Don't they look scrumptious?A few years ago, Vicki, a woman from church, told me that sometimes, on Saturday mornings, she makes homemade donuts for her family. Vicki is one of those women you just secretly loathe, just because she's pretty AND nice AND talented AND organized AND has perfect children AND AND AND. You know the type. So anyway, I figured she had some old family recipe that she slaved over every Saturday morning in the name of love. But then she told me that she uses buttermilk biscuits...from a can. In that moment, I loathed her a little less. Because how can you loathe anyone who introduces you to the ease and magic of making donuts at home using a 35-cent can of biscuits? I made them this morning for my kids, and it took all of 5 minutes, start-to-finish.
Quick and Easy Donuts
1 can refrigerated buttermilk donuts
vegetable oil or shortening
Optional toppings:
sugar, powdered sugar, cinnamon, chocolate frosting, sprinkles...the sky's the limit!
Pour vegetable oil about 1/2 inch deep in a skillet. Place over medium heat. Splash a few drops of water into the cold oil. As the oil heats, the water will pop. when the water droplets have about stopped popping, your oil is ready to use.
Separate the biscuits and poke a hole in the middle of each to give it that classic donut shape and also to make sure it gets cooked evenly. Drop donuts into the hot oil (I always try one by itself first to make certain the oil is the right temperature), frying for about 45 seconds on one side, flipping, and frying about 45 seconds on the other side. It really will be to your advantage to do a test donut first to gauge how hot your oil is running. Your time may be slightly different. In any case, don't walk away, because these little gems cook up FAST!
When the donuts are a deep golden brown, remove and drain on a cooling rack. When the donuts have cooled to the touch, toss them with powdered sugar, plain sugar, or a cinnamon-sugar mixture. Or melt a small amount of frosting in the microwave and twirl the tops of your donuts in the frosting, topping with nonpareil sprinkles. Or mix powdered sugar and a little bit of milk for glazed donuts--twirl donuts in the glaze mixture or drizzle over top. Use your imagination! Ooh...I bet if you didn't put the hole in the middle, you could use a food syringe and fill the donuts with jelly or pudding or custard! I've never tried it, but I bet it would work.
I buy my biscuits from Aldi, and they really are about 35 cents. For ten hot, homemade donuts, that's not bad!
3 comments:
If you use your electric skillet for this exercise, set it at 350 and wait for the light to go off.
You're going to think I'm ridiculous, but I almost cried making serving these to my kids this morning. I never thought they'd be able to eat donuts (being allergic to eggs and milk), and they were so excited about these and begging for more! Thank you! Thank you! I can't believe that I'm so excited about donuts, honestly, I usually feed my kids healthy stuff, but it was just so nice to be able to make these for them.
Are those pictures of your donuts? If so, I really like them! You've been reading your food blogs, haven't you!?
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