Biscuit Donuts

[Diane Lane]

I love really well made donuts, especially filled ones. Those are the types I buy when I am near an actual bakery. I will occasionally purchase the 'lil chocolate donuts' that come prepackaged, when I'm having an intense craving and they're handy, but they're not my favorite. What I make at home though, especially when I need a treat in a hurry, is biscuit donuts. They're super easy, and also quick. Here's a recipe for them from Paula Deen, but of course she goes above and beyond.

I needed something for Pancake Tuesday the other night and had just had pancakes, so didn't want to make a batch of those. I had a couple of cans of biscuits on hand, so I decided to fry up some quick biscuit donuts. Before I put them in the pan, I set out 2 shallow bowls, one filled with powdered sugar, and another with cinnamon sugar. I tore each biscuit in half and rolled them up. I heated oil in my large frying pan, and once it's hot (I use the drop of water trick to test it for readiness), I placed the 'donuts' in the oil. Don't wander off, because they only take a few minutes. I flatten them somewhat as they're cooking, so the insides also get cooked, and flip them over when the bottoms get light to medium brown. I always put a plate off to the side with one or two paper towels on it to catch some of the extra oil when I remove them from the pan, then I roll them in the toppings. I have toast tongs that I use to move them around and remove them when they're covered.

 

[cupcakechef]

I've never actually tried making my own donuts. I hate frying things in the house...the greasy lingering smell drives me crazy...but these sound good. I like Paula Deen recipes, and I also like that it uses canned biscuit dough - a nice time saver there!

 

[ChesterV]

I don't like heavy donuts. I like the really airy, fluffy ones. Although I love cake, I don't like cake donuts either.

Not many chain donut stores make their own donuts anymore. Dunkin Donuts stopped making donuts on-site years ago....they get them in frozen and fry them on-site.

Shipleys Donuts DOES still make their donuts on-site every day. They make enough donuts to fill up the donut trays at the front counter, then thats it. Once the donuts have all sold out, they are closed for the the day.

My favorite donut types:

Boston Cream......donut puck with vanilla custard filling, topped with chocolate glaze

Barvarian Cream....donut puck with either vanilla or chocolate mousse inside, doused in powdered sugar.
(a lot of places just fill them with buttercream frosting instead of mousse....its cheaper)

Maple Long John......long donut puck with cream or custard filling, with maple glaze on top

Chocolate covered donut with nuts

And the almighty glazed donut....
BUT...

I like these fried to the point of being burned just a tiny bit (but not the burned color)...
because that makes the skin very crunchy while the insides are still super fluffy....
And once glazed, the glaze will make the skin even that much more crunchy......for a short time.

It is a task perfecting this method, but OH SO worth it!!!