How do fresh donuts sound? Yum! Right? Well, if you have some canned biscuits, a little cooking oil, and a few other ingredients, you can have warm, fresh donuts in about 30 minutes. Canned biscuit dough is one of the magical ingredients that works for both savory and sweet dishes.
Who Invented Donuts?
Donuts are a traditional treat introduced to America by Dutch immigrants. They can be traced back to the early 1800s in New York. The term “dough-nut” was used to describe balls of sweetened dough that were fried in pork fat. The Dutch called them olykoeks. Today we call them doughnuts or, as I prefer, donuts. Whatever you call them, canned biscuit donuts are yummy for breakfast, coffee breaks, and late-night snacks!
Top Your Donuts the Way You Like
It was always a treat when my mother made canned biscuit donuts for my siblings and me. She finished hers by rolling them in table sugar and a dash of cinnamon. That works well enough. I prefer to make a little frosting for my donuts. Sometimes, I add sprinkles or chopped nuts or coconut before the frosting hardens. My favorite donuts have chocolate frosting, but I also make vanilla, and I include the instructions for both here. I have also been known to fill mine with lemon curd or raspberry preserves. Mom’s canned biscuit donuts were always pretty plain-Jane, but they were simply delicious and a real treat on a frosty Ohio weekend.
One of the best things about these donuts is that you can make them to suit your individual taste and with ingredients you have on hand. Using canned biscuits makes takes half the work out of the process. If you don’t have any canned biscuits and you’re really craving these, you can make up a batch of biscuit dough and use that.
TIP ONE: Use buttermilk biscuits, not the flaky ones that peel apart. I like the larger sized ones, but the skinny tube works too, and it yields 10 smaller biscuits instead of eight larger ones.
Free Donut Holes Are a Bonus of Making Your Own
I use a donut hole cutter to shape my donuts. You can also use a small cookie cutter. I like to fry the donut “holes” and toss them in powdered sugar. My mom’s donuts didn’t have those because she didn’t punch out any dough. She used the handle of a wooden spoon or her fingers to make a hole in the middle of her biscuit. It works, but you don’t get the treat of eating donut holes.
Assuming you punch yours out, you’ll want to fry the donut “holes” first. This gives your oil a real test for temperature and cooking time. Besides, they’re delicious tossed in powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar. You may notice the donuts holes puffing up while they cook. That’s the magic happening! They seem to magically transform from little oddly shaped lumps of dough into little golden balls of pastry. Yay!
These might not work as well for lovers of plain donuts as the biscuit/donuts are not sweet at all without a topping of some kind. I’m not saying they’re not tasty, just that they aren’t sweet. Then again, I could see serving plain fried donut holes with homemade jam or warm maple syrup for dunking!
Of course, you may want to skip the donut holes and make filled donuts. I was delighted when I discovered that canned biscuits work really well for jelly- or cream-filled donuts!
To make filled donuts, fry the whole biscuits, just as you would the ones with donut holes removed. Because the biscuit dough is fairly thin, these cook in just about the same amount of time as the ones with holes.
To fill this batch, I used a small jar of lemon curd I had on hand. Jams and preserves work well too. My family especially likes raspberry, strawberry, and peach. I’ve also filled them with pastry cream and frosted them with chocolate icing for Boston Cream donuts.
Put your filling into a pastry bag or zip-top bag. Punch a hole in the donut’s side or bottom with a pastry bag tip, the round handle of a wooden spoon, or a chopstick. Insert the tip of your bag into the donut and squeeze in a little filling. It only takes a tablespoon or two.
Don’t be intimidated by the frying process. It’s really pretty simple and these are pretty hard to mess up because they cook so quickly.
Getting the Right Temperature for Frying Your Donuts
If you don’t have a candy or frying thermometer, check the temperature by inserting the handle of a wooden spoon or chopstick. If the oil bubbles gently right away, you’re good to go. If it bubbles vigorously or pops, the oil is probably too hot, and you need to cool it down a bit first, or your donuts will burn on the outside before cooking on the inside.
You can use a spider or tongs to lower your donuts gently into the oil if you prefer. I find I like the amount of control I have using my fingers. You just need to be very careful. Go slow.
TIP TWO: Canola oil, vegetable oil, corn oil, peanut oil, and other high-temperature cooking oils work well for this. Don’t use olive oil. The flavor is too strong and the smoke point is too low.
Don’t crowd the pan. These cook so quickly that you don’t need to rush the process. But you really will need to watch these while the cook. It only takes a minute or two on each side. Also, make sure you have something at the ready to flip the donuts. I have used a metal spider, especially for the donut holes, but I prefer using metal or silicone tongs to turn the donuts.
Be careful turning them over. If you try to work too quickly, you may drop one and splash hot oil all over your kitchen and yourself (ouch!).
