Old Fashioned Doughnuts Recipe

These old fashioned doughnuts are light and tender, with a crisp edge, covered in a sweet, shiny vanilla glaze, just like doughnuts from your favourite bakery. There is no yeast or cake flour in this recipe, making this recipe quicker and easier!

What is an old fashioned doughnut? 

Old fashioned doughnuts are slightly crisp, moist doughnuts, with a crackly top and jagged edges. These doughnuts do not contain any yeast and the main leaveners are baking powder or baking soda. It is believed they originated from the US around the 1830s and that it was based off of the classic cake doughnut. They are similar to cake doughnuts, only they are fried which makes them crisper and they have more leavening agents which makes them lighter.

The primary ingredients in the old-fashioned doughnuts are:

• Flour
• Sugar
• Egg Yolks
• Sour cream or Buttermilk
• Butter
• Leavener

Do I need cake flour or plain flour to make old fashioned doughnuts? 

Normally cake flour is used to make old-fashioned doughnuts, but this recipe uses plain flour and corn flour sifted together twice which creates the same tender, crisp and moist doughnuts, without the need for cake flour. Because honestly, I hardly have cake flour in my house and cake flour is far more expensive and I wanted to develop a doughnut recipe that is more accessible.

Ingredient Notes

The ingredients that go into these delightful old fashioned doughnuts

Plain Flour & Cornflour – double sifted to provide the perfect base for these light & crisp old fashioned doughnuts

Baking Powder – adds so much lightness and height to the doughnuts

Egg Yolks – binds the doughnuts together and adds more lightness

Butter – provides moisture and fat, while also softening the doughnuts 

Caster Sugar – of course! To sweeten the doughnuts 

Sour Cream – makes the doughnuts to moist, soft and tender

Ground Cinnamon & Nutmeg  – is traditionally used for old fashioned doughnuts & they add so much flavour and warmth

Salt – balances everything out and enhances all of the flavours

Vanilla Paste or Vanilla Extract – adds so much flavour, depth and that classic vanilla smell – I prefer paste as it adds little flecks of vanilla seeds to the doughnuts, which are just gorgeous 

Vanilla Glaze Ingredients

Icing Sugar – is the base for this glaze and provides so much sweetness

Vanilla Paste or Vanilla Extract – duh! Vanilla Glaze needs vanilla and lots of it!

Golden syrup or Corn Syrup – makes the glaze stick better to the doughnuts and provides another element of sweetness

Salt – will balance the sweetness in the glaze

Milk – will help thin out the glaze and make it slightly creamier

How to make Old Fashioned Doughnuts – step by step (with pictures) 

1. Cream together the butter and sugar

2. Then, add in the egg yolks a whip for about 5 minutes, till it’s light yellow and fluffy

3. Next, add in the sour cream and whip for a further 5 minutes, this time, the mixture should be even paler and almost doubled in size

4. Now, fold in the spices, vanilla and salt. Being careful not to over mix!

5. For the dry ingredients, sift together the plain flour, cornflour and baking powder twice (It’s really important to double sift these together.)

6. Now, add in a cup of your flour mixture at a time, into the wet mixture, fold well each time, until all of the flour is gone and you are left with a sticky dough. (Make sure not to over mix at this stage,  just fold the dry mixture enough so that it is combined.)

7. The dough is now ready and should be slightly sticky, bring the dough together so that it is one big ball (You don’t need to knead it) and place into a bowl, covered in cling film / saran wrap and allow it to rest in the fridge for at least an hour

8. Once the dough has fully chilled, roll out the dough, on a floured surface, to ½ an inch in thickness and cut out the doughnuts. You can also roll up the scraps, refrigerate them for around 15 minutes and re-roll and cut out more doughnuts

9. Place your cut doughnuts into the fridge to chill

10. Make the vanilla glaze by combining, icing sugar, salt, vanilla, golden syrup / corn syrup and milk until you have a thin glaze that is solid in colour. It should be a light beige, almost white colour and be able to coat the back of a spoon and set this to the side.

11. Fill a heavy bottomed pan with 2L of oil and heat to 325°F

12. In the meantime, set up a cooling rack with either parchment paper or paper towels underneath, to take the doughnuts out onto. Next to that, place a plate with a couple of chopsticks or skewers and a slotted spoon, now you’re ready to fry.

