How to substitute buttermilk in doughnut recipes is simpler than most guides make it sound: add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to a measuring cup, fill to 1 cup with milk, and let it sit 5 to 10 minutes until it thickens slightly. Use it measure for measure wherever the recipe calls for buttermilk. The whole thing takes about ten minutes and no special equipment.
That method works because buttermilk is not a magic ingredient. It is simply milk with acid in it, and the acid is what reacts with baking soda to lift the dough.
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What You Need
Most doughnut recipes call for somewhere between half a cup and two cups of buttermilk. Read the ingredient line before you start, because the amount decides how much substitute you mix.
Here is the short version of what buttermilk does in a doughnut recipe:
- It adds thickness. Buttermilk is slightly heavier than milk, and that extra body gives a doughnut a denser, more tender crumb instead of a thin, bready one.
- It adds a faint tang. That tang balances the sweetness of the sugar and glaze, which is why buttermilk doughnuts taste less cloying than all-milk ones.
- It activates baking soda. The acid in buttermilk reacts with sodium bicarbonate and releases the carbon dioxide that puffs the dough up while it bakes or fries.
That third job is the one that matters most. Skip it and you get doughnuts that are heavy, dense and quick to soak up oil.
For the milk and acid method you need a liquid measuring cup, a tablespoon, and either fresh lemon juice or distilled white vinegar. A kitchen thermometer is useful if you fry, since oil temperature decides more about the final doughnut than most people expect.
Whichever option you pick, the quantity matters more than the ingredient. Here is the same information as a ratio list, one cup of buttermilk at a time.
| Substitute | Amount per 1 cup buttermilk | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Milk plus lemon juice or white vinegar | 1 cup milk plus 1 to 1.5 tablespoons acid | Every doughnut recipe; the default swap |
| Plain yogurt | 1 cup, thinned with 1 to 2 tablespoons water | Cake doughnuts, where tang is welcome |
| Plain Greek yogurt | 3/4 cup plus 1/4 cup milk or water | Old-fashioned doughnuts, thick batters |
| Sour cream | 3/4 cup plus 1/4 cup milk | Rich cake doughnuts |
| Kefir | 1 cup, no adjustment | Yeasted doughnuts, where you want lift |
| Milk plus cream of tartar | 1 cup milk plus 1.5 teaspoons cream of tartar | When you want acid without a sour note |
| Powdered buttermilk | About 1/4 cup powder plus 1/2 to 3/4 cup water | Keeping a standby supply in the pantry |
| Unsweetened soy or oat milk | 1 cup plus 1 to 2 teaspoons lemon juice | Dairy-free doughnuts |
Step-by-Step: How to Substitute Buttermilk in Doughnut Recipes
- Check whether the recipe has baking soda in it. If it does, you must replace the acid, so plain milk on its own is not enough. If the recipe uses baking powder instead, plain milk is perfectly fine and you can skip the rest of this.
- Measure the amount the recipe needs. A typical batch of cake doughnuts uses 1 to 2 cups. Two cups means you make two cups of the substitute, not one doubled batch of acid.
- Put the acid in the measuring cup first. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar per cup of milk. Lemon juice is mild and citrusy. Vinegar is sharper and disappears more completely in the fried crust. For doughnuts, most people settle on vinegar, because the hot oil toasts the citrus in lemon juice into something noticeable.
- Fill to the line with milk. Stir once so the acid disperses rather than pooling at the bottom.
- Wait 5 to 10 minutes. The milk will thicken and start to look slightly curdled, which bakers call clabbered milk. That is the point. Use it at this stage, not before, and not hours later.
- Use it measure for measure. Swap it in for the buttermilk at the same point in the recipe, then carry on exactly as written. No other ingredient needs to change.
The same one-for-one rule holds for the thicker options, with one caveat: yogurt, sour cream and Greek yogurt are pastes, not pourable liquids. Thin them with a splash of milk or water first, or the batter will come out heavier than the recipe intended.
