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When I first heard that one could make donuts out of Pillsbury’s refrigerated biscuit dough, I had to give it a go. It didn’t seem to make much sense, after all, this is a biscuit that you eat with dinner, not dessert!
It took me a while to get around to making these. I think I was a little nervous as I’ve never fried anything before using a big pan of very hot oil. As it turned out, these were very simple to make and I would most certainly make donuts this way again.
I used Pillsbury brand refrigerated buttermilk biscuit dough; the one I chose came 8 biscuits to a tin. I took them all out, laid them on a cookie sheet and flattened them slightly with the palm of my hand. I used one of my large metal pastry decorating tips to cut a hole in the middle of each biscuit and then let the dough sit for 10 minutes (I read about resting the dough somewhere, but I can’t find where it was now!).
While I was fixing up the biscuit dough, I was heating the oil, about 2-inches high in a heavy pan, to 375F using a candy/deep fry thermometer. I put the biscuits in the oil, I did it one by one, for about one minute on each side.
I was so surprised at how fast they cooked and how big they plumped up. They turned a nice golden brown! I took them out and let them sit on paper towels to absorb excess oil. I then left them to cool while I made the chocolate glaze to dip them in (I cut the original glaze recipe in half).
Like I said, I’m totally surprised by these. While they still have a hint of taste of a regular Pillsbury buttermilk biscuit, the addition of the sweet chocolate glaze covers it up mostly and you’ve got one nice and easy donut. The texture is crunchy on the outside, and soft in the inside. And yes, they still have the appearance of a regular biscuit in the inside!
These were a real winner with my family, and like I said, they were super easy and I would definitely make these again. In fact, I find it hard not to pick up a tin of biscuit dough when I pass by that section in the store!
Adapted from myself
Ingredients
1 tin refrigerated buttermilk biscuit dough
Vegetable oil
Method
Pour enough oil to cover at least 2 inches in the bottom of a heavy pan. Using a deep fry thermometer, heat oil to 375F. Do not leave unattended.
While oil is heating, open biscuit tin and lay each biscuit on a cookie sheet. Flatten each one slightly with the palm of your hand. Use a small circle cutter to cut a hole in the middle of each biscuit; keep the holes, you can fry them as well. Let biscuit dough rest for 10 minutes.
Carefully place donuts, one or two at a time, into the oil. Cook for about 1 minute on each side, or until golden brown. Using a slotted spoon, carefully lift donuts out of the oil and place onto paper towels to drain and cool completely. Once cool, coat the donuts in chocolate glaze (recipe follows).
Chocolate Donut Glaze
Adapted from Recipezaar
Makes enough to coat 8 donuts
Ingredients
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons hot water
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Sprinkles, optional
Method
Combine the butter with the powdered sugar in a medium bowl and blend with an electric mixer.
Add the vanilla and hot water. Mix until smooth.
Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir, then microwave another 15-30 seconds and stir again until completely melted. Be careful not to burn the chocolate. Add to the plain glaze mixture. Blend until smooth.
When the donuts have cooled, dip each top surface into the glaze and then flip over and cool on a plate until the glaze firms up, about 15 minutes. If desired, add some sprinkles!
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Oh. My. God. This website is my new best friend. Thank you!
no kidding! I’ve often thought about it, but never attempted it. These really do look like the real thing. Very clever!
My mom used to make these but we’d roll them in sugar while they were still hot then eat them as soon as they were cool enough. Yum!!
mmmm looks delicious
Wow! I could just eat that off the screen. I wish they sold something like that in Australia.
Definitely will be making these!
my family makes these donuts, but instead of glazing them with chocolate glaze, we toss the hot donuts in a bag of cinnamon and sugar. it’s like a hot, fried, moist and puffy snickerdoodle. try it!!
Love your blog!! Your story brought back these nice memories for me!Like Nicole my mom made these when we were little; she bought the smaller biscuits and cut them in half before frying and rolled them in sugar when they were done.
They were fun to make but hard to keep them on one side after flipping them over!
My mom used to make donuts out of refrigerated dough. She would shake them up in a paper bag with cinnamon and sugar. So delicious!
i’ve always wanted to try this, but heating a lot of oil also scares me–what type of pan do you use? like a normal stock pot?
That’s so funny! I would have never thought buttermilk biscuits could double as donuts.
When I was a kid, my mom made these every Saturday morning as a treat. We always glazed the donuts and rolled the donut holes in sugar. They’re delicious!
Thanks for your comments everyone, I’ve really enjoyed reading your stories. I can’t believe so many of you have actually had these before while I only just found out about them!
Sarah, you asked what kind of pan I used to heat the oil. I just used a regular saucepan, nothing special at all!
I made these today, absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for this recipe! Totally worth the trip in the pouring rain to the store and having to make a mad dash to catch the bus.
you can just roll them in sugar as well… my kid’s favorite
I’ve been making these since I was 10 (over 40 years!). Nothing even comes CLOSE at the doughnut store!
u can use powder sugar & water or milk mixed together for glaze
Im about to make some myself and its a sureprise for my girlfriend we r about to get married and this is the first desert for her.
I also made these, with my mom, as a kid, we used an old medicine bottle, washed, then just dipped it in flour, knock bottle on counter, to get rid of extra flour, so it wouldn’t stick, what ever size u want, worked great. ENJOY!!
They look really good!
I also like dropping these in cinnamon/confectioners/ regular sugar. If you get the pastry syringe you can inject them with jelly as well, just stab the donut and wiggle it to hollow out a place for the jelly to go.
Thanks for the recipe… its great since my child has an egg, peanut allergy and the donuts at stores all have egg in them.
Thank you so much for this advice. I tried it with the cheepo store brand biscuits, (because I am poor, and don’t follow directions), but they turned out great! They are better than the Caseys donuts by far! I expected them to be dry and in lack of a better word icky, but they were absolutely delicious.
Any way to make without frying? I know of a lowfat donut company that uses Pillsbury dough for their lowfat donuts and am trying to find out a way to make them healthier myself.
The comment to allow the biscuit dough to rest for 10 minutes, may be misleading to some of your readers. Yeast dough needs to proof for the correct length of time, depending on where the dough is in the process. Pastry dough needs to rest for 20-30 minutes for the activated gluten to rest. The butter in pastry dough needs to chill before hitting a hot oven, releasing the water as steam, and creating a flaky product.