TIP THREE: Put these on a rack to drain them if you have one. Draining them on a paper towel-lined plate is okay, but a rack works better. You don’t want your donuts to soak up the oil. So, if you do use paper towels on a plate, change the paper towels when they become saturated with oil.
Finish Your Donuts Any Way You Like
As I said, I like to frost donuts. But then I always buy the iced donuts when I visit my favorite bakery, so that’s not too surprising. You can use any frosting you like. I’ve included recipes for simple chocolate frosting and simple vanilla frosting below.
Feel free to use whatever you like or to add to the recipes I’ve included. Do you like Mexican chocolate? Add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the mix. Do you like spicy chocolate? Add a 1/4 teaspoon or more of cayenne pepper.
If you want to add sprinkles, coconut, or chopped nuts, be sure to do so before the frosting dries. That way, your toppings will stick to your donuts. You can drop the sprinkles on with your fingers or pour them onto a plate and dab your frosted donut to coat it.
TIP FOUR: Iced donuts are a great way to use up any leftover frosting. If you have canned frosting on hand, whisk in a little milk to thin it up a bit for dipping, or slather it on with a knife. I won’t tell anyone. These are fantastic with German chocolate cake frosting (coconut pecan), by the way.
However you choose to top them off, these donuts are sure to satisfy any sweet tooth, and you will have done it all with the magic of canned biscuit dough!
Magic Doughnuts
Course: Breakfast, Late Night, Dessert, BrunchCuisine: American, DinerDifficulty: Easy8
servings10
minutes15
minutes5
minutesHow do fresh donuts sound? Yum! Right? Well, if you have some canned biscuits, a little cooking oil, and a few other ingredients, you can have warm, fresh donuts in about 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- Donuts
1 can of refrigerated biscuits (8 count)
Cooking oil (enough for 2-inches in your frying pan)
Topping of choice
- Chocolate Frosting
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 Tablespoons milk
Directions
- Prepare your donut topping in advance. For chocolate frosting, combine cocoa powder, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk in a bowl. Whisk until smooth. The frosting should be loose enough to drip from the whisk, but not watery. If it’s too thick, add a few drops of milk. If it’s too thin, add a few teaspoons of the sugar.
For vanilla frosting, combine 2 1/3 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 3 tablespoons milk, whisking until smooth.
For cinnamon-sugar coating, combine 1/2 cup powdered or granulated sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a zip-top bag. - Prepare your donuts. Use a donut hole cutter or small cookie cutter to punch out the centers and create a hole. Reserve these nuggets of dough to make donut holes.
Alternatively, poke a hole in the middle of each biscuit with a wooden spoon handle and wiggle it around until the hole is large enough to resemble a donut. - Heat 2 inches of cooking oil in a large frying pan to 350 degrees or until it gently bubbles against a wooden spoon handle or chopstick.
- Carefully place donut holes in hot oil using a spider or tongs. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the bottom sides are turning golden brown. Turn them over and cook 1-2 minutes more.
Remove the donuts holes from the pan and drain on a rack or paper towel-lined plate. Then dip in the glaze or toss in sugar mixture. - Next, cook the donuts in the same manner. Carefully place 2 to 3 donuts in the hot oil. Don’t crowd the pan. Fry them for 1-2 minutes until the bottoms turn golden brown, then carefully flip them over and cook for 1-2 minutes more, until they are golden brown all over.
Remove to a wire rack to cool slightly. Toss your donuts in your sugar mixture if using. Or dip your donuts into the frosting and allow the excess to run back into the bowl. Set on the wire rack to allow the frosting to set up.
If you add sprinkles, coconut, or chopped nuts, you will want to do so as soon as you frost each donut. If the frosting begins to dry, the sprinkles won’t stick.
Enjoy your donuts while they’re still warm or at room temperature. Refrigerate leftovers, if there are any!
Notes
- If you’re making filled donuts, you can accomplish this by using a piping bag or zip-top bag with the corner cut off. With a piping bag, simply push the tip into the side of a donut and squeeze some filling inside. If you’re using a zip-top or other bag with no piping tip, poke a hole in the side of the donut using the handle of a wooden spoon or chopstick. Insert the cut corner of the bag and squeeze some filling inside. TIP: It’s easier to fill the donuts before you frost them or coat them with sugar.
- Plain powdered sugar is also tasty on these donuts. Just add a few tablespoons to a zip-top bag along with donuts or donut holes and shake until coated.
- You can reheat leftover donuts in the microwave! Warm for 10-20 seconds on high. (1100 watt microwave = about 12 seconds)
Welcome to Weird Sisters Kitchen! I’m so glad you stopped in. Like many busy kitchens, mine is a little messy at times. I ask that you bear with me as I develop the WSK food story from the ground up. 
