Monday, September 23, 2013

Biscuit Donuts - Homemade - Look Mom, No Cans!



When my brother and I were little, our mom often made canned biscuit donuts.  You know... the ones that you make by frying canned biscuits.  My mom says that when she was younger, they would sometimes get these for lunch.  Gotta love that!   My brother and I loved when we got to have these.  We each either had the job of pressing out the dough and cutting holes OR shaking them in the bag of powdered sugar.  We loved both jobs.  I never remember having a preference.

We always had these with powdered sugar but cinnamon sugar (regular granulated sugar mixed with a little cinnamon) would also be great.  You sometimes find these type of donuts on Chinese buffet restaurants although they aren't shaped like donuts. Not an incredibly healthy choice for breakfast, I know, but frugal and DELICIOUS!  And FUN!

I don't particularly like buying canned biscuits.  I'm always a fan of making it at home instead of using some over -processed item that you find at the store.  It occurred to me the other day that since I make Homemade Biscuits, I should be able to recreate these donuts with a homemade version.  I used the same "technique" my mom did (by pressing them out on a sheet of tin foil and cutting the holes).  No rolling! The only difference is that I mixed up my own batch of homemade biscuit dough instead of using a can of biscuits.

This recipe is basically half of my Homemade Biscuit recipe.  It made about 8 donuts and 8 holes.  Perfect for Saturday mornings!

Here's how I made Biscuit Donuts -  Homemade AT HOME MY WAY:


Biscuit Donuts - Homemade

1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons shortening/margarine
1/2 cup milk
powdered sugar (approximately 1 cup or a little more)
A little extra flour for handling the dough - initially
Foil
oil for frying (I fried mine in about 1 inch of oil in a pan)

Ingredients for the Dough:

Mix the flour, baking powder & salt in a small mixing bowl. Cut in the margarine/shortening/butter (whichever you use). I cut mine in with a fork until crumbly.  Dump in the milk and stir until well combined.  Sprinkle with a little flour just so you can pinch off smaller balls of dough (the doughnuts).

Mine looked like this:


I pulled off a sheet of foil and sprayed it with cooking spray (you could also butter the foil if you don't have cooking spray).

Pinch the dough into balls about the size of ping pong balls:


Pat them out on the sprayed/buttered foil (about the size of a fat cookie):


Cut holes using around item.  I used the top from a spice bottle:



Using a deep skillet or large saucepan, put 1 inch of oil in the bottom.  Bring to medium heat.  If you drop a single drip of water in and it sizzles, it's ready.  Fry until you see browning at the edges.  (You might move them around a little to make sure they don't sink and stick when you first put them in the pan.)  Then flip:



Remove from frying oil and drain for a few seconds:




Now, put about a cup of powdered sugar in a small plastic or paper bag.  Shake the donuts until covered to your liking.

  
They're ready!  Perfect. Not too sweet and no rolling needed, AND... no trips out or to the store! My kind of donuts!




Enjoy!

Gina


I shared this recipe at:
WEEKEND POTLUCK #86