These chocolate old fashioned donuts are crisp on the outside, tender on the inside, and finished with a sweet vanilla glaze. These homemade donuts have deep chocolate flavor and are the perfect breakfast indulgence.

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Making homemade donuts (or"doughnuts") is a real treat. There's nothing like a fresh donut, hot out of the fryer, when the glaze has just set and the donut is still warm. These chocolate old fashioned donuts are soft and tender, cakey, chocolaty, with a crispy exterior, and a sweet glaze for the finishing touch.
If you've never made donuts from scratch before, my detailed step-by-step instructions will walk you through how to make them. This donut recipe is easy enough for beginners, so I encourage you to go for it. The payoff at the end is fresh donuts (and donut holes!) that you made yourself!
If you want to make the dough ahead of time, just follow the "Make ahead" instructions in the Expert Tips section below.
For more indulgent breakfast recipes, try these Cinnabon copycat cinnamon rolls or buttermilk maple biscuits.
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⭐️ Why These Old Fashioned Donuts are the Best
- Rich, cakey, chocolaty, and slightly tangy
- Crispy and crunchy exterior
- No yeast needed
- Easy enough for beginners
- Fun weekend project
- Freezer-friendly
🍩 Ingredients Needed
For the chocolate donuts:
- All-purpose flour - You can substitute up to ⅓ cup of whole-wheat flour here, but your donuts will not be as moist
- Cocoa powder - You can use Dutch-process or regular unsweetened cocoa powder here
- Cornstarch - Makes your donuts extra-crispy
- Baking powder - Acts as a leavener for the donuts
- Espresso powder - Deepens the flavor of chocolate in these donuts
- Unsalted butter - Using unsalted butter helps you control the amount of salt in your donuts. Make sure your butter is room temperature (softened).
- Egg yolks - Adds richness and flavor
- Sour cream - Gives the donuts a slightly tangy flavor and makes them very moist. Be sure to use room temperature sour cream. This will ensure the right structure for your donuts.
- Vegetable oil - Use your everyday vegetable oil for this recipe
For the glaze:
- Whole milk - You can also use half & half and cut it with a small amount of water
- Confectioner's sugar - Makes for a smooth glaze because it contains cornstarch
- Vanilla extract - Adds warm flavor
🍽 Equipment Needed
- Stand mixer or electric hand-mixer
- Deep-fry thermometer
- Large pot
- Rolling pin
- Slotted spoon or deep-fry skimmer
- Donut cutter or biscuit cutters
- Wire rack (cooling rack)
🔪 How to Make Chocolate Old Fashioned Donuts
Make the chocolate donuts:
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder until well mixed.
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or using an electric hand-mixer, beat sugar and softened butter for around 1 minute. Mixture will look sandy. Beat in egg yolks for around 2 minutes, until mixture lightens and volume increases.
In three additions, add flour mixture, alternating with the sour cream, beating after each addition until flour is well incorporated.
Transfer dough to a large piece of plastic wrap and wrap securely. Lightly roll out dough to a disc that is roughly 2" thick. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.
Make the vanilla glaze:
While dough is chilling, make your glaze: In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the milk, confectioner's sugar, and vanilla until smooth and no lumps remain. Set aside.
Cut and Fry the donuts:
Attach deep-fry thermometer to a large pot or deep saucepan, and add oil. Heat oil to 350° F. (try to keep temperature between 350° and 360°).
On a well-floured surface, use a well-floured rolling pin to roll out dough to ½-inch thickness. Lightly flour donut cutter and cut approximately 16 donuts and donut holes. Repeat this step with scraps until no more dough remains.
Place wire rack on top of a baking sheet lined with newspaper or aluminum foil (to catch the oil and glaze).
Fry donuts 3 at a time, about 2 minutes on each side until golden and cooked through. (They will sink at first, and then the baking powder will do its thing and they will rise to the surface.) Use a slotted spoon or deep-fry skimmer to transfer donuts to wire rack.
While donuts are warm, dip them into the glaze, flipping to cover both sides of donuts, and return them to wire rack. Let donuts rest for about 15 minutes to allow glaze to set.
