Frugal Breakfast: Poor Mans Donuts (aka Bonuts)

I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t like doughnuts and Krispy Kreme are all the rage here in the south. I like to treat donuts as a treat, not a staple. So when G-man is has a hankering for a doughnut or two I wanted to find an easy and quick way to satisfy that craving. You can Google or Bing yourself all over the web looking at various recipes of homemade doughnuts, methods, and variations. I know I’m not the first one to use biscuits and cronuts seem to be the new craze right now.

The poor mans donuts, as a friend calls them, is fool proof. You can use refrigerator biscuits, frozen, or homemade. It’s really up to you and the amount of time you have or want to spend. I prefer using freezer biscuits, mostly because that’s what we keep on hand and 99% of the time, when these are requested, is on the spur of the moment and not a whole lot of time to make fresh biscuit dough. No doubt my Mom’s buttermilk biscuit dough would make some amazing doughnuts. But that’s a post for another time 🙂

Alright, let’s get down to the recipe, like I said it’s easy. You can’t muck it up, decide on how many you want to make (I did a baker’s dozen which is 13). So for this recipe:

13 frozen biscuits, thawed

oil, for frying

Heat oil in large pan, over medium high heat. Alton Brown would say get a good thermometer and make sure you get your oil up to 365 degrees. If you want to go that route more power to you 🙂 If you’re like me and don’t have a thermometer, medium high heat is a good place to start.

I don’t have a fancy doughnut hole maker, but it is on my wish list! All I had on hand is an old plastic shot glass we got for free up in Lynchburg, TN. Don’t go crucifying me for having one, it’s sole purpose now is for good 🙂 See the above picture? I use it to make the holes in the biscuits and it works perfectly! Therefore, the shot glass is redeemed…….*crickets chirping*…….alrighty then, moving on!

Because these aren’t like angel biscuits, which contain yeast, frying these will take a little longer. Instead of 1 minute per side I had to let these cook for about 3–4 minutes per side, in order to get that nice golden brown color. I always start out doing a test with a doughnut hole to make sure the temp of the oil is just right. Then I can adjust accordingly. 

I could easily fit about four doughnuts into the pan I was using. But it’s a good idea to not over crowd the pan, four doughnuts max, otherwise it will take too long to fry and the doughnuts will be heavy with oil. Gross. So a general rule for frying these babies: less is best.

Now comes the fun part, the dressing of the doughnut. You can keep it simple, toss them into a bad with powdered sugar, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar as soon as they come out of the oil, drizzle with a glaze, or completely dip them in chocolate. The possibilities are endless, but here are few recipes I’ve used in the past and the one I used yesterday.

1 cup powdered sugar

Drizzle of french vanilla coffee creamer

Combine the powdered sugar with just enough coffee creamer to make a simple glaze. Use a fork to drizzle over the doughnuts or fritters. Enjoy.

Photo by Feej

Krispy Kreme Creamy Glaze (Copy Cat Recipe)

1/3 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4 -6 tablespoons hot water

Below is the chocolate ganache glaze recipe I used yesterday, I tripled it easily! You can find this recipe over at Handmade Charlotte blog along with her recipe for baked doughnuts.

Pictured above is the chocolate ganache glaze, courtesy of yours truly!

Choco­late Ganache Glaze
Adapted from Dor­rie Greenspan

This makes just enough glaze for 6 dough­nuts. You can eas­ily dou­ble it if you’d like a bit more.

• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 table­spoon sugar
• 1 table­spoon water
• 2 ounces semi­sweet or bit­ter­sweet chocolate
• Sprin­kles (optional)

Break the choco­late into small pieces and put them in a mix­ing bowl. Bring heavy cream, sugar, and water to a full boil. Pour the hot cream over the choco­late, and cover with plas­tic wrap for 3–5 min­utes. Uncover, and using a whisk, mix choco­late and cream together until smooth. Use glaze imme­di­ately on dough­nuts. (I found dunk­ing the dough­nuts in the glaze worked well.) Top with sprin­kles (if desired) while the glaze is still setting.

The end result: an outright success! Perhaps not as good as a yeast doughnut but in a pinch these are perfect!

    

I chose to dip these four times in the chocolate ganache glaze, got a nice thick layer of chocolate. It wasn’t an overly sweet glaze, which was a nice change. Yes I ate a doughnut hole to find out, went with semisweet chocolate. Not bad, but I prefer traditional glazed doughnuts.

In a pinch, these are a yummy treat, perfect for those busy school mornings and something even the kiddies can help with! Hope you enjoy, have a blessed Friday!

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