Biscuit donuts, also known as Dutch Donuts, are easy to make fried donuts that are commonly enjoyed with cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar. Because these donuts are made using canned biscuits, prep is simple and they can be made and enjoyed fresh in mere minutes.
The best part of canned biscuit donuts is that they are easy to not only turn into donut rings but donut holes.
We were originally inspired to make these Dutch Donuts from one of our very favorite TikTok influencers to watch, @OldTimeHawkey . While Fritz and Donnybrook live in the woods and make these Pillsbury biscuit donuts over an open fire and cast iron pan, we don’t live isolated in the woods, so we instead set out to recreate this comfort food as a copycat from our own kitchen.
Why you will love making donuts from biscuit dough!
If I could choose any dessert in the world it would be a donut.
The ability to create donuts just from canned biscuits makes the process incredibly easy. No measuring out perfect flour or even oven baking. These old-fashioned canned biscuits are truly the best traditional donut flavor without any of the work.
Pairs well with other more savory breakfast choices like Sausage Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole.
Ingredients
- refrigerated Pillsbury jumbo biscuits – If possible, shy away from flakey biscuits or layered biscuits as they can separate during frying. If those are your own choice, there is a fix below on how to successfully use flakey donuts.
- white sugar + ground cinnamon – You wont need this if you choose to glaze donuts, leave them plain or cover with powdered sugar. This is the cinnamon sugar topping and is a perfect way to finish off donuts.
- vegetable oil – while you can use nearly any oil to deep fry up food, vegetable oil is always reliable on frying and has no flavor that alters the final taste.
Expert Tips & Variations
How to create holes: Remove the donut holes from the biscuit by using one of the following: Apple Corer, Milk Jug, Bottle Cap, or Spice Jar lid
Take note of the type of biscuit: If using jumbo flaky biscuits, you will need to pinch the outer edges together or the donut will fall apart when you fry it. Also, roll the removed donut hole into a large ball in the palm of your hand, or again, all the layers fall apart when frying. The dough needs to be solid and not lifted. To
Easy Toppings: While we prefer cinnamon sugar mixture for biscuit donuts, powdered donuts work great! Plus donuts can easily be dipped into chocolate, Nutella, marshmallow, or melted peanut butter for another treat.
How to make Dutch Donuts
- Remove biscuits from the can. It is best to make sure the kitchen is not warm or biscuits will begin to automatically poof out.
- Locate a small lid in order to cut out a donut hole. Soda or water bottle caps work great as well as spice jar lids. Spray lid with a bit of non-stick cooking spray and press down in the center of the biscuit until on the other side. Carefully remove extra dough and set it aside. This dough can be used to make donut holes or discarded.
- Heat vegetable oil in a deep saucepan on medium-high heat. Oil is ready to use once a drop of water sizzles on top. Using tongs, carefully lower biscuit dough into hot oil and let fry for 2 minutes.
- After about 2 minutes, flip the donut over (tongs work best) to fry the other side. The biscuit should be golden brown.
- Set the finished donut on a paper towel-covered plate to cool and drain excess oil. Complete all donuts.
Sugaring Warm Donuts
- Add ground cinnamon and sugar to a paper bag.
- Place still warm donuts into the bag.
- Shake bag to fully cover donuts on all sides.
- Remove donuts and enjoy!
FAQ’s
Vegetable oil works best for canned biscuit donuts. While other oils will work for frying, most other types of oils (particularly peanut oil and EVOO) will alter the flavor of a dessert donut as well as darken the dough. It is not uncommon to see Peanut oil used in donut shops.
Yes, and it’s so easy to make an amazing lemon glaze for donuts as well. Just combine (whisk works great) 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and 1/4 cup of lemon juice until smooth and creamy. Dip warm donut tops right into the glaze and set them aside to set. Done! If you prefer a plain glaze, combine 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and 1/4th cup of milk until smooth. It’s always best to slowly add milk until consistency is reached that you want.
Donuts, like all bread, have a quick shelf life. Even if you purchase donuts from a store or a shop, they go stale quite quickly. It’s best to seal donuts away from the air and get them as tightly sealed as possible. They usually last about 2 days. If donut becomes stale, we typically just microwave them 10-15 seconds to soften back up and enjoy.
Any store brand biscuits at all work fine, but you need to note the tip about flaky biscuits above under our Expert tips. Additionally, if you get super large biscuits or super small biscuits, time may need to be adjusted up or down by a minute or two.
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