Fry donut holes in batches for about 1 minute on each side. Transfer to wire rack, and dip in glaze while they are still warm.
🍴 Storage Instructions
Although homemade donuts are best when fresh, you can store completely cooled donuts at room temperature for up to 4 days.
You can also freeze them for up to 3 months. To do this, wrap donuts in foil and place in a freezer storage bag. To thaw, place in fridge overnight.
👩🏼🍳 Expert Tips
- Monitor your oil temperature and keep it in the range of 350-360 degrees F. This keeps the donuts from becoming too greasy (oil is too cool) or burning and/or cooking unevenly (oil is too hot).
- If you don't have a donut cutter, biscuit cutters will work as well (if you have different sizes). Or, the wide end of a pastry tip will work to cut the hole out of the donut.
- Be liberal when flouring your work area, donut cutters, and rolling pin.
- Use an offset spatula to pick up your donuts from the baking sheet.
- Make ahead: Make your donut dough up to 24 hours ahead of time. Store in the refrigerator until you are ready to roll, cut, and fry!
- Use room temperature sour cream. This will ensure the right structure for your donuts. If you have time, let your sour cream sit out at room temperature for an hour before making your donuts. Or you could use the microwave to bring it to room temperature as well.
- Don't skip the espresso powder! Using espresso powder in chocolate pastries or baked goods is a secret that a lot of pastry chefs use to heighten the flavor of chocolate. I promise that your donuts won't taste like coffee, but it will intensify the chocolate flavor. If you are caffeine sensitive, opt for decaf espresso powder. Instant coffee would work as well, as a substitution.
💬 Frequently Asked Questions
The old fashioned donut, also called sour cream donut and often spelled as "doughnut", is a variety of cake donut. The donuts are made without yeast, and contain either buttermilk or sour cream which gives them a slightly tangy flavor. They are soft and fluffy inside like a cake donut but with a crispy exterior and crackly tapered edges. This particular recipe has a chocolate and sour cream based batter.
Old fashioned donuts are a type of cake donut, but they often have an irregular shape and a crispier, craggier exterior.
The two types of donuts are cake and yeast, with the main difference being that yeast donuts contain yeast, and they are super light and fluffy. Because cake donuts are yeast-free, they are much denser and cake-like.
They taste similar to a cake donut, but are eggier, more dense, and with a crispy craggly exterior. They are richer than cake donuts and often are finished with a sweet glaze.
☕️ More Breakfast Recipes
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Chocolate Old Fashioned Donuts Recipe
Equipment
- Stand mixer or electric hand-mixer
- large pot
- Deep-fry thermometer
- baking sheet
- Rolling Pin
- Donut cutter or biscuit cutter
- Wire rack
- Slotted spoon or deep-fry skimmer
Ingredients
For the chocolate donuts:
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour + more for cutting dough
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon espresso powder
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 cup sour cream, room temperature
- 2 quarts vegetable oil, for frying
For the glaze:
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 2 ¼ cups confectioner's sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the donuts:
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder until well mixed.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or using an electric hand-mixer, beat sugar and softened butter for around 1 minute. Mixture will look sandy.
- Beat in egg yolks for around 2 minutes, until mixture lightens and volume increases.
- In three additions, add flour mixture, alternating with the sour cream, beating after each addition until flour is well incorporated.
- Transfer dough to a large piece of plastic wrap and wrap securely. Lightly roll out dough to a disc that is roughly 2" thick. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.
Make the glaze:
- While dough is chilling, make your glaze: In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the milk, confectioner's sugar, and vanilla until smooth and no lumps remain. Set aside.
Cut and Fry the donuts:
- Attach deep-fry thermometer to a large pot or deep saucepan, and add oil. Heat oil to 350° F. (try to keep temperature between 350° and 360°).
- On a well-floured surface, use a well-floured rolling pin to roll out dough to ½-inch thickness. Lightly flour donut cutter and cut approximately 16 donuts and donut holes. Repeat this step with scraps until no more dough remains.
- Place wire rack on top of a baking sheet lined with newspaper or aluminum foil (to catch the oil and glaze).
