Baked Sour Cream Donuts with Chocolate Icing and Sprinkles

An old fashioned sour cream donut is right up near the top of my list of favorite breakfast items. Bake them up for a simple and delicious treat and top them with chocolate icing and plenty of sprinkles!

I’ve been making a lot of donuts this summer. Dozens and dozens of them. In a year where I look for comfort wherever I can find it, donuts seemed like a good idea. I find that starting the day at our breakfast table with a hot cup of coffee and a homemade donut is a happy way to begin the day.

Homemade donuts are the best option for our family because food allergies make our local donut shops and bakeries off limits. Luckily, I have many years of food allergy mom experience under my belt which includes a growing collection of doughnut recipes.

This spring, I made raised doughnuts, farmhouse doughnuts, sourdough doughnuts, and a batch of old-fashioned cake doughnuts. While I don’t mind dragging out the deep fryer, I was fairly certain that I could put my donut pans to good use and create at least one good recipe for a baked donut.

After a few attempts, I did create a simple and delicious recipe and our weekends started to include Baked Chocolate Glazed Donuts and Baked Blueberry Glazed Donuts on a regular basis. They were a real treat. I enjoyed baking them almost as much as I enjoyed eating them. Almost.

I tend to be a restless baker, forever thinking about the next recipe that I want to create. So, I decided a few weeks ago that we needed a new baked donut recipe to add to our collection. It didn’t take me long set my sights on a traditional cake donut topped with chocolate icing and sprinkles. That sort of donut is my daughter’s favorite which was all the motivation I needed to start working on a new recipe.

So, it was time to head into the farmhouse kitchen and get to baking. This time, my daughter joined me. We made the first batch and were impressed at how delicious the donuts were. The icing? It was a near miss and needed a bit of work.

A week later, we made a second batch. This time, the donuts and icing were delicious.  Unfortunately, the proportions of the ingredients for the icing were a bit off, leaving us with more donuts than icing to top them. That simply wouldn’t do.

The third round of baking was the charm this week. We made one last change to the donut, adjusted the icing ingredients, and set about making a mess of the kitchen with a dozen homemade donuts topped with chocolate icing and sprinkles to show for it. The donuts looked like our best batch yet, but there was only one way to know for certain.

So, we sat down at the kitchen table together with a cup of coffee and a donut for a taste test. It only took a few bites for us to agree that they were delicious, the best batch we had made in our quest to create a homemade version of her favorite donut.

These donuts are delicious and so simple to make. You can mix up the dry ingredients ahead of time the night before, add the liquid ingredients in the morning, and have a dozen donuts baking in the oven before you’ve finished your first cup of coffee. You don’t need a mixer or any fancy ingredients. Grab your donut pans, a bowl and spoon, and preheat the oven. Yes, they’re really that simple.

They’re not just simple. They’re also delicious. I hope that you’ll mix up a dozen and bake them soon. Bring out the sprinkles, or whatever sort of toppings you like, have fun, and make a happy donut memory in a year when we could all use a reason to smile.

Doughnut or Donut?

You may have noticed here and elsewhere that the breakfast pastry in question is called both a “doughnut” and “donut”. These terms can be interchangeable. Doughnut is the traditional spelling. Donut is a modern, shortened, and now accepted spelling. The term donut first appeared regularly in the early 1900s.

I tend to use doughnut to refer to traditional pastries of the fried variety we all know and love. Those pastries are made using a dough. I refer to baked donuts, a modern pastry that tastes just as delicious but is made using a batter, as a donut. No matter what you call them, they’re delicious.

This recipe doesn’t incorporate any specialty ingredients, but it does require a donut pan. There are many different sizes, shapes, and types available. If you have one already, you can adapt the recipe and baking time to work with what you have. If not, this is the same donut pan that I use. Each pan makes six donuts so I use two pans to bake the entire recipe’s dozen donuts at once.

I don’t think that one baked donut recipe is enough, so you’ll find a few others here…

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Baked Sour Cream Donuts with Chocolate Icing

Jennifer from 1840 Farm

Due to food allergies, it is difficult to find cake flour at the grocery store that is safe for our family. A few years ago, I discovered that I could easily make my own cake flour substitute using All-purpose flour and cornstarch to deliver the benefits of cake flour without adding allergens. This recipe incorporates that substitution. If you would prefer to use premixed cake flour, simply use 1 ¾ cups of cake flour instead of the All-purpose flour and cornstarch called for in the recipe.

