What are sourdough donuts made of?

Sourdough donuts are made from a dough that contains a sourdough starter , which is a fermented mixture of flour and water that contains natural yeasts and bacteria. In addition to the starter, the dough typically contains flour, granulated and/or powdered sugar, eggs, butter or oil, milk or water, and salt .

Is sourdough donut the same as regular?

Sourdough donuts are not the same as regular donuts. The main difference between the two is that sourdough donuts are made with a sourdough starter, which is a fermented mixture of flour and water that contains natural yeasts and bacteria. This gives the dough a distinct tangy flavor and makes it more resilient and elastic. Regular donuts, on the other hand, are made with a standard dough that typically contains yeast, sugar, eggs, and butter or oil. Sourdough donuts can also have a different texture and consistency than regular donuts.

Sourdough Doughnuts with Strawberry and Apple Pie Cream

Ingredients

Scale

Starter

90 g white wheat flour (bread flour)
20 g powdered brown sugar
25 g active sourdough starter
40 g water

Dough

500 g white wheat flour (bread flour, 100%)
all of the above starter (appr. 175g)
3 eggs (appr. 165 g)
60 g brown sugar (12%)
10 g rum (appr. 1 tbsp) (2%)
10 g salt (2%)
110 g milk or water (22%)
pinch of vanilla
lemon zest of one lemon
120 g softened butter (24%)
oil for frying
sugar for coating

Filling

strawberry crème légère
apple pie cream

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Instructions

In the morning, prepare your sourdough starter. The starter will be stiff, more like a dough. Leave it to ferment until risen, puffed, and active. This may take from 4-12 hours, depending on the temperature and strength of your starter.
In the evening/late afternoon, mix the dough. First, dissolve your entire starter in 110 g of milk. Add all other ingredients, except for the butter. Mix everything together. If the dough feels dry, don’t be tempted to add too much of additional liquid – mixing in the butter in the following phase will soften the dough (experiment with the softness of the dough) – but do add the liquid if the dough is too stiff. Knead the dough for 5-6 minutes and then leave it to rest for 15-20 minutes.
Next, knead in half of the butter quantity. Once completely integrated, add and knead in the other half. Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes (it is advisable to use mixer) until smooth. Shape the dough into ball and place it into clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to ferment at the room temperature for 3-4 hours until the volume increases by half of the initial state, then put the bowl into the fridge overnight.
In the morning, take the dough out of the fridge and divide it into 15 pieces, each weighing 70 g. Shape each piece into a ball and place it on slightly floured tray lined with parchement paper. Cover the tray with clingfilm – this will prevent the dough from drying out. Leave the balls to rise until passing the poking test (appr. doubled in volume) – make an indent – if the indent comes back quickly, leave them to ferment a little bit more. Final rise may take 4-7 hours, it’s temperature depending.
When the balls are risen enough, prepare the frying oil. Heat to 175-180°C/347-356°F. If the oil isn’t hot enough, the doughnuts will soak the oil and be greasy. If the oil is too hot, the doughnuts will cook very fast on the outside, but will be unbaked inside, so make sure it’s at the right temperature. It is advisable to sacrifice one doughnut to see how it bakes. Also, keep in mind that at the end of frying the oil becomes hotter.
Fry each doughnut for 2-3 minutes on one side (or until nicely brown) and 2 minutes on another side. When fried, transfer them onto a plate lined with a napkin, so they soak up the excessive fat.
Dust the doughnuts with powdered sugar (or roll them into sugar), then leave them to cool down before filling them.
To fill the doughnuts, make a short incision with the knife, then use a pastry bag to fill them with the filling of your choice.

Notes

The dough for these sourdough doughnuts was mixed in the afternoon, left to rise for 3-4 hours at room temperature to increase the volume, put in the fridge overnight, shaped in the morning, left to rise and fried in the afternoon of that day.
Baker’s percentages are put in brackets if you would like to scale up or down the formula.
Please feel free to add more liquid (20-50 g) more, if you feel the dough is too stiff and your flour can absorb more liquid. The dough should be soft, not runny but also not too stiff.

Author: Natasha Krajnc
Prep Time: 23 hrs 26 mins
Cook Time: 6 mins
Category: dessert