- Fry donuts 3 at a time, about 2 minutes on each side until golden and cooked through. (They will sink at first, and then the baking powder will do its thing and they will rise to the surface.) Use a slotted spoon or deep-fry skimmer to transfer donuts to wire rack.
- While donuts are warm, dip them into the glaze, flipping to cover both sides of donuts, and return them to wire rack. Let donuts rest for about 15 minutes to allow glaze to set.
- Fry donut holes in batches for about 1 minute on each side. Transfer to wire rack, and dip in glaze while they are still warm.
- Donuts are always best served on the day they are made, but can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Video
Notes
- Monitor your oil temperature and keep it in the range of 350-360 degrees F. This keeps the donuts from becoming too greasy (oil is too cool) or burning and/or cooking unevenly (oil is too hot).
- If you don't have a donut cutter, biscuit cutters will work as well (if you have different sizes). Or, the wide end of a pastry tip will work to cut the hole out of the donut.
- Be liberal when flouring your work area, donut cutters, and rolling pin.
- Storage: Although homemade donuts are best when fresh, you can store completely cooled donuts at room temperature for up to 4 days. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months. To do this, wrap donuts in foil and place in a freezer storage bag.
Gina
These are so good they are dangerous! I could of ate them all myself. Luckily, I had people to share it with that loved them just as much as I did!
Gastronotherapy
Haha, thanks Gina! They are a bit dangerous, but they also freeze well! 😉
Ashley Hugo
I'm about to make these donuts! How do I go about freezing them to have a quick donut snack? Thank you!
MaryAnne
Hi Ashley, once they’re completely cooled, wrap them in foil and place in a large freezer bag. They can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Enjoy!
Barb
Have not made doughnuts in a long time. These look delicious! I will have to try them
MaryAnne
I hope you love them!
Nicole
Love love love old fashioned donuts. And these chocolate ones can't be beat! Thanks for the recipe
Gastronotherapy
Thanks for stopping by my blog, Nicole! 🙂
Juan
What cocoa powder did you use? It looks very rich and I'm very envious.
MaryAnne
Hi Juan, I've made them using Ghiradelli and Hershey's cocoa powder and both worked great. Let me know if you give them a try!
Juan
Okay, tried the Hershey's dark chocolate Cocoa powder and found that it was Dutch processed by the time the donuts had finished frying. It over "fluffed" the donuts. Definitely stick to non Dutch processed cocoa powder.
MaryAnne
Hi Juan, that's so strange. Using Dutch processed cocoa powder should not have made your donuts overly fluffy. If anything, it should have made your cake doughnuts a bit denser than when using "natural" cocoa powder. I hope they still tasted good!
Heidy McCallum
These Old-Fashioned doughnuts were off-the-chain flavorful, and the kids loved them! I will be making these again!!! Very soon! Happy Holidays!
Gastronotherapy
Yay! So happy to hear that they were a hit with you AND your kids, Heidy! And Happy Holidays to you as well!
Anjali
I absolutely love these homemade donuts! They taste so much fresher than store bought and turn out perfectly! My kids love them too!
Gastronotherapy
Thanks, Anjali! I agree that they are SO much better than the store-bought version. And it's always a bonus if your kids like them, too! 🙂
Barb Haner
Have these on my list to try in 2023!
Kendra
Good morning! All I have is salted butter so should I just cut out the salt from the recipe completely?
MaryAnne
Good morning, Kendra! The general rule for substituting salted for unsalted butter is: for every 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), omit 1/4 tsp. of salt. Since this recipe only uses 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, I recommend adjusting the additional salt amount to 1/2 teaspoon. I hope that's helpful!
Ju
What can I sub for sour cream? Thanks
MaryAnne
Hi Ju, you can try a thick Greek yogurt in its place, although I have not tried it myself. However, you should be successful using that as a substitute!
Pat
I want to make the chocolate donuts and I wanted to know can I cut them out one day and cook them the next day?
MaryAnne
Hi Pat, I have not tested this, but you should be able to cut out the donuts and store them in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before frying them. Let me know how they turn out!