Easy Homemade Donuts
I effing love donuts. I wish I could eat them every day, especially glazed donuts. They are my weakness. Someone has to watch my girlish figure which means that donuts are a treat saved for special occasions. One such occasion came up a few weeks ago when I was on a girls only retreat at the Miami Edition in Florida. I decided that I would eat and drink whatever I wanted because these getaways are few and far between and I knew the food would be insanely delicious. One morning, two of us headed down to the Market to get cappuccino to sip by the pool and while we were waiting for the barista to make our coffee we saw guava glazed donuts on the menu. Only in Miami would they have a tropical fruit donut. Pure genius!
| guava donut! |
Needless to say, I had a guava glazed donut that morning (and the next morning) and I haven’t stopped thinking about them. Even though I’ve never made donuts in my life I was determined to try to recreate them. I wasn’t sure where to start until I stumbled across a tip that canned biscuit dough is a great way to make easy homemade donuts. I was totally skeptical but talked myself into trying. And…yaaaassss, they are delicious!
The process and results totally surpassed my expectations and I want to share the step-by-step photos with you. It only took me 15 minutes to make these, and most of the time was spent waiting for the oil to reach the right temperature. I suggest that you fry them right before you are planning to eat them. After a few hours they get soft and doughy and they are much better warm and crispy on the outside and light on the inside.
P.S. You can save the peanut oil, let it cool completely and store in a lidded jar in the refrigerator.
What you’ll need:
- one can of large buttermilk biscuits (I used Pillsbury)
- two cups of peanut oil
- a candy thermometer
- a donut hole cutter (or improvise with something at home like a small shot glass)
- a carving fork (or something to flip the donuts and remove them from the oil)
- paper towel
- your favorite glaze (a few glaze recipes are below)
Instructions:
- in a medium saucepan, bring two cups of peanut oil to a temperature of 360 degrees
- prepare a plate with a few layers of paper towel to transfer the donut to after it is fried
- open the can of biscuits and pull them apart
- using the donut hole cutter, cut the center out of each biscuit
- carefully add one biscuit to the hot peanut oil and watch very closely because it only takes 10-15 seconds to brown; when it is brown, flip it over and fry the other side for the same amount of time
- transfer immediately to the plate with paper towel and allow to cool a little
- you can also cook the donut holes, they end up looking like Munchkins you’d get at Dunkin Donuts
Glazes:
Guava Glaze:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons cream
8-10 tablespoons of guava jam or guava paste
In a small bowl, combine confectioners’ sugar, cream and guava. Blend well and add additional cream to the desired consistency. Dunk (or drizzle) one side of the donuts in the glaze. You can wait a little for the glaze to set or serve immediately.
A popular choice this time of year would be pumpkin spice and maple glaze, recipes below! Follow the directions above for combining all the ingredients.
Pumpkin Spice Glaze:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons cream
1 tablespoon canned pumpkin
½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Maple Glaze:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons cream
8-10 tablespoons of maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract
