Sourdough Donuts (With Discard)

These Sourdough Donuts are made with discard, deep-fried to golden brown perfection, and then covered in an easy 3-ingredient sweet glaze! Prep these delicious homemade donuts in just 45 minutes!

Fill your stomachs with another homemade donut recipe like these Air Fryer Chocolate Donuts that are made from scratch or my Brioche Donuts that are filled with smooth vanilla pastry cream!

These Sourdough Discard Donuts are deliciously light and fluffy with a coating of sweet glaze! These tasty homemade donuts will EASILY have you passing by your favorite bakery to go home and make a batch of these Sourdough Donuts instead!

Prep this dough the night before and allow it to rise overnight! Then in the morning, all you have to do is roll out the dough, cut out the donuts, rise, and deep-fry! Your whole family will appreciate over a dozen fresh donuts and donut holes to enjoy as they wipe away the sleepy seeds from their eyes!

This Sourdough Donut recipe simply uses the discard from your sourdough starter. This means your taking something that would normally be tossed away and instead using it to create a delicious homemade treat everyone will love!

Ingredient Notes

This Sourdough Donut Recipe calls for lukewarm whole milk, granulated sugar, active dry yeast, sourdough discard, softened salted butter, eggs, all-purpose flour, and ground nutmeg. If you just read through the ingredients and are wondering what sourdough discard is, don’t worry; I’ve got you covered!

Sourdough discard is the leftover portion of your Sourdough Starter that doesn’t get fed. The texture of the sourdough discard will be a lot less bubbly, if at all, compared to the active sourdough starter.

After the donuts are deep-fried in shortening or vegetable oil, they get dipped in a 3-ingredient homemade glaze. To make this, you’ll need powdered sugar, whole milk, and a pinch of salt.

I found this process to go the easiest with a few kitchen essentials. I used:

• Stand Mixer – Fitted with a dough hook attachment.
• 3″ Round Donut Cutter – Could also use 2 round cutters to cut a donut shape or even a round cup or bowl.
• Plastic Wrap – Used to cover dough and cut out doughnuts while they rise.
• Parchment Paper – Lines the baking sheets for the cut-out donuts to be placed on.
• Baking Sheet – Holds the cut-out donuts while they double in size.
• Wire Rack – For placing the donuts on after they’ve been glazed.
• Dutch Oven – Or a heavy bottom pan. Used to heat the oil and fry the donuts.

How To Make Sourdough Donuts

1. Mix together the warm milk (between 110 and 120 degrees F) and granulated sugar in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer that’s fitted with a dough hook attachment. Then add the yeast over the top of the milk mixture and allow it to sit until the surface becomes slightly foamy.

2. Beat the sourdough discard, eggs, softened butter, and ground nutmeg into the yeast mixture.

3. Add the flour in one cup at a time with the mixer on low speed.

4. Continue mixing on medium speed until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl and forms a loose ball around the hook.

5. Transfer the dough to a large, greased bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Then set it in the fridge until the dough has doubled in size and is cold.

6. Divide the dough in half and place the first half on a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough out.

7. Cut the donuts out of the dough using a round donut cutter.

8. Transfer the donuts and donut holes onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, being sure to leave room between the donuts to allow space for them to rise. Spray non-stick cooking spray on a sheet of plastic wrap and place the sheet over the pan of donuts.

Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the remaining dough. Place them on another baking sheet and cover them with plastic wrap as well.

9. Place the trays of donuts in a warm place to rise. They’re ready to fry when they’ve doubled in size and look noticeably puffy.

10. Heat the shortening or vegetable oil to a temperature of 375 degrees F. Then carefully place the donuts in the hot oil and fry the donuts on each side until they’re golden brown.

11. Remove the donuts and place them on a paper-towel-lined baking sheet to dry.

12. Mix the ingredients together to prepare the glaze in a medium bowl and then dip the donuts in it, be sure to completely coat the donuts.

13. Transfer them to a cooling rack to cool to room temperature and dry.

Sourdough Donuts FAQs

How To Store

These Sourdough Doughnuts are best enjoyed a few hours after cooking. If you have any leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container and enjoy them within 1 to 2 days.

How Warm Should The Milk Be For This Recipe?

The temperature of the milk should not be more than 120 degrees F. If it’s too hot, it will kill the yeast, and the donuts will not rise.

Can I Just Add The Butter In After It’s Been Melted?

If adding in melted butter, it must be cooled before using. If the butter is too hot when added, it will kill the yeast, and the donuts will not rise.

I just use extremely soft butter that I’ve set out for a bit. Regardless if the butter is melted or softened, you just want it to be soft enough to incorporate into the dough easily.

Should My Dough Be Really Sticky?

I would opt for slightly sticky dough over dry dough. Sticky dough may be harder to work with, and more difficult to transfer and hold its shape, but I find the texture of the donuts turn out to be much better!

The Dough Isn’t Gathering Up Around The Hook, What Should I Do?

Add in an additional 1/4 cup of flour at a time. If the dough gathers up the hook a little bit but still spreads toward the base of the bowl, it should be just right.

However, if it begins forming a tight ball around the dough hook, chances are you may have added too much flour. The donuts will still rise and cook, but they may result in a tougher, more bread-like donut.

Are There Any Tricks To Transferring The Cut-Out Donuts?

Transferring the donuts from the sheet pan and into the oil can be pretty tricky. Try removing the plastic wrap from the risen donuts and allow them to set out without a covering for a few minutes. This should help dry the outer layer up a bit.

You can also try cutting the parchment paper between each donut to lift the whole donut by the parchment paper and flip it into the oil. Carefully peeling the parchment paper off the back of the donut after it’s in the oil.

Another trick you could try is spraying the parchment paper with non-stick cooking spray or sprinkling it with flour before placing the cut-out donuts onto it. This should also help prevent some sticking.

Trust me, I love fresh bakery donuts just as much as the next person, but nothing comes close to these homemade Sourdough Doughnuts made with discard! Here are a few more of my favorite donut recipes that you may also enjoy!

• Coffee Donuts – Vanilla cake base donuts that are infused with espresso flavor and then covered in a sweet coffee glaze!
• Baked Blueberry Donuts – Takes only 30 minutes to make these homemade donuts that are bursting with juicy blueberries!
• Boston Cream Donuts – Made with refrigerated biscuits, ready in just 25 minutes!
• Air Fryer Biscuit Donuts – Canned biscuits dipped in cinnamon sugar or topped with a sweet glaze!
• Reese’s Stuffed Puff Pastry Donuts – Rich, decadent donuts made of only six ingredients to deliver you chocolate-peanut butter bliss!

Let’s Connect!

If you’ve tried this recipe, please let me know how you liked it in the comments below and leave a review. I love hearing from you!

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