The Easiest Two-Ingredient Doughnut Recipe

Scenario: You’re at work, reading blogs with photos of homemade donuts at your desk all day. You didn’t prep ahead. There’s no dough leavening on the counter. So you leave work, determined to swing by someplace to pick up one on the way home and you’re (a) too late and they’re closed, (b) faced with the only disappointing, cold leftovers, or (c) met with a mile-long line at the only place still making them hot. It’s happened to me.

Here’s what to do instead: Pass the shop and run into the grocery store to buy a pop-tin of biscuit dough and some canola oil. (And, if you’re going to add a glaze, get—at minimum—some powdered sugar, too. Although I’ll give some more ideas for glazes below.)

To make:
Heat about 1 to 1-1/2 inches of canola oil in a high-sided skillet over medium heat until it reaches 350°F. (You will need a fryer thermometer.)

Pop open the biscuit container remove the rounds. Cut out doughnut holes.

Set out a paper-towel lined plate or pan, and chopsticks or a slotted spoon. (If you’re adding glaze, have that ready as well.)

Add dough (making sure they have room to cook independently) and fry until the bottoms turn golden brown. (This happens fast: 1-2 minutes). Turn the doughnuts and holes over (chopsticks work well) and fry until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes longer. It may be helpful to test a few doughnut holes first. If your oil is too hot, they’ll brown before they’re cooked through. If it’s too cold, the dough will absorb too much oil before finishing.

Transfer doughnuts to the towel-lined plate and allow to cool slightly, 1 to 2 minutes before dipping in glaze or sprinkling/tossing with cinnamon and sugar.

Serve warm. They’re best freshly made.

Sprucing up with glazes:

If you’d like to make a coating glaze, start with roughly 2 Tbsp of liquid for every 1-1/2 cup of confectioner’s sugar. Add more liquid if it’s too thick, more sugar if it’s too thin. Here are some ideas…

Classic Glaze (that sits on top)
2 to 2-1/2 cups of powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp of milk, and a dash of vanilla.Maple Pecan
Add maple extract in place of vanilla. Top with roasted pecans.

Meyer Lemon
Replace milk with 1 Tbsp lemon juice and 1 Tbsp melted butter. Add lemon zest.

Deconstructed Dulce de Leche
Sprinkle with brown sugar and stripe with bottle sweetened condensed milk. (Or make the real stuff.)

Blackberry Fields
Replace milk with berry puree. Top with edible flowers (candied violets or roses would be gorgeous).

Summer Blueberry
Replace milk with blueberry puree.

Chocolate Sprinkles
Replace milk with mix: Melt a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips with 2 Tbsp of butter. Top with sprinkles. (Also works with melted Nutella and chopped hazelnuts.)

Mint-Lime Mojito
Replace milk with 1 Tbsp lime juice and 1 Tbsp melted butter. Add finely chopped mint.

Cherry Amaretto
Replace milk with 2 Tbsp cherry syrup (from the jar of maraschino cherries). Top with slivered toasted almonds. Optional: replace vanilla with amaretto liqueur.

Apple Cinnamon
Replace milk with 2 Tbsp apple cider. Mix 1 cup of granulated sugar with 2 Tbsp of cinnamon and a tsp of nutmeg. Liberally dust over glaze (or toss donuts).