Pro Tip
How To Make Sourdough Discard Baked Donuts
This recipe is made using an active, bubbly sourdough starter. If you want to use sourdough discard, simply swap the sourdough starter amount for sourdough discard and add up to 7 grams of instant yeast (commercial yeast) along with it.
How To Make The Glaze
You can top these donuts with anything you like really! I have chosen to use a simple milk sugar glaze for the sourdough baked donuts in this recipe. I’ve colored it with a little pink coloring, just for fun! Here are some flavor ideas for making toppings for sourdough donuts:
- Milk Sugar Glaze – add 250 g of powdered sugar, a pinch of salt and 60 g of milk and whisk until it’s runny. (add a dash of vanilla extract to turn this into a vanilla glaze).
- Strawberry Glaze – add 250 g of powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, 60g of milk and a tablespoon of strawberry jam (add a little pink coloring if you want it really pink).
- Chocolate Glaze – add 250 g of powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, 60 g of milk and a tablespoon of cocoa powder.
- Cinnamon Sugar – Melt 100 g of butter in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, add 150 g of granulated sugar and 2 tsp of cinnamon and mix until well combined. Dunk the donuts into the melted butter and then into the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Please note that the glazes listed here are quite runny. If you prefer a thicker topping then just reduce the liquid a little to make it a frosting consistency. You can also use these glazes when you make fried sourdough donuts.
Baking Timeline for Baked Sourdough Donuts
Creating a baking timeline for sourdough can be a little tricky. Here’s the baking timeline I use when making these sourdough donuts for my family.
Please note that bulk fermentation and proofing times will be different depending on your sourdough starter – but you can use this as an example.
| TIME | PROCESS |
|---|---|
| 9 pm | THE NIGHT BEFORE Feed sourdough starter (20 g of starter, 100 g of flour, 100 g of water) |
| 7 am | THE NEXT MORNING Mix and knead the donut dough and allow to bulk ferment. |
| 4 pm | Shape the donuts and then place onto a baking sheet. Cover and allow them to proof before baking. |
| 7 pm | Bake your sourdough donuts. Make the glaze while the donuts are baking. |
| 8 pm | Once the donuts are cool, drizzle them in glaze and enjoy for desset! |
How To Store + Freeze
These sourdough baked donuts really are best eaten just after they’ve cooled. They can be stored for a few days in an airtight container, however if you are going to store them, I suggest not adding the glaze. That way, you can warm them in the microwave to soften them and then add the glaze.
They are suitable for freezing. I suggest freezing them unglazed. Thaw at room temperature and then warm slightly in the oven before dipping into the glaze or melted butter and cinnamon sugar.
Want More Homemade Sourdough Treats?
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes you can freeze baked sourdough donuts. It’s better to freeze them unglazed. Freeze them in an airtight plastic container or resealable plastic bag. Once defrosted, warm in the oven and dip into glaze.
Yes you can fill these donuts. If you want to fill them, leave them as balls of dough and squish down slightly before baking. When cool, use a piping bag to fill them with strawberry jam, homemade nutella or Italian custard.
Yes you can make these donuts dairy free by using plant based milk (almond, oat, coconut etc) and vegan butter. The texture will remain the same, as long as you leave the egg in the mixture. Plant based milk can also be used the for the glaze.
Baked sourdough donuts have much the same texture as a regular, deep fried donut. These donuts are made with a traditional egg, milk, butter and flour mixture. The only difference is that they are leavened using a sourdough starter rather than commercial yeast. The texture of the donuts is not cakey like other baked donuts because they still have yeast.
Baked Sourdough Donuts
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- 2 6 Hole Donut Tins
Ingredients
- 100 g Sourdough Starter
- 500 g Bread Flour
- 200 g Whole Milk, (warm)
- 2 Eggs, (room temp)
- 50 g Butter, (softened)
- 60 g Granulated Sugar
- 10 g Salt
For Glaze
- 250 g Powdered Sugar, Icing Sugar
- 60 g Milk, Whole
- pinch Salt
Instructions
- This recipe has been developed in a stand mixer – you can knead by hand if you prefer.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add the milk, sugar, sourdough starter, flour, eggs, soft butter and salt. Use the dough hook on your stand mixer to knead the dough. It should be stretchy and elastic and pull away from the sides of the bowl. This takes around 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the stand mixer you are using.
