Sourdough doughnuts – or “donuts”. Whichever spelling you like, it all tastes like the best thing on earth.
These are something I’ve been wanting to try out for a while now. Incredibly delicious, soft and bouncy, and with a little chew due to the longer time that the gluten gets to develop in the overnight cold retard. If you want to whip up a batch of doughnuts the same day, you can use dry yeast of course. But if you want to take a little time to perfect some truly unique doughnuts, might I suggest you try out these.
Bomboloni, or doughnuts?
Bomboloni are doughnuts, but doughnuts arent necessarily Bomboloni. Following me?
One doughnut is a Bomboloni. More than one are Bombolone. Not to be confused with bologne. They are Italian doughnuts, traditionally filled with pastry creme. You can fill them with whatever you want, and they will be oh-so-delicious! I even mixed a little Nutella in with some creme patisserie and OH MY! As you can see from the photos, Ive made both styles. Pick whichever you want and have at it – they’ll all be delicious.
Are they sour?
They really aren’t very sour – just a hint – which I like a lot. The slight sour flavor gives the doughnut a little extra character. You can make these round and stuff them with filling, or cut them into circles while also making doughnut holes. You can even make them into weird shapes if you want.
The recipe may seem a little intimidating, but if you’re at all familiar with making sourdough bread it’s pretty much the same idea. Except in the end you shape them into doughnuts and fry them.
Do I need to use a starter?
I would suggest it, as these wouldn’t really be sourdough doughnuts without it. There are lots of recipes online for doughnuts that call for commercial yeast.
Some notes & tips
- A good temperature for doughnut frying is anywhere between 320°-350°F. Fry your doughnuts for about 4 minutes or until golden brown, flipping about halfway through the process.
If you’re going to coat them in sugar, roll them around in it while they’re still warm. That way the sugar melts onto it slightly. - You can also make a glaze from powdered sugar and milk. My pink glaze was made from raspberry jam and powdered sugar. Stir it up until you get a slightly runny consistency and dip your doughnuts in after they’ve cooled just a bit.
- I halved the recipe and got around 8-10 doughnuts. So if you’re not looking to have a bunch around, I’d suggest cutting the recipe a bit.
- If you’d like to follow the recipe and cut them out like I did here, just roll them straight from the fridge and cut them out. ( I used a 3 1/2″ and 1″ cutter) Otherwise just shape them into balls.
AN EXTRA HELPFUL TIP: Cut out parchment squares and do the final proof on those!
After shaping each doughnut (or cutting them), lay it onto its own parchment square. Do the final proof. When you put the doughnut into the oil, flip the parchment over with the doughnut on it and put it all straight into the oil. The parchment will eventually slip right off and you can take it out with tongs. That way you don’t disturb the delicate doughnut when trying to put it into the oil.
- These are best if eaten the same day, but if you can’t eat them all at once, store your doughnuts in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. The sugar will get slightly damp as they sit out.
Recipe
This is not my original recipe, so I will give credit where it’s due. Get the recipe for these sourdough doughnuts HERE!