Baked Sourdough Donuts (3 Ways!)

Don't throw out that extra sourdough discard! ½ cup and 15 minutes will get you the most delicious and easy baked sourdough donuts! Top them with chocolate icing, roll them in powdered sugar, or cover them is spiced cinnamon sugar for an extra special treat!

I don't know about you, but I am constantly trying to find things to add my sourdough starter to. I have such a hard time throwing it out, since it produces the most delicious bread. The starter has so much potential and adds great texture and moistness to these donuts.

To be honest, I can live without the typical fried donut. The texture and taste is off putting to me. Am I the only one?? These are much more pleasant and flavorful, plus I control the ingredients.

Why You Should Make These Donuts

• Donuts are awesome! Obviously!
• No need to wait for yeast to make the dough rise, no rolling out the dough, and no stamping out donut shapes to fry. These donuts are piped into a pan and baked in the oven.
• They are baked, not fried. You'll need a donut pan for this recipe, but you will be baking them. No need to worry about taking out the fryer or messing around with scorching hot oil.
• No equipment required! You'll mix the batter by hand so you don't have to break out the big stand mixer or your hand mixer that we can never find the beaters to. We've all been there!
• These donuts are more like a cake donut instead of the traditional fried donuts. The texture is moist and flavorful and similar to that of an old fashioned donut.

I've become obsessed with making donuts! Peanut Butter baked donuts or Lucky Charms baked donuts are some of my other favorites.

What is Sourdough Discard?

When you have a sourdough starter, you need to "feed" it before you bake with it. In doing this, you will get rid of a portion of your starter in order to feed the rest and get it bubbly and active to bake with. The portion that you are getting rid of is called the "discard". It's perfectly fine to add to baked goods, but it's not great to make a loaf of sourdough bread with as it doesn't contain the active bacteria to make the dough rise. Keep the extra sourdough discard in a container in your refrigerator to use in all sorts of baking. You can keep extra discard in a mason jar in your refrigerator for a few months. It will stay good just hanging out in the refrigerator.

These sourdough waffles are too good and a must try if you have any extra discard and want to make an extra special breakfast treat.

Ingredients You'll Need

• Sourdough discard- A half cup of the discard is enough to make these baked sourdough donuts.
• Baking powder and baking soda- Because we are using inactive discard, (meaning it has not been fed) it doesn't have the leavening power that you will need, so the baking powder and baking soda are going to do the heavy lifting in getting the donuts to rise.
• Vanilla- To flavor the donuts, I like to add vanilla. You can add cinnamon, nutmeg, even cocoa powder to make chocolate donuts.
• Whole Milk- Milk is the liquid in this recipe. It will moisten the donut batter and keeps the donuts from drying out.
• Coconut oil and eggs- These provide the fat in the donut to provide a nice, moist crumb. Butter can be a direct substitute for the coconut oil.

Step by Step Photos

How To Make Baked Sourdough Donuts From Scratch

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar and oil with a wooden spoon.
3. Add the eggs and vanilla to the bowl and mix until everything is combined.
4. Mix in the sourdough discard and milk and mix again.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix until everything is well combined. Don't overmix. It's ok if there are a few lumps left in the batter.
6. Spray the donut pans with cooking spray and add the batter to the donut pans. The easiest way to do this is to add the batter to a gallon sized Ziploc bag. Cut the one corner of the bag and push the batter towards that side. Pipe the batter out of that hole and onto the donut pans. You can also use piping bags if you have a set at home, but it's not necessary.
7. Bake for 12 minutes. Once 12 minutes is up, take the donuts out of the pan and let them cool slightly on a wire rack.
8. When they are cool enough to handle, roll them in powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, or glaze them with icing.

How to Make the Toppings for the Donuts

• Powdered Sugar- A classic kids favorite, simply roll the donuts in powdered sugar when they are done baking. You will want to do this when the donuts are still a little warm so the powdered sugar will stick to the donut better.
• Cinnamon Sugar- Mix together ¼ cup of granulated sugar with 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. Roll the donut in the cinnamon sugar to coat the donut completely.
• Chocolate Glaze- In a small microwave safe bowl, microwave 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons of butter in 30 second increments, stirring after each increment. It should take about 2 minutes for the chocolate to melt. When the chocolate chips are completely melted, add ¼ cup of whole milk and stir until the milk is completely combined with the chocolate. It will look curdled at first but don't worry! Keep stirring, it will come back together. Allow that to sit for a few minutes to thicken up and then dip the donut into the glaze.
• Hot Tip!- If you find that the powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar is not sticking to the donuts as much as you would like, brush melted butter onto the donuts and then roll them again.

Do They Taste Like Sourdough?

They don't! Because these donuts don't have a long ferment like a loaf of sourdough bread would, they don't taste like sourdough at all. The sourdough discard adds tenderness to the donuts, but not to the taste.

I don't have Sourdough Discard, can I still make this recipe?

Sure! Sour Cream or Greek yogurt would be a great substitute for sourdough discard.

Can I make these dairy free?

If you don't have whole milk or are dairy free, any milk would work. Almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk would all be great substitutes. If you aren't worried about dairy but only have 2% milk on hand, use that too!

Frequently Asked Questions About Baked Sourdough Donuts

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Did you give these Baked Sourdough Donuts a try? I’d love to hear from you! Give me a shout on Instagram or Facebook  and share this recipe on Pinterest! And don't forget to check out some other drool worthy recipes below! Thanks for sharing this journey with me and enjoy these delicious recipes!

• Death by Chocolate Zucchini Bread
• Lemon and Blueberry Zucchini Bread with Lemon Icing
• Nutella Zucchini Bread
• Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini
• Double Chocolate Oat Cookies
• Instant Pot Peach Jam
• Light and Crisp Sourdough Waffles

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