Choose Your Substitute
Milk and acid is the workhorse because it is neutral in flavor and behaves exactly like thin buttermilk. Use it unless you have a reason not to.
Plain yogurt is the swap that adds character. It brings more acid and more protein, so doughnuts made with it come out slightly tangy and a little denser. That is a good match for a cake doughnut with a glaze, and a poor match for a yeasted doughnut where you want maximum lift.
Greek yogurt is more concentrated, so you use a little less and loosen it with milk. Sour cream behaves similarly but is milder in flavor, which makes it the quietest option in the dairy aisle. Kefir is effectively a one-to-one swap with a clean, pleasant tang, and bakers who use it in yeasted dough report it is the closest to real cultured buttermilk.
Cream of tartar is the acid to reach for when the flavor of the doughnut is already busy. A teaspoon and a half per cup neutralizes baking soda just as well as vinegar, and it adds no taste of its own.
Powdered buttermilk is a real standby, reconstituted with water according to the package. It is shelf-stable, so it removes the spoiled-bottle problem entirely. The texture lands closer to fresh cultured buttermilk than anything you can improvise at home, which is why regular bakers keep a tub of it in the pantry.
For dairy-free doughnuts, use unsweetened soy or oat milk with a small squeeze of lemon. Plant milk lacks the protein and natural acidity of dairy, so the acid you add is doing more work than usual. Avoid vanilla or sweetened varieties, and expect a crumb that is very slightly less rich.
Match the Substitute to Your Doughnut Recipe
Not every doughnut reacts to a swap the same way, and this is where most guides go quiet.
Cake doughnuts (no yeast, baking soda in the recipe). These are the ones that depend on buttermilk the most. The acid is the entire lifting mechanism, so use the milk and acid method, or yogurt, and be precise with the measurement. A little less acid means a dense doughnut; too much means a grainy, curdled batter.
Yeasted raised doughnuts. Yeast supplies most of the lift and the dough is enriched with butter, eggs and milk. Plain milk is acceptable here, and the swap is really about flavor. Milk plus a small amount of acid, kefir, or plain yogurt all taste closer to the original. Skip the Greek yogurt, since the extra body fights the rise.
Baked doughnuts in a pan. These are cake doughnuts, so the same baking soda rule applies, with one extra note: a thicker substitute such as yogurt or sour cream gives you a denser, more cakelike crumb and a slightly longer bake. Start checking at the lower end of the recipe’s time and use a toothpick rather than the clock alone.
If a recipe is a family doughnut recipe that uses sour milk, the old-fashioned sour milk is buttermilk. That is why people have been making these doughnuts for generations without a cultured product in the house.
Common Mistakes
Almost every disappointing substitute doughnut traces back to one of a handful of things.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Dense, bready, heavy doughnuts | Plain milk used where the recipe has baking soda | Add the acid next time, or add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda to the batter |
| Grainy or curdled batter | Too much acid, or acid added and left too long | Use exactly 1 tablespoon per cup and mix within 10 minutes |
| Greasy doughnuts | Doughnut underleavened, so it absorbed oil before the structure set | Check your acid measurement, and fry at a steady 350 to 360 F |
| Doughnuts spreading in the fryer | Batter too thin, or oil not hot enough | Thicken with a spoonful of flour, and bring the oil to temperature before dropping |
| Gummy interior | Baked too little, or pulled from the pan too soon | Add 2 to 3 minutes; a toothpick should come out clean |
| Glaze tastes sharply sour | Acid used directly in the glaze | Use plain milk or water for glaze, and keep the acid in the dough |
The most common mistake by a distance is using plain milk where the recipe calls for baking soda. Online advice conflicts on this, and both camps are half right. Milk is fine when the leavening already contains its own acid, such as baking powder. Milk alone is not fine when the recipe relies on baking soda, because there is nothing to react with it.
Second is measuring the acid by eye. A heavy pour of lemon juice can be double what you meant, and the batter will tell you about it an hour later in a grainy texture.
