My sourdough starter has been looking a little sad and neglected lately. I made a batch of sourdough bread, but I've been trying to do more non-bread sourdough baking so that it doesn't languish for quite so long next time. I tried a new recipe for fluffy, slightly sweet pancakes (which the Kidlet quite liked) and TF made some of our usual savoury sourdough discard pancakes. This donut recipe was also calling to me though, so I figured I'd give it a try.

I'm really happy with how it came out! The interior structure was really nice. Very light and open. Perfect yeasted donut texture. And I think I managed to dial in the oil temperature pretty well too. They were beautifully golden without being either over- or under-cooked. Great success!

Sourdough Donuts

Slightly adapted from Baking Sense

Ingredients

• 1 c. whole milk, warmed to 40 or 50°C
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
• 225g active (fed) sourdough starter
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. cardamom seeds from green pods, ground
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 500g all-purpose flour, divided
• cinnamon sugar, for coating

Directions

1. Combine the warm milk, egg, butter, and starter and mix vigorously.
2. Add the sugar, cardamom, and salt.
3. Add ~350g of the flour a bit at a time (I added ~1/2 c. at a time) mixing thoroughly after each addition. Mix vigorously for a minute or so.
4. Mix in the remaining flour. Hold back ~1/4 c. and add it only if needed. The dough should be soft, but not sticky.
5. Knead for a few minutes -- either in the bowl or on a lightly floured work surface.
6. Shape into a ball and place smooth side up in a covered bowl.
7. Let rest at room temperature for ~1 hour, then stretch and fold the dough. (Carefully release the dough from the bowl, grab one edge and stretch it up and over the top. Rotate 90° and repeat until all four sides have been completed. Lift the dough up and flip it over.)
8. Re-cover the bowl and let rest for another hour and then repeat the stretch and fold procedure.
9. Continue to stretch and fold every hour for 3-4 hours.
10. If dough still seems sluggish after four hours, give it one more hour. (This may be necessary if your house is on the cool side.)
11. After the last stretch and fold, re-cover the bowl and tranfer it to the fridge for the night.
12. The next day, remove the dough from the fridge and transfer it to a lightly flour surface.
13. Roll it out to a tickness of 1-1.5cm.
14. Cut out your donuts! (I think the cutters I used were ~8cm and 2cm, but other shapes and sizes will also work.)
15. Place the donuts -- spaced well apart -- on greased baking sheets and lightly cover them so they don't dry out.
16. Let rest at room temperature for 60-90 minutes.
17. Pour oil to a depth 3-4cm in a wok or pot and heat over medium heat.
18. Make sure oil is well preheated before you start frying your donuts. Test it with a few dough scraps or donut holes if you're not sure.
19. Fry the donuts a few at a time, flipping halfway through to get them evenly cooked.
20. Upon removing them from the donuts, immediately toss them with the cinnamon sugar.