- Transfer the dough to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow it to bulk ferment until the dough doubles. Depending on the temperature of your home this could take up to 12 hours or so. It is an enriched dough, so it's pretty slow to rise.
- Once the dough has doubled you need to shape the donuts. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out into a rectangle. You want the dough to be around ¾-inch thick.
- Use a donut cutter or biscuit cutter to cut out approximately 12 donuts. If you don't have a cutter, you can cut the dough into pieces (I recommend around 80 grams) and shape them into balls. These still work perfectly well.
- Place the shaped donuts onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with a cloth and allow them to proof until they are lovely and puffy. You can use a donut tray here if you have one.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF.
- Bake the donuts in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes. They will be golden when done (you can take them out a little earlier if you want a softer donut or leave them until their golden for a more chewy texture).
- Once you've removed the sourdough baked donuts out of the oven, brush them with melted butter to ensure they stay lovely and soft.
- For the glaze, use tongs to dip one side of the donut into the glaze and then allow them to cool on a wire rack. The excess glaze will drip off.For cinnamon sugar donuts, dip one side of the donut into melted butter and then into a bowl of cinnamon sugar.
Notes
- Milk Sugar Glaze – add 250g of powdered sugar, a pinch of salt and 60g of milk and whisk until it’s runny.
- Strawberry Glaze – add 250g of powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, 60g of milk and a tablespoon of strawberry jam (add a little pink coloring if you want it really pink).
- Chocolate Glaze – add 250g of powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, 60g of milk and a tablespoon of cocoa powder.
- Cinnamon Sugar – Melt 100g of butter in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, add 150g of granulated sugar and 2 tsp of cinnamon and mix until well combined. Dunk the donuts into the melted butter and then into the cinnamon sugar.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Rate and comment below!
How much yeast would you add if using discard?
up to 7g x
Is it safe to let dough with eggs sit at room temperature that long?
Can these be fried instead of oven baked?
They can – or you can try this recipe for fried sourdough donuts with a vanilla glaze 🙂
Do you have any experience with making these with a plant based milk?
I don’t I’m sorry, but I would think that almond or oat milk would work just fine 🙂
I just made them with no additional yeast. They proofed plenty! The 80 grams of dough in the doughnut pan was too much, no classic doughnut center left. Looked more like a dinner roll but taste was good.
Can you use 2% milk…and can it be lactose free? I never drink whole milk anymore – just lactose free 2%. 🙂 Thanks!
yes that is fine, I’ve used lactose free milk with no issues.
Can you still make these if you don’t have a donut pan? Just stretch them like you would bagels?
Hi! I’m new to sourdough and am still learning 😊 My dough didn’t rise, and I’m wondering what are the most common reasons that might happen. I used a fed starter and it had doubled, probably more than doubled by the time I started the recipe. I used a standing mixer for those steps. The dough seemed as described when I mixed everything and right before putting it in a bowl to rise. My house was 74 degrees at the start but did get down to 67 before we got back home. I was able to leave it out for 9 hours before shaping and putting in fridge. Thanks for any help you got!! 😄
For these baked sourdough donuts do you use active or discard sourdough? Thanks!
you can use either active starter or discard. If you’re using discard, I recommend adding half a teaspoon of yeast (or up to 4g). TPM x
Way too bread like. Other recipes call for close to 2 to 1 ratio of flour to sugar, this is less than 20%. Definitely needs much more sugar to make it a donut dough
Can you use regular flour instead of bread flour?
You can use AP flour. Try reducing the milk by 30g, but if the dough is too stiff, you can add the extra 30g of milk back in.
I am so happy that these donuts worked out for me! I made a half recipe with all purpose flour, letting them rise 9 hours overnight. I then refrigerated for about 45 minutes, formed in my donut pans, and let rise for about two hours. I spritzed with vegetable oil instead of the butter, baked for 20 minutes, and used the milk glaze. What a treat!