If you are looking for an amazing sour cream donut recipe, look no further. Making donuts at home is very easy especially with the help of an air fryer. Continue reading to learn how!
My Discovery of Air Fryer Donuts
Lately, I’ve been on an air fryer kick. They are just so dang handy. When I discovered that you could make high-quality donuts in an air fryer, I was instantly hooked.
The best part of the process is that air fryers make very little mess, they cook the donuts evenly, and the clean-up is super simple.
Sour cream donuts have a unique taste. The sour cream is subtle but really blends well with the rest of the donut dough.
For our recipe, I decided to go with a filled donut instead of a traditional ring shape. If you are not a fan of vanilla cream donuts, skip it and buy yourself a ringed donut cutter.
For our process, I just used a smaller sized cup to cut the dough with.
Trial and Error of Donut Making
After making several sour cream donut attempts, I discovered three important things…
1) For my sour cream donuts, I used a Kitchenaid Artisan stand mixer. I was able to achieve a thorough mix in very little time and with minimal mess.
Although you can certainly make this recipe without one, I highly recommend you make the investment into a quality mixer.
2) Like any bread recipe, getting the correct mix is everything. In this case, you will want the dough to be wetter than other bread mixes. The dough should be able to form into a nice ball shape but will be sticky to the touch.
3) Since this recipe incorporates yeast, give your donut mix plenty of time to rest. Doing so will allow the yeast and sugar to work their magic so that you get a very nice fluffy dough.
Best Sour Cream Donut Recipe Made In An Air Fryer
High quality, great tasting sour cream donuts can be made at home using an air fryer.
Main Donut Dough Mix
- 1 cup buttermilk (Luke warm temperature)
- 2 eggs (medium)
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3 cups flour (All purpose)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 stick butter (unsalted and melted)
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Sour Cream Donut Toppings
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Optional Donut Filling
- 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup butter (unsalted )
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp heavy whipping cream
How to Make Sour Cream Donut Dough
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Add sugar and yeast to the mixing bowl.
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Add room temperature buttermilk to the mixing bowl. If the buttermilk is too hot, the sugar and yeast will react too quickly. Too cold, and the dough will take forever to rise.
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Mix the ingredients for a minute or two and let it sit for about 10 minutes.
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Incorporate eggs, butter, sour cream, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
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Begin adding flour a ½ cup at a time until mixture forms into a ball. You may need to add addition flour to get the sticky quality you need. If so, add a ½ cup of flour until the consistency is a nice sticky texture.
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Mix the dough thoroughly for about 10 minutes.
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Cover the top of the mixing bowl with a slightly damp towel and allow the dough to rise for at least 2 hours.
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Lay a large sheet of parchment paper down on your cutting surface, lightly dust the paper with flour, and place the dough in the middle.
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Use your hands to roll the dough into a nice ball shape and press down to flatten.
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Lightly dust a rolling pin with flour and begin flattening the dough into an evenly shaped circle. It should be about a ½ inch in thickness.
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Use a circled cookie cutter or the mouth of a small cup or glass to cut out your donut shapes.
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As you cut out the shapes, you will need to form the dough into a ball again and flatten until all the dough is used.
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Lightly spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray before putting your donut dough inside. Allow space in between each donut.
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To make the egg wash, beat 2 eggs in a small bowl and brush the tops of the donuts with the mixture. You will need to repeat the brushing once the donuts are flipped.
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Set the fryer to 400° F for 4 minutes.
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Flip the donuts and brush tops with egg wash and cook for an addition 4 minutes.
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Allow you sour cream donuts time to cool before proceeding further.
Top your Sour Cream Donuts
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After the donuts cool, add about 1 cup of powdered sugar to a bowl and roll your donuts in the bowl to coat.
Optional Vanilla Filling
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Use a wooden spoon handle to poke a cavity in your donuts.
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Mix shortening and butter until creamy.
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Slowly add sugar a 1/2 cup at a time.
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Add the rest of the ingredients. If the vanilla is too thick, add additional heavy cream until you get the desired consistency.
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Fill a piping bag with vanilla cream and fill each donut.
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Enjoy!
Optional Steps for Sour Cream Donuts
1) Roll your sour cream donuts in a bowl of powdered sugar.
2) Use a wooden spoon handle to poke a cavity in your donuts.
3) Fill with vanilla whipped cream mixture.
4) Enjoy!
Final Thoughts on Sour Cream Donuts
We really enjoyed making these air fryer sour cream donuts. However, we will be working overtime at the gym to get rid of all the weight we put on from eating them.
If you enjoyed this recipe, we would love to hear from you in the comment section below. We also encourage you to share this post on social media!
