Easy Sourdough Discard Donuts – Small Batch Recipe

Easy sourdough discard donuts that are perfect for using up leftover sourdough starter. This recipe makes just three donuts, so it’s a perfect small batch recipe!

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Let’s talk about donuts.  I used to hate donuts. Like, genuinely did not get the hype.  An unpopular opinion, I know. 

Fortunately, I grew up and learned that donuts are beautiful and should be consumed regularly. 

About a year ago I decided to make donuts for the first time ever and decided to make sourdough donuts.  This means my first foray into donut baking was a 3-day affair that resulted in more than a dozen donuts. 

They were delicious, but they were also quite the involved affair, and we had way too many donuts.

I decided to fix this problem by developing a small scale recipe. 

I still wanted the sourdough flavor, so I added in some sourdough starter discard. I’ve also used yeast, which means that these rise in a couple of hours instead of a couple of days.  This recipe makes 3 donuts, so two for you and one for a friend. Or two for you and another one for you.

Honestly, developing this recipe was a saga and a half.  I fed Loml so many bad donuts before I settled on this recipe… But now you don’t have to go through dozens of bad donuts, you can just eat the good ones!

Other Recipes to Try:

• If you want donuts but hate frying – try my air fryer donut recipe!
• If you want to try full on sourdough donuts, try The Perfect Loaf’s Sourdough Donuts
• If you want to bake sourdough bread, try my Seeded Sourdough Bread

Why I like this donut recipe:

1. Easy: The dough is a really simple one that is pretty sturdy, which means that they rise pretty reliably.
2. Small batch:  This recipe makes just 3 little donuts, which is awesome if you live alone or with just one other person.
3. Sourdough Discard Recipe:  This recipe uses sourdough discard, which is excellent if you make a lot of sourdough like me and are trying to find ways to use up that excess.

How to make these sourdough donuts:

1) Mix the dough

Start by proofing the yeast with sugar and warm water.  Once it’s foaming combine all the ingredients in the bowl of a standing mixer and knead it for a few minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. 

Note: if you don’t have a sourdough starter you can still make these, just increase the milk by 10 ml and the flour by 10 grams and then leave out the sourdough starter discard.

2) Proof and shape the donuts

Let the dough rise for an hour until it’s about double in size.  At this point, you can tip out the dough and roll it out till it’s 1/2 inch thick. 

Using a 3 inch round cutter, cut out the donuts and place them on a floured baking tray.  Cover the tray and let the donuts rise for two hours until they are nice and puffy looking.

3) Fry the sourdough donuts

Frying is kind of a pain in my opinion. It’s messy, it smells bad, and you’re left with a massive pot of hot oil at the end. That being said, sometimes you just need a homemade donut and so you put up with the whole frying thing.

There are a few things that make it a little easier.

• First, you really do need a thermometer.
• Second, get your paper towels ready to go next to your frying station so it’s easy to transfer donuts from the hot oil to the paper towels.
• Third, continuously remind yourself that you are doing this for the donuts and the donuts will be worth it.

Now that you’re mentally prepared to fry let’s talk about pans. I always fry in a cast iron dutch oven so that’s what I would recommend.

(Mine is from Lodge and it’s awesome. Loml gave it to me for my birthday a few years ago and brought it from New York to Michigan in his suitcase. He’s a little crazy like that) 

I like the cast iron because it retains heat really well which means that it’s easier to control the temperature of the oil.  It’s also important to make sure you use enough oil – you want a good couple of inches of oil in your pan.  Again, using more oil means that the temperature of the oil won’t fluctuate as much, which makes it easier to control the frying temperature.  

So fill the pan with a couple of inches of oil and heat to 360 F.  While the oil is heating, combine the cinnamon and sugar in a bowl so that you can toss the donuts in the sugar when you’re done frying.  Fry the donuts for a few minutes on each side, let them drain, and then toss them in the sugar.  Fill them with whatever you’re in the mood for (or just eat them as is)!

The Ultimate Sourdough Discard Donuts

This recipe makes 3 lovely little donuts and uses sourdough discard to give them a great flavor. I haven't explicitly included a filling recipe here but I'd recommend raspberry jam, flavored whipped cream, or a chocolate ganache!

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Servings 3 Donuts

Ingredients

  

Donuts

• 3/4 tsp yeast
• 1 tbsp warm water
• 15 g sugar divided
• 110 g flour
• 20 g sourdough starter discard
• 40 g warm milk
• 1 tbsp butter softened
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pinch nutmeg

For frying

• about 4 cups of frying oil

For the topping and filling

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon or a pinch of cardamom
• Jam optional

Instructions

 

• Mix together the yeast, warm water, and 5 g of sugar in a small bowl and set aside until foamy (5 minutes or so).
• Combine all of the ingredients and the active yeast in the bowl of a standing mixer. Use the hook attachment to mix the ingredients together a bit before you hook the dough hook up to your standing mixer.
• Then knead the dough with a standing mixer set to medium for 5 minutes until you have a smooth dough. At this point, it will be quite soft and tacky but not overly sticky.
• Let the dough rest for an hour in a covered bowl.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter. Gently roll the dough out till it's 1/2 an inch thick and use a 3 inch round cutter to cut out donuts. I always have to re-roll my dough for every donut… so don't worry if you have to as well! Place the cut donuts on a floured baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet and let them rest fortwo hours until they’re nicely puffed.

  Note: If your kitchen is particularly cold you can let them rise in the oven with the oven light switched on.
• When you’re ready to fry heat the oil in a large dutch oven to 360 F and combine the cinnamon (or cardamom) and sugar in a bowl.
• Gently lower the donuts into the oil using a slotted spoon. Fry for 2.5 minutes on each side. Keep an eye on the oil temperature, you may need to raise the temp if the oil cools too much or lower it if the donuts are browning too quickly.
• Remove the donuts from the oil and let them drain for a few minutes on paper towels. Once they've drained toss them in the cinnamon sugar (or cardamom sugar). Once they’ve cooled slightly you can fill them with jam if you’d like by poking a hole in the donuts and using a piping bag to fill them. If you don’t want jam donuts you could fill them with chocolate ganache, whipped cream, or really whatever your heart desires!

Notes

* If you don’t have a sourdough starter you can still make these, just substitute and extra 10 grams of flour and 10 ml of milk in place of the starter.