Old fashioned donuts will melt in your mouth. These glazed buttermilk beauties are so easy to make!
Old fashioned donuts are soft and tender. They have a classic buttermilk flavor that is oh so good. For more donuts to add to the box try Grandma’s Famous Homemade Donuts and Homemade Biscuit Donuts with Chocolate Gravy.
Classic Buttermilk Donuts
Donut day is long anticipated in our home. We love donuts, we’ll pretty much eat any flavor or variety (grandma’s version has been our go-to). But there is something so delicious about buttermilk donuts made at home from scratch with just a simple glaze.
Making old fashioned donuts yourself may seem like a daunting task, however it is quite simple. The dough comes together easily. Frying to golden perfection might take a few tries, but you are sure to master in in no time!
Soon, you’ll be dunking these shiny beauties or just eating them straight from the oven when they are melt in your mouth perfection.
How to Make Old Fashioned Donuts
MIX. Add eggs to a large mixing bowl and beat. Then mix in the sugar and shortening. Stir in the buttermilk and add all of the dry ingredients.
DIVIDE & ROLL. Once the dough is mixed divide it in half. Flour the counter and turn the dough balls onto the surface. Lightly flour the dough before rolling them out to ⅓ inch thick.
REST. Once the dough had been rolled allow it to sit for 20 minutes. During During the time you can heat up your oil.
PREP. Pour oil into a high sided skillet. Heat it to 370-380°F. Once hot, fry one donut to test. Adjust the oil temperature accordingly.
FRY. Use a wide spatula to place the donuts in the oil. Place as many as can easily be turned, usually about 3. Turn donuts as they rise to the surface. Fry for about 3 minutes until golden all over. Use a long fork to lift out. Be careful they don’t get poked or smashed.
DRAIN. Drain on wire rack and cool on paper towel.
SERVE. Serve glazed, frosted, or sugared.
Frying Tips
The Right Oil temperature: It is important that the oil temperature is correct. Too low and the donuts will get soggy. Too hot and they’ll burn before cooking all the way through. Using a cooking thermometer is the easiest way to make sure you have the correct oil temperature. If you don’t have one here is a trick I have used:
- Set the burner to medium high heat
- Take a wooden chopstick or the end of a wooden spoon and dip it into the oil. If you see a steady stream of bubbles, then the oil is ready.
Fry in peanut oil or vegetable oil. You need enough oil for the donut to be able to float. If the oil level drops, add more and let it heat up again before adding another donut.
more tips
Donut holes: One of the best parts of making donuts is the cute little donut holes. Fry them in the same manner as the regular donuts just cut down the fry time by about half.
Topping: You can top these delicious donuts with cinnamon-sugar mixture, glaze, powdered sugar, frosting and more.
- A simple glaze recipe includes: 3 tbsp melted butter, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and 2 tbsp hot water. Mix until smooth.
I have to say these are also delicious served with a cold glass of milk or a warm cup of hot chocolate.
how to store + freeze
Place cooled donut in an airtight container and they’ll taste great for 1-2 days. They can last longer but you’ll notice them becoming dry and stale.
Old fashioned donuts can also be stored in the freezer for up to one week. Place the individual donuts into sandwich bag and place them all in a freezer Ziploc.
For more yummy fried desserts, try:
Old Fashioned Donut Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 2 c sugar
- 1/4 c soft shortening
- 1 1/2 c thick buttermilk or sour milk
- 7 c all-purpose flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Add eggs to a large mixing bowl and beat. Then mix in the sugar and shortening. Stir in the buttermilk and add all of the dry ingredients.
- Once the dough is mixed divide it in half. Flour the counter and turn the dough balls onto the surface. Lightly flour the dough before rolling them out to ⅓ inch thick.
- Once the dough had been rolled allow it to sit for 20 minutes. During During the time you can heat up your oil.
- Pour oil into a high sided skillet. Heat it to 370-380°F. Once hot, fry one donut to test. Adjust the oil temperature accordingly.
- Use a wide spatula to place the donuts in the oil. Place as many as can easily be turned, usually about 3. Turn donuts as they rise to the surface. Fry for about 3 minutes until golden all over. Use a long fork to lift out. Be careful they don't get poked or smashed.
- Drain on wire rack and cool on paper towel.
- Serve glazed, frosted, or sugared.
What is the amount of milk? It says 1 1.2 cups, I’m going to guess 1 1/2 and hopefully it works! Thank you!
Yes, you are correct 🙂 Thank you for asking!
There is nothing better than homemade donuts! These are SO good!
My morning just got better! Definitely make these when others are home otherwise you might end up eating them all by yourself, haha! Too good to resist.
These were incredible, so fluffy and perfect! We loved them! The kids even added sprinkles to their donuts😊
There is nothing better than homemade donuts! I love this recipe! It makes the softest donuts & the icing is perfectly smooth & creamy!
The best ever quickest donuts!
Really yummy alternative to yeast rise donuts. These were really good.
What no yeast?
Correct, no yeast 🙂
how and when do you put the hole in the doughnut…you didn’t say in your recipe
So sorry, I will need to fix that. I have a donut cutter, so once it is rolled out, I will cut the donuts out & then let sit for 20 min. Hopefully, that makes sense.
Haven’t made this but wondered if you could use butter in place of shortening?
Can’t wait to try & devour
Can’t wait for you to try either!!
I personally haven’t tried, but you could use equal measures.
You have missed a step the step on how you turn the half dough into the donuts? You divided into 2 then what? You roll it tthe whole dough ouece into a 3/4 inch circle?
I will work on fixing that. Yes, roll it out & cut out donuts & let sit for 20 minutes.
I Made these using a homemade maple laze and they turned out great. I will definitely be making them again.
Perfect!! Thank you for sharing that!
How much Dutch chocolate powder you add if split the mix down for half chocolate and half plain?
I have not tried making these chocolate yet, so I don’t know the measurement. I would have to play around with it. I would start with maybe 1/3 cup at a time, until it was right.
If you do not have buttermilk, can you use regular milk and vinegar to subsitute??
Yes, for sure 🙂 Enjoy!!
Can they be baked instead of fried in deep oil?
I have not tried with this exact recipe, but with another recipe I have…https://lilluna.com/homemade-donuts-recipe/, there is a bake version..https://lilluna.com/homemade-donuts-recipe/.
After making the dough, can it be refrigerated over night and used the next day? I was thinking it would just need to be brought to room temp, tcut and sit for 20?
Yes – just bring it to room temperature in the morning and you should be good to go!
Can’t wait to make these!!
Awesome! Let me know how they turn out. 🙂
Roll to 1/3″ thick? Sounds very very thin, most recipes are rolled 1/2″ or more thick. Please confirm that is the correct thickness.
Yes, that is the correct thickness for this recipe. 🙂
So many pop-ups on your page. I can’t even see the damn recipe. Thank you
I’m so sorry about that. I will look into seeing what I can do to make sure the pop-ups don’t block the content of the website. Thanks so much for letting me know!