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!