Baking Tips for the Best Texture
Measure by volume, not by feel. Spoon yogurt into the measuring cup and level it, rather than dolloping it straight into the bowl.
Rest the batter. Most cake doughnut recipes benefit from ten to twenty minutes of rest after the wet and dry ingredients are combined, and the acid needs that time to work with the baking soda. A dough that has just been mixed will always look underleavened before it hits the heat.
Mix gently once everything is wet. Overmixing develops gluten and gives you a doughnut with a tight, chewy interior that people describe as bagel-like. If you are troubleshooting a family recipe that produced heavy doughnuts, the flour is usually the first thing to look at, not the milk.
Watch the thermometer. For fried doughnuts, hold the oil between 350 and 360 F, and let the first doughnut tell you what to do with the rest. Too cool and they soak up oil. Too hot and the outsides brown before the middle cooks through. For baked doughnuts, most pans want 350 to 375 F.
Keep the acid in the dough, and out of the glaze. A thin glaze made from powdered sugar, milk and a little flavoring works fine with your substitute mixed in, but vinegar belongs nowhere near it. Straight into a sweet glaze, the sharpness carries straight through instead of cooking off, and one taste is usually all it takes to go back to plain milk.
Store the substitute like you would buttermilk. The acidified milk keeps in the fridge for two or three days, and freezing it in an ice cube tray gives you usable cubes for a single recipe, which solves the waste problem that makes people avoid buttermilk in the first place. Finished plain doughnuts keep airtight at room temperature for a day or two, and glazed ones are best the same day. Unglazed doughnuts freeze well for a few weeks and thaw in about ten minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use plain milk instead of buttermilk in doughnut recipes?
Only when the recipe leavens with baking powder or yeast. If the recipe calls for baking soda, plain milk will not work on its own, because baking soda needs an acid to release its lift. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar per cup of milk, rest it 5 to 10 minutes, and use it measure for measure. If you already mixed the dough with plain milk, stir in half a teaspoon of extra baking soda.
What is the best substitute for buttermilk in doughnuts?
For most doughnuts, one cup of milk plus one tablespoon of lemon juice or distilled white vinegar is the best substitute. It is neutral in flavor, matches buttermilk’s thin consistency, and supplies the acid the baking soda needs. Plain yogurt is the runner-up and adds a pleasant tang. Kefir is the closest match to cultured buttermilk if your recipe is a yeasted raised dough.
How much lemon juice or vinegar should I add to milk?
Use 1 tablespoon per cup of milk for most doughnut recipes, and up to 1.5 tablespoons for a batter heavy with baking soda. Measure it rather than pouring, since a heavy pour can double the amount. Stir, then wait 5 to 10 minutes until the milk thickens and looks faintly curdled before using it. Any longer and the batter can turn grainy.
Can I use buttermilk powder in a doughnut recipe?
Yes. Powdered buttermilk is a genuine one-to-one substitute once reconstituted, and it is the best option if you bake regularly because it keeps in the pantry for months. Most brands call for roughly a quarter cup of powder with half to three-quarters cup of water to make one cup of buttermilk, so follow the directions on your tub. The flavor is slightly milder than fresh cultured buttermilk.
Does substituting buttermilk change the flavor or texture of doughnuts?
Milk and acid is nearly indistinguishable once the doughnut is cooked, because the acid reacts during mixing and baking. Yogurt, sour cream and kefir will taste a little tangier and give a slightly denser crumb. Plant milk produces a crumb that is very slightly less rich. Avoid the acid in your glaze, where it stays sharp and untasted, and use plain milk or water there instead.
Conclusion
Milk plus acid is the substitute to reach for first. One cup of milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar, rested for five to ten minutes and used measure for measure, handles almost any doughnut recipe without touching anything else in the bowl.
Before you mix, check the leavening. Baking soda in the recipe means the acid is not optional, and that one detail explains most of the disappointments people report after a swap. Get that right and learning how to substitute buttermilk in doughnut recipes stops being a problem at all.
