These sourdough doughnuts are soft, fluffy, and lightly sweet, with a tender crumb and a gentle sourdough flavour. Using a stiff sourdough starter helps control acidity, keeping the dough easy to work with and the finished doughnuts mild and balanced.

Three sugar-coated donuts are stacked on a cooling rack, with more donuts and a white mug blurred in the background. The scene suggests a cozy, homemade treat.

About these sourdough doughnuts

These are yeasted-style sourdough doughnuts, not cake doughnuts. The dough is enriched with milk, eggs, sugar, and butter, which gives the doughnuts their soft texture and rich flavour.

These are based on my basic sourdough sweet dough, with one small adjustment. For doughnuts, the milk is reduced slightly so the dough is a bit firmer and easier to handle. This helps the dough hold its shape during proofing and frying, while still keeping the crumb soft and tender.

The base sweet dough itself is very versatile and is also used in other recipes on the site, including sourdough sticky buns and Swedish sourdough cardamom buns. With some tweaks to shaping, or filling, the same dough can be used for heaps of sweet bakes. If you are new to baking with sourdough, my sourdough hub has guides on starters, fermentation, and enriched doughs

Why use a stiff sourdough starter

A stiff sourdough starter is a starter that has a higher ratio of flour to water, which gives it a thick, dough-like consistency rather than a pourable one. Because it ferments more slowly than a liquid starter, it produces a milder acidity and helps maintain better dough strength.

For sourdough doughnuts, this is especially helpful. The stiff starter keeps the flavour gentle, prevents the dough from breaking down during fermentation, and makes the dough easier to handle when shaping and frying. It allows the doughnuts to develop sourdough flavour without becoming overly sour or fragile.

If you don’t have a starter yet, learn to make your own sourdough starter with this step-by-step starter guide.

A glass cup contains a single serving of light, fluffy bread with visible air holes, resembling mug bread or microwave sponge bread, set on a textured countertop with a patterned tile background.

The key ingredients

Flour: Use strong all-purpose flour with around 11 percent protein. This gives enough strength to support the enrichment and frying.
Stiff sourdough starter: A stiff starter ferments more slowly and produces less sharp acidity than a liquid starter. It also helps the dough hold its shape during proofing and frying.
Milk: Milk adds softness and tenderness to the crumb and helps the doughnuts brown evenly.
Eggs: Eggs add richness, structure, and colour.
Butter: Butter makes the dough tender and flavourful without making it heavy.
Sugar: Sugar lightly sweetens the dough and helps with browning.

Baker’s schedule

This is a two-day sourdough doughnut recipe. The stiff starter can be fed either the night before or earlier on Day 1, depending on room temperature. What matters most is that it is active and near its peak when the dough is mixed.

Day 1

Feed the stiff starter: In warm weather, this can be done early in the day while in cooler weather you can feed it overnight.
Mix and knead the dough once the starter is domed and active
Bulk ferment until the dough has risen by about 30-40 percent
Refrigerate the dough overnight

Day 2

Roll and cut the doughnuts
Final proof until puffy
Fry and finish

The exact timing will vary depending on temperature.

Bulk fermentation in cooler weather

Bulk fermentation is the first rise after the dough is mixed. In cooler kitchens yeast activity slows down more than bacterial activity. This means the dough can take a long time to rise while acidity continues to build, which can lead to doughnuts that taste more sour than you might like.

To avoid this, it is important to help the dough rise efficiently during bulk fermentation. Even though this first rise is kept fairly short, it plays a really important role in waking up the yeast and building momentum in the dough. Placing the dough in a warm spot encourages the yeast activity so the dough can get some volume without needing a long rise. A turned-off oven with a mug of hot water inside creates a warm, slightly humid environment that works well. Once the dough has increased in volume by around 30 to 40%, refrigerate it.

Method

Make the dough

Make and ferment a stiff starter so it’s domed and ready to go.

A metal mixing bowl contains two eggs, flour, dough, and milk, all set on a textured beige countertop. The ingredients are unmixed and ready for baking preparation.

Add all the ingredients except the butter into a stand mixer and mix on low for 5 minutes to begin the gluten development.

A stand mixer bowl filled with smooth, pale yellow dough being mixed by the dough hook attachment, set on a speckled beige countertop.

Add in the butter gradually and mix until strong and glossy and elastic.

A simple line drawing of a piece of paper with a heart in the center, enclosed in a light pink circular border on a white background.

Note: To check gluten development, let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then stretch a small piece gently. It should stretch thin without tearing.

A round ball of risen dough sits in a clear glass bowl on a speckled countertop.

Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl and rise at warm room temperature until it has increased in volume by about 30-40%, then refrigerate.

Two hands use a rolling pin to flatten a large piece of dough on a lightly floured surface. The dough is yellow and smooth, and the surface has a speckled, stone-like appearance.

Roll the dough to about 1–1.2 cm thickness.

Cut the doughnuts

A hand presses a small round cutter into circular dough pieces on parchment paper, making shapes for baking. The countertop is speckled, and several dough circles are already cut.

Cut doughnuts using a doughnut cutter, biscuit cutter, or glass. For bomboloni, cut rounds without a hole.

Unbaked doughnuts with holes in the center sit on squares of parchment paper on a speckled countertop. A round metal dough cutter and a pastry tip are placed nearby.

Place on pieces of parchment paper an let them rise and puff.

Tip: To check readiness, gently press a floured finger into the dough. If the indentation slowly springs back but does not disappear, they are ready to fry.

Fry and coat

Two doughnuts are being deep-fried in hot oil inside a metal pot, with bubbles forming around the edges of the doughnuts as they cook and turn golden brown.

Fry the doughnuts in small batches, without overcrowding, for 1½ to 2 minutes per side, until evenly golden.

A hand dips a freshly baked donut into a bowl of cinnamon sugar, coating its surface. The donut is golden brown and the bowl is white with ridged sides.

While warm, coat the doughnuts in cinnamon sugar.

FAQs about sourdough doughnuts

This usually comes from letting the dough ferment for too long, especially during bulk fermentation in a cool kitchen. In cold conditions, the dough can take a long time to rise while acidity continues to build. Keeping the first rise short, using a stiff starter, and giving the dough gentle warmth early on all help keep the flavour mild.

No. Slow rising is almost always a temperature issue, not a problem with the recipe or starter. Enriched doughs and stiff starters both ferment more slowly. Moving the dough to a warmer spot usually makes a big difference.

The cold rest helps with flavour, structure, and easier shaping. You can shorten it if needed, but skipping it entirely can make the dough harder to handle and less predictable

A hand pulls apart a fluffy, sugar-coated donut over a cooling rack filled with more sugar-dusted donuts. The donuts are golden brown and look soft and airy inside.