13. Carefully slide in the donuts one at a time, careful not to overcrowd the pan, or they won’t fry properly. Frying only 3 – 4 at a time.

14. Fry for 2 minutes on either side, they should be very lightly golden on the outside and crackly on the top. Once fried, place them onto a cooling rack

15. Once the doughnuts are cool enough to handle, immerse them into the glaze and place on a cooling rack, (with some parchment paper underneath to catch any extra glaze) and the doughnuts are ready!

The dos and don’ts of frying doughnuts

What is the best oil for frying doughnuts?

The best oil for frying doughnuts is rapeseed or canola oil, they will crisp up the doughnuts, fry really well and they have a very light taste. Plus because of the high smoking point they won’t burn as easily and won’t overcook the doughnuts. But, any neutral oil that has a high smoking point, will work really well. 

Here are some of the best ones:

• Canola oil
• Rapeseed oil
• Vegetable oil 
• Sunflower oil

What temperature do you fry doughnuts?

The best temperature for frying doughnuts is 325°F, but the temperature varies as you fry. Heat the oil to 325°F, it will go up and down, as you fry, but just make sure to not let the oil go above 350°F.  It’s really important when frying doughnuts to use a food thermometer (I like clipping a candy thermometer to the side of the pan), this will allow you to be in control of the temperature and take out all of the guesswork.

Remember: the heat will vary slightly so don’t worry if it goes over 325°F, just make sure the temperature of the oil doesn’t go over 350°F.

How do you know when doughnuts are done frying?

The doughnuts are done when they float to the top, they are crackly on top and are lightly golden on both sides. The doughnuts require around 2 minutes of frying time on each side.

How to set yourself up for doughnut frying success:

Before you fry your doughnuts you will need to set up a frying station, this will allow this process to be as easy and enjoyable as possible. Now, depending on how your kitchen is set up, the formation of this will be different, but as long as you have a clean & clear surface near your pan you should be fine.

1. Start by rolling out and cutting your doughnuts before, placing onto a tray and popping them into the fridge to firm up slightly, which will make them easier to fry 
2. Pour 2L of oil into a heavy bottomed pan and attach a candy or food thermometer (here is the one I use) and allow it to heat to 325°F 

If you have a thermometer that doesn’t attach to your pan, then just keep it close by and frequently check on the oil, again, making sure to stay under 350°F.

3. In the meanwhile, prepare a cooling rack by placing a piece of parchment paper or some paper towels underneath it to soak up the excess oil, as you remove the cooked doughnuts.
4. Place the cooling rack on a surface close to the pan, close enough to the pan that you can easily remove the fried doughnuts and place them onto the cooling rack, but not close enough that the parchment paper / paper towel will catch on fire. Next to that, place a plate with two chopsticks or long skewers to turn the doughnuts and a slotted spoon to remove them. 
5. Place the tray of cooled and cut doughnuts on a nearby surface.
6. Prepare the glaze before frying and leave it to the side, you don’t need to glaze the doughnuts when they are piping hot but, these doughnuts are best glazed slightly warm and they taste incredible warm too!
7. You are now ready to fry the old fashioned doughnuts with ease!

A Personal note about making doughnuts… 

I want to note that I know that making doughnuts from scratch seems complicated and daunting, but I promise that it’s not! This recipe has been triple tested and broken down into simple steps, with process shots included. So, take a deep breath and dive into this recipe because when you take a bite of a warm, soft, tender doughnut, with a crisp edge and sweet vanilla glaze that you made, with your own hands, it’s just THE BEST FEELING EVER!

Tips and Tricks – Old Fashioned Doughnuts

• Use two chopsticks or long skewers to turn the doughnuts over as you fry them
• Store the doughnuts in a airtight container or tin, once the glaze has fully set and store at room temperature at they should last for about 3 days
• If you don’t have a rolling pin use can use a closed bottle of olive oil or wine instead
• If you don’t like cinnamon  or nutmeg, simply leave it out, your doughnuts will be lighter and have a stronger vanilla flavour
• To cut the doughnuts, use a doughnut cutter if you have one or, a cookie cutter or mug, with a small piping tip to cut out the centres
• Finally, you can see a full recipe video on my Tik Tok or IG  – please tag @aceofspoons_ if you make this recipe