Servings: 12 donuts

Author: Jennifer from 1840 Farm

Ingredients

For the Donut Batter:

• 1 ½ cups All-purpose flour
• ½ cup cornstarch
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup sour cream
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 2 Tablespoons butter , melted
• 2 Tablespoons oil

For the Chocolate Donut Icing:

• 6 Tablespoons heavy cream
• ⅓ cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips
• 1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 pinch salt

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 425degrees Fahrenheit.

  Most donut pans have a nonstick surface that does not require any preparation. However, I find that a very light coating of pan spray or my homemade magic pan release spread helps to ensure that the donuts come out of the pan cleanly. So, I brush a very light coating of my homemade magic pan release spread in each cavity of my donut pan before mixing up my batter.
• In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. I like to use a dry whisk to combine the dry ingredients, aerate them, and break up any small lumps. If you prefer, you can sift them together and achieve the same result.
• In a small bowl, combine the eggs, sour cream, buttermilk, melted butter, and oil. Whisk until the wet ingredients are well combined. Add them in a single addition to the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula or spoon until smooth.
• Transfer the batter to the donut pan. This can be a tricky process until you get the hang of it. Many bakers use a pastry bag with a large open tip. I like to use a large spoon. Fill each cavity of the donut pan between ⅔ and ¾ full.

  Just like a cupcake, baked donuts will rise as they bake, so take care not to overfill the pan. Overfilling will lead to misshapen donuts that may lose their recognizable donut shape. They’ll be delicious, but look more like muffin tops than donuts.
• Bake the donuts in the preheated oven for 8 – 10 minutes. When fully baked, the donuts will have risen above the surface of the pan, have a springy texture when touched, and be slightly dry on the top. A toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean or with small crumbs attached.
• Remove the donuts from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Using a small spatula or butter knife, gently loosen each donut from the pan. Move the donuts to a wire rack to cool. They should be completely cool and at room temperature before adding the icing.
• While the donuts cool, mix up the chocolate icing. Add the cream to a medium sized shallow bowl and warm in the microwave for 20 – 30 seconds. Add the chocolate and allow it to sit in the warm cream for a minute or two. Using a spoon, stir the cream until the chocolate is completely melted and combines with the cream to create a smooth mixture.
• I find that sifting the dry ingredients for this icing creates a smooth and velvety icing. Sift the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt into the chocolate mixture. Mix until a smooth icing forms. It will take a bit of stirring for the ingredients to come together into a smooth, glossy mixture. If needed, you can add more cream until the consistency resembles a thin frosting. If your kitchen is very cool, you can also return the icing to your microwave to warm for 5 seconds to make it easier to spread.
• Add a cooled donut to the icing mixture, pressing the donut down into the icing to fully cover the top half of the donut. When the top half of the donut has been dunked in the chocolate icing, hold the donut over the bowl for a few seconds to allow excess icing to drip off the donut and back into the bowl. Transfer the donut to a wire rack set over a baking sheet to allow the icing to set up.

  If you prefer, you can use a spoon, offset spatula, or butter knife to apply the icing to the top of each cool donut. Spread the icing to cover the top surface and a bit of the sides of each donut before setting the donut on a wire rack to allow the icing to set.

  If you would like to add sprinkles to your donut, add them before the chocolate icing has set up. Once it has set, the sprinkles won't adhere to the icing.

Notes

Donuts are always at their best the day they are made. The icing will hold up well for a day or two, but can become a bit messy especially on a humid and hot summer day.

Donuts can be stored at room temperature, in an airtight container in the refrigerator, or can be frozen (without icing and sprinkles) for long term storage. I leave donuts that will be consumed within 24-48 hours out at room temperature and freeze or refrigerate the rest. A frozen donut can be allowed to thaw at room temperature before applying icing and sprinkles.

Tried this recipe?Mention @1840Farm or tag #1840FarmFood! We can’t wait to see what you make!