Old Fashioned Buttermilk Donuts

Old Fashioned Buttermilk Donuts are plain cake donuts with a simple glaze, but they’re scored to create more surface area so that when they’re fried they get extra crispy and extra delicious on the outside.
An old fashioned donut was never my first choice at a donut shop. I’ve always been drawn to the chocolate cake donuts or chocolate glazed donuts. Recently, though I’ve fallen in love with old fashioned buttermilk donuts.
Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend the Indulge Conference in Portland, Oregon. It was a fun, whirlwind weekend filled with classes on improving your food blog, opportunities to meet brands, make new friends, and catch up with old friends.
Of course, there was also lots of great food, some bakery crawls, and a fabulous tour of the Hood River Valley and local fruit producers, Draper Girls County Farm, The Gorge White House, and Sakura Ridge.
Before we left on the tour, Lauren hooked us up with some donuts from Blue Star Donuts. They’re a popular donut shop in Portland and often sell out and close up shop as soon as the donuts are gone.
I really wanted to try a bite of each of the donuts, but Lauren said her favorite was the old fashioned buttermilk donut, so I had to give that one a try. I’m so glad I did. It really is an amazing donut. Crisp on the outside and tender and moist on the inside with a sweet glaze that you’ll want to lick off your fingers.
When I got home I couldn’t resist making some old fashioned donuts for my family. I did a Google search and found a Cook’s Illustrated recipe for old fashioned buttermilk donuts on Spicy Southern Kitchen that she said was great. I took what I liked from that recipe and combine it with the old fashioned sour cream doughnut recipe on Peaches Please, which she adapted from Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts.
I didn’t have a donut cutter, so I used two biscuit cutters from a set of biscuit cutters. But I’ve added a donut cutter to my Amazon cart. To get the classic old fashioned shape, you score the top of the donut in a triangle shape. Peaches Please has a diagram of how to score them with her recipe.
The Blue Star Old Fashioned Buttermilk Donuts were bigger than my donuts, but my donuts had the same great tender on the inside crisp on the outside, great flavor of their donuts, and I didn’t have to travel to Portland and stand in line to get them.
The dough was really easy to work with and they were super fun to make. If you don’t live in Portland either, you should give them a try.
Making sure your oil is at the correct temperature is the key to successfully frying donuts. An instant-read thermometer is an essential tool.
Old Fashioned Buttermilk Donuts
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour*
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 large eggs plus one egg yolk
- 6 cups vegetable oil
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup water
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together 1 cup of flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.
- In small mixing bowl, whisk together buttermilk, butter, and eggs. Add wet ingredients to the dry and mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds.
- With speed on low, gradually mix in the remaining flour a little at a time. Add more or less flour as necessary to make a soft dough that is moist and slightly tacky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
- Place oil in a Dutch oven and heat to 375°.
- Prepare the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar, vanilla and water until smooth. Add additional powdered sugar or water if necessary for a thin glaze.
- On a lightly floured surface, use a floured rolling pin to roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thick. Use a floured donut cutter or a large and a small biscuit cutter to cut out the donuts and donut holes. Gather scraps together and roll out again to cut more donuts. Lightly score the donuts three times, making a triangle in the ring of the donut to help create the “petals”.
- Cook several donuts at a time scored side up, flipping them over as they rise to the surface and turn golden brown, about a minute per side. Drain on a wire rack. Before frying another batch, make sure oil temperature has returned to 375 degrees and cut one open to make sure they are cooked through. The exteriors should be deep brown and light and not doughy.
- Remove the donuts from the oil and set them on the rack to drain and cool slightly.
- While still warm, dip the donuts, petals side down, into the glaze. Swirl the donut in the glaze a little, then pick it up and let the excess glaze dribble back into the bowl.
- Return the glazed donut to the rack to let the glaze dry.
- Repeat the process until all donuts and donut holes have been cooked and glazed.
Notes
*add more flour if needed
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Yesterday as the nation’s capital region was being hit with an ice storm I got busy in my kitchen making these wonderful donuts. I had an ancient donut cutter that was passed down to me and a candy/deep fat thermometer that clipped to the side of the Le Creuset dutch oven I’ve had since my early 20’s. I was ready to take on the task of making donuts. I made only a few adjustments. I didn’t score or use the glaze. instead I used a cinnamon sugar coating. After I got the peanut oil temperature stabilized I rolled out the dough and started cutting and frying. I fried them for one minute per side. Perfection! I rolled the first one in my cinnamon sugar dish and broke it in half. I was in awe of the beautiful cake like center and the crispy edges. But then I took a bite and I could hardly believe I had just made such a perfect donut. I was able to get 15 donuts and many more holes as the final scraps I hand rolled into more holes. I made up a couple bags of donuts and navigated my slippery neighborhood to walk some donuts to my neighbors. I can’t wait to make these for my grandchildren.
Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
Thanks Donnita – Great job! How nice of you to share your beautiful donuts with your neighbors. Glad you loved the recipe.
I made these donuts for my son and grandson as I was trying to replicate my mother’s donuts. YES, yours are like the ones she made some 65 years ago. Wonderful recipe. My son liked them so much he is in the kitchen right now making his own batch. I’m so sorry that you received a negative email regarding your donut recipe. It does take a little cooking knowledge to keep from burning one’s food, and yes, turn down the heat!!! Cannot wait for my son’s batch to be done as I am assured it will be as good as mine. (I bought an electric pot for my son to use as I cooked mine in a cast iron dutch oven on my gas stove and did have a thermometer in the pot to assure a proper temperature. Takes the challenge out of maintaining a proper temperature. Just a hint for the rude person who previously left a note.) YOUR donuts are fabulous!!!!!!
Thanks Donna! So fun that they’re just like your mom’s donuts 65 years ago – such a great memory. Thanks also for the supportive advice.
VERY disappointed with this recipe! I didn’t read the comments until after I’d made them, or I might not have wasted my time. Like other mentioned, the inside was doughy and the outside almist burnt. I tried adjusting the flame down but it didn’t make any difference. Even the donut holes were doughy. How is that possible? Because its a BAD recipe, that’s how! I’d never make another one of this woman’s creations, that’s for sure. Another Nigella Lawson here – in my opinion. She modified a Cooks County recipe? At least they work out the kinks beforehand- so we don’t have to take one for the team like this. I suggest a name change….. how about “Barbara BITES”?
Hi Victoria – sorry you had trouble with the recipe. Even though your comment was definitely rude, I decided to respond so others could learn from your mistake. If the donuts are burning on the outside and doughy inside, then your oil is too hot. Turning down the flame will help, but you also have to wait for the oil to cool down some before adding more donuts. It sounds like you did not have a thermometer to determine how hot your oil was. I suggest investing in an instant-read thermometer.
I literally just finished making these. They are delicious!! Thank you for sharing the recipe! It’s a keeper!! 🙂
That’s so fun – thanks Nancy!
Could I keep the dough in the fridge overnight to fry in the morning? Would that harm anything? Thanks!
Hi Mike – you can do that, just allow time in the morning for the dough to warm up and start to rise again.
Made these yesterday. I cooked each side for less than 2 minutes and they were cooked through but pretty dark. Maybe take the heat down to 350? They were very tasty and we loved them!
Thanks Elaine – glad they were a big hit! Yes, if they’re browning more than you’d like, I would reduce the heat.