How To Make Homemade Doughnuts
How about if I told you that you could make these Homemade Doughnuts real quick, serving them warm and golden to your family, with no knowledge whatsoever of yeast or dough, no special equipment other than what you likely have on hand, and have them done start to finish in under ten minutes, including prep time?
Here’s How To Make Donuts at Home… You’re Welcome 🙂
We Southerners (and humans in general), love our doughnuts.
The most important thing about this doughnut making recipe though is that you begin with CANNED BISCUITS. No, they do NOT taste anything like a biscuit when you are done. They taste every bit as melt in your mouth good as they look!
Recipe Ingredients:
- Vegetable oil
- Canned biscuits for the doughnuts
- Butter
- Cinnamon
- And sugar for the coating.
TIP: For the biscuits, any style at all will do, just don’t get the flaky layers because they will absorb the oil whereas normal biscuits won’t if we get our oil hot enough before frying them.
- In a bowl, stir together cinnamon and sugar and set that aside.
- Melt a stick of butter in another bowl and set aside as well. Now they will both be handy as soon as the doughnuts are done.
Making the doughnut hole
Now you can go buy a doughnut cutter or some other fancy finagled device (which I actually have tucked away in the dark recesses of my kitchen drawers) but I like to show y’all how to do things the simple way. I’m a big fan of not over complicating a simple matter. For that very reason, we are going to just use a plain old 20 oz bottle cap to cut the centers of our doughnuts out.
- Cut out the holes in every doughnut, reserving them to cook along with the doughnuts.
- Voila, our doughnuts are done.
Pour your oil in a skillet. You need a little less than a half inch.
Heat your oil on medium to medium high for several minutes. We want it to be hot so that our doughnuts are instantly seared when they enter it. This prevents them from absorbing too much of the oil and being soggy. However, we don’t want it too hot so that the outside gets done before the inside.
TIP: To test my oil, I put a doughnut hole in it. It should sizzle and bubble around the edges and then you know its hot enough. You may need to turn your heat down a bit after testing it with some doughnut holes to see if it is just right. Once the doughnut hole is golden, remove it and let it cool a minute before taking a bite to make sure it’s fully cooked, not gooey, in the center.
Time to cook the doughnuts!
TIP: If your skillet isn’t big enough you may have to do them in batches. By the time you have put them all in, some may already be ready to turn. It takes less than a minute for them to be ready to turn over.
This is how they look, nice and golden.
- Turn them all over and let them cook until the undersides are this way. All in all, this should take less than two minutes.
- Remove cooked doughnuts from oil and place on paper towel lined plate or a drying rack if you’re feeling fancy.
- Now do the same thing with the doughnut holes.
- Here are our cooked doughnuts, now let’s add a little bit of heaven to them!
- The doughnuts should have cooled just enough so that you can handle them but they will still be very warm.
- Pick each one up and dip both sides in melted butter…
- Then press them down into the cinnamon sugar on both sides.
- Repeat with all doughnuts and doughnut holes.
- Eat them warm. They will positively melt in your mouth, they are so good!
No one will believe you started out with canned biscuits so lets just keep that little tidbit to ourselves 😉
Doughnuts in minutes! What a fun breakfast or evening treat when family is visiting!
Ingredients
- 1 large can Grands style biscuits or your preference, just not flaky layers
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons cinnamon
- 1 stick butter melted
- Vegetable Oil For Frying
Instructions
- Pour oil into skillet to the depth of a little less than 1/2 an inch and heat on medium to medium high for about five minutes. In a bowl, melt butter. In a separate bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar.
- Using a plastic bottle cap, cut the center out of each biscuit. Drop dough into hot oil, watching carefully and turning when golden. Once doughnuts are golden on both sides, remove to paper towel lined plate. Repeat until all dough is cooked, including doughnut holes.
- Dip both sides of each doughnut into melted butter, then press both sides into cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve warm.
Nutrition
You may also like these recipes:
Quick and Easy Jelly Filled Doughnuts
Biscuit Pretzels – AMAZING Pretzels From Canned Biscuits!
What we think of as biscuits in the American South, you’d probably think of as a plain scone (there are some minor differences, but it’s the closest analogue). If refrigerated scone dough is a thing in the UK, it would likely work. Otherwise, you could prepare an scone or Southern biscuit dough, shape it, chill it really well, and proceed.
What size box of yellow cake mix did you use? The box sizes are down to ~15 oz now from the ~18 oz size of a few years ago.
Hey Bob! this recipe doesn’t use cake mix. Is there another recipe you’re thinking about? All of my recipes that use cake mix still use a standard box. Even though they have diminished in size they still test fine in recipes.
Officially the first “Southern Plate” recipe happening in my own kitchen! Cannot wait to share these at the Hanukkah party this evening!
I’m honored and so excited Jena! Praying we all have a wonderful Feast of Dedication this week!!
I don’t think we have those biscuits you use here in NZ I will have a look but have never seen them. What else could I use do you think. Many thanks for posting the recipe though. I’m sure I’ll come up with something, will let you know how I get on. I can’t wait to try and make them.
These are really great, thanks for posting this wonderful recipe. Just to give you a good natured hard time, diet Dr Pepper lids are red not white. LOL
I have to admit; at first I was a tad bit skeptical. But these turned out fantastic! Things have been a little rough in the household lately, so I think these treats helped brighten the mood a bit. As a 16 year old cook, I often doubt my skills, even though I cook almost everyday. A simple, easy recipe is just what I needed. Can’t believe something made from canned biscuits could turn out so great!
I am so glad you liked them Ainsley!! I hope that things get better soon, I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers!!
Just browsing through and these look delicious! I don’t have canned biscuits on hand but I do have a can of croissants, do you think they might work out just as good? If I do I’m wondering if I should leave them as a big triangle, fold some, or roll like usual?
Hey Nova! Check out this recipe using croissants, it’s a variation that I think you’ll love! https://southernplatecom.bigscoots-staging.com/sopapillas/