Top Pot Old-Fashioned Doughnuts Recipe

Top pot sour cream doughnuts recipe

The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total: 45 mins
Servings: 12 servings

This recipe is adapted from one in Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts: Secrets and Recipes for the Home Baker. Old-fashioned doughnuts are fried at a lower temperature than other doughnuts and turned twice while frying, which gives them their characteristic crunchy petals and grooves—perfect for holding onto a sweet glaze (recipe included below). The sour cream in the dough keeps these doughnuts wonderfully moist.

Ingredients

For the Doughnuts

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt

  • 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar

  • 2 tablespoons lard, or shortening, or butter

  • 2 large egg yolks

  • 2/3 cup crème fraîche

  • Canola oil, for frying

For the Glaze

  • 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

  • 2 teaspoons light corn syrup

  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1/2 cup hot water

Steps to Make It

Make the Doughnuts

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for doughnuts
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.

    Flour in bowl
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  3. Mix sugar and shortening in a standing mixer or with a hand-held mixer until sandy—about 1 minute.

    Mix sugar and shortening
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  4. Add the egg yolks and mix until lighter and thicker—about 1 minute.

    Add egg yolks
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  5. Mix in sour cream.

    Mix in sour cream
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  6. Stir in flour mixture, being sure to combine dough thoroughly.

    Stir in flour mixture
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  7. Cover dough and chill for at least 45 minutes and up to overnight.

    Cover dough
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  8. Heat a large, heavy pot with at least 2 inches of oil in it to 325 F.

    Heat oil
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  9. While oil heats, roll out dough on a well-floured work surface. Roll out to an even 1/2-inch thick. Use a doughnut cutter or a 3-inch circle and a 1/2-inch circle cutter and cut out as many doughnuts (and doughnut holes) as fit.

    Roll out dough
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  10. Gently knead the remaining dough back into a mass.

    Gently knead dough
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  11. Re-roll to 1/2-inch thick and cut remaining doughnuts.

    Re roll
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  12. Dust off any excess flour from the doughnuts and gently slide a few into the oil. Fry only as many as will fit in the pot without touching.

    Fry
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  13. Once the doughnuts float to the top of the oil, fry for 15 seconds.

    Doughnuts float
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  14. Gently flip them over and fry until golden brown and cracked—about 90 seconds.

    Gently flip
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  15. Flip back over and finish frying until golden and cracked on the second side—about 75 more seconds.

    Flip again
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga 
  16. Transfer cooked doughnuts to a cooling rack (you can set it over a tray or layers of paper towels to catch the grease).

    Transfer to rack
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  17. Repeat with remaining doughnuts.

Glaze the Doughnuts

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for glaze
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  2. Whisk the powdered sugar, corn syrup, salt, vanilla, and 1/2 cup hot water in a medium bowl until smooth.

    Whisk
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  3. Dip doughnuts in the warm glaze while they are also still warm.

    Dip doughnuts in glaze
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
  4. Let sit to cool and set up for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

    Serve
    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

Tips

  • Old-fashioned doughnuts keep better than other types of doughnuts, but they are still by far at their best when eaten the same day they are cooked, and they're really extraordinary while still warm.
  • For super extra tender doughnuts, use cake flour. But they really are plenty tender and delicious with regular old all-purpose flour, too.
  • If you liked these doughnuts, you might want to try our delicious homemade raised doughnuts or whole-wheat doughnuts.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
442 Calories
21g Fat
60g Carbs
4g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 12
Amount per serving
Calories 442
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 21g 27%
Saturated Fat 6g 29%
Cholesterol 65mg 22%
Sodium 317mg 14%
Total Carbohydrate 60g 22%
Dietary Fiber 1g 2%
Total Sugars 41g
Protein 4g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 53mg 4%
Iron 1mg 8%
Potassium 51mg 1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)