These light and fluffy blueberry baked donuts are made with a special ingredient – sourdough discard!
Fluffy, healthier donuts that don’t require any frying? Yes please! These blueberry baked donuts are the perfect way to get your donut fix in less than 30 minutes.
They’re soft, tender, and studded with sweet, juicy blueberry. And if you want a little more sweetness, you can finish them off with a simple glaze – because who can resist a blueberry glazed donut?
How to make baked donuts
I love making baked donuts because they’re so quick and easy to make. The batter comes together in 10 minutes and then you need another 10 minutes to bake – and just like magic you have fresh, warm donuts.
First, we’ll mix together all the dry ingredients:
- All purpose flour – all purpose flour works great for this recipe, but if you like a little bit of chew, I recommend a half and half mix of all purpose flour and whole wheat flour. It adds wonderful texture!
- Baking powder – helps create that nice, fluffy texture
- Baking soda – also helps leaven and create a fluffy texture
- Salt – for flavor and too balance out the sugar
- Ground cinnamon – adds a wonderful warmth and flavor that goes perfectly with the blueberries!
Then, we’ll mix together all the wet ingredients plus sugar:
- Egg – helps bind everything together
- Brown sugar – adds more moistness than white sugar
- Milk – any milk will do, from plant-based to whole milk
- Sourdough discard – depending on how old your discard is, it could add a little tang to your final donuts
- Vegetable oil – best to use a neutral-flavored oil. Melted butter would work as well.
- Vanilla extract – adds amazing flavor!
Then it’s a simple matter of adding the wet ingredients to the dry, whisking together, pouring into the donut molds, and adding blueberries.
I like to coat my blueberries with a little bit of flour so they don’t sink to the bottom of the tin.
How to glaze donuts
Making the glaze is super easy – all you need is powdered sugar and a bit of milk. You want the consistency to be thick enough to coat the donut, but not so thick you can’t pour it or dip the donuts in.
I like to dip the donuts in once they have cooled, since warm donuts are a little delicate and may crumble into the glaze. I recommend glazing right before serving, since after a few hours the glaze can make the donuts a little moist and soggy.
Can I replace the sourdough starter?
Yes! While this recipe is a great way to use sourdough starter, you can replace the starter with a 1/2 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of greek yogurt or milk mixed together. It will create a similar consistency.
These donuts have less sugar and oil than a traditional fried donut, and they make for a light and tasty treat!
Other sourdough discard recipes:
If you make this recipe, please let me know! I always love to see what my readers are baking. You can comment below or tag me on Instagram @halicopteraway.
Sourdough blueberry baked donuts
Equipment
- Donut baking pan
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (65g) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup (50g) brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) sourdough discard
- 1/4 cup (60g) milk
- 2 tbsp (30g) neutral-flavored vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
- 2 tsp all purpose flour
Glaze
- 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 – 2 tbsp milk
Instructions
- Generously grease your donut baking tin and preheat oven to 350°F. It's very important to grease your tin well to avoid sticking.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon
- In a separate bowl, mix together the egg and brown sugar. Then, add the milk, sourdough discard, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined, being careful not to overmix.
- In a small bowl, toss together the blueberries and 2 tsp of flour. This prevents the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the batter.
- Pour or spoon the batter into the donut tins, filling about 1/3 of the way. Place 5 – 6 blueberries into each donut mold. Pour more batter into each tin, covering the blueberries and filling the mold 2/3 – 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake for 9 – 10 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. A little blueberry juice is okay. Remove the donuts and set aside to cool.
- While the donuts cool, prepare the glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and 1 tbsp of milk. If the glaze is too thick, add a little more milk.
- Once the donuts are cool, remove from the pan and dip into the glaze. Donuts are best enjoyed immediately.
Notes
- For a nuttier, fuller texture, I recommend using 1/4 cup of all purpose flour and 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour instead of 1/2 cup of all purpose flour. This is my preferred way to make these donuts, but I understand that not everyone has whole wheat flour on hand!
- Light or dark brown sugar works for this recipe
- You can replace the sourdough discard with 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup milk or greek yogurt
- The glaze adds extra sweetness, but I actually love these donuts just as much without the glaze.
I would love to try these, but I don’t have a donut pan. Can I make them as muffins?
Hi Kim, I’ve had readers successfully make these in a muffin tin. You may need to increase the bank time, since muffin tins are a little deeper than donut tins.
They are very good except that I don’t think 1/2 cup flour was enough. It took over 20 minutes to get the first batch done, then I added more flour to the second batch and still had to cook them 20 minutes. …but they are really good!
Hi Sarah, thanks for the feedback and I’m glad you enjoyed them! Sometimes different discards have different consistencies, so that could account for the flour difference. Thanks again for leaving a note!
This looks so good! Can I make with other kinds of fruit?
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
I have made these several times! This time I added a tablespoon of cocoa powder and mini chocolate chips.
That sounds delicious!
I just made these this evening, and they are so freaking yummy!!! Even the hubs liked them. I had leftover mix (I only had a 6-donut pan), so I put it in a small loaf pan, and it came out yummy too! I plan on making these a lot! I am going to experiment with other fruits as well!
Hey there! Could you use puréed blueberries in place of fresh/frozen blueberries?
Hi Michelle, you could try swirling it in. I would recommend reducing the other liquid in the recipe or extending the bake time
Can you use whole wheat flour instead? I have a ww starter.
Hi Kira, whole wheat flour should work! It might be a little more dense than if you used regular all purpose flour
Made them today with the wheat flour and starter and oh my gosh they were amazing! Love your recipe!
Can you do a long ferment for this recipe?
That would likely be okay, though I haven’t tried it myself. Something like honey or maple syrup may make the batter a little more wet
Can I use a sugar substitute like maple syrup or honey?
This was a very good recipe. Thank you! I substituted brown rice malt for the sugar and added a few more blueberries since mine were small wild Maine blueberries. Amazingly good.