Easy Biscuit Doughnuts with Chai Sugar or Chai Glaze

How to make Biscuit Doughnuts (biscuit dough doughnuts)

Today’s recipe is an old trick that I’m pretty sure both my Mom and mother-in-law have wielded a time or two, and it’s amazing how reliably these doughnuts deliver every time. Smiles. Clapping. Jumps for joy – that sort of thing. Yes, these are the easiest, fastest homemade doughnuts (canned biscuit dough doughnuts) and they’re made extra special today, thanks to the beguiling flavor boost of a masala chai spiced sugar and glaze.

To make them, you literally just need three things:

1. Canned biscuit dough. (More on this below.)
2. Oil for frying.
3. Some sort of delicious thing to cover, coat, cloak them with after they’re good and fried.

Rather than dealing with the time-consuming process of building a scratch dough from yeast, flour, etc. We’ll bridge the gap between scratch doughnuts and purchased ones, by hovering somewhere in the middle. You get the absolutely wonderful charm of a hot, fresh doughnut (which really you can’t get anywhere these days), but you avoid the labor of starting at the very beginning of the doughnut life cycle.

We’re skipping some steps, taking some much loved help from the store, and jumping right into the frying part. It’s really a wonderful, semi-homemade sort of affair, these canned biscuit donuts are.

Canned Biscuit Donuts: What you’ll need:

Sky’s the limit when it comes to how you want to flavor your biscuit dough doughnuts, but I really will never get sick of the slightly spicy, fall-esque warmth of masala chai. (If you just call it “chai” your Indian friends will tease you mercilessly, as “chai” is simply the Indian word for tea.)

Cinnamon, cardamom, lots of cracked black pepper, ginger, and cloves are the stars of this donut show.

(Notice how I’m flip-flopping back and forth between doughnut/donut spellings? I literally have no clue which is correct.)

INGREDIENTS

8 store-bought biscuits, thawed (the toppings will stretch to make more, if you want)

Vegetable oil, for frying

For the Chai-Spiced Sugar

⅔ cup granulated sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp cloves

1 tsp cardamom

1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper (or more! I tend to use a lot)

1 tsp ground ginger

For the Chai-Spiced Glaze

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

2 TBSP milk or apple cider

2 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp cloves

1 tsp cardamom

1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper (or more! I tend to use a lot)

1 tsp ground ginger

Step-by-step:

Set a large, deep, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat and add oil to a depth of 1 inch. Heat to 350 degrees F (if you don’t have a thermometer, heat until shimmering and a tiny pinch of dough bubbles for you).

Using your thumb (or something similar) poke holes through the centers of each biscuit, creating the classic doughnut shape. When your oil is ready, fry the doughnuts in batches until golden brown on both sides; about 2 to 3 minutes per side (it goes pretty fast). Transfer the doughnuts to a paper towel-lined tray or to a baking rack-topped baking sheet to drain. 

For chai-spiced sugar coated doughnuts, roll the hot doughnuts around in the sugar right after they’re out of the oil to allow for maximum stickage/coating. 

For any chai glazed doughnuts, you’ll want to allow them to cool significantly before dipping them in the glaze, or else it will just run off.

TIP: dip once, allow the glaze to set a bit, and then dip again. Double dipping can be so good, sometimes. Enjoy right away!

What is the best oil for frying doughnuts?

Vegetable oil, in my experience, is best. The universal frying oil, vegetable oil will get to a nice, high cooking temperature without scorching or burning in any way – it won’t turn on you. It also carries no flavor whatsoever, therefore not compromising the flavor of your actual finished product (doughnuts!)

Frying in something like olive oil or like a flavored coconut oil or something like that would impart additional and unwanted flavor into the food. Not ideal. Vegetable oil is the workhorse of the fried food world, so I like to keep some around all the time for exactly that reason.

Never can tell when you might want to fry something, you know?

What is the best biscuit dough for homemade doughnuts?

I think most canned, store-bought biscuits will work fine for a recipe like this. I typically reach for the ones labeled “Southern style” though, and they really cook up beautifully. They morph from their biscuit selves right into the doughnuts that we want them to be.

That said, I suppose you could use the flaky, layered variety as well and maybe end up with a sort of cronut type situation? That’s worth a test to be sure. If you do that, let me know how it goes!

How long do homemade doughnuts keep?

If properly wrapped/stored, doughnuts will last for a day or two. It’s the re-heating that will help bring them back to life for you. More on that below.

How to store homemade doughnuts

Doughnuts really do need to be enjoyed right away, particularly homemade ones. I’d recommend only frying up the amount that you plan to eat/have others eat, to help minimize needing to reheat or store any. That said, if you do end up with extras, you should pop them in a sealed container and store them in a cool, dry place.

How do you reheat doughnuts?

Warm doughnuts > not warm doughnuts. They’re one of life’s greatest little pleasures, so knowing how to re-heat a cold doughnut can help scoot you right back into the pleasure zone, if for some reason (there can be a million reasons) your doughnut has passed it’s peak of either freshness or warmth. Yes, reheating doughnuts also helps minimize and seemingly reverse any staling that has occurred. 

There are two ways to reheat doughnuts (at least that I’ve tried successfully): in the microwave or in the oven.

How to Warm Up Doughnuts in the Microwave

The fastest and simplest way to revive your doughnut is to use the microwave.

What You Will Need

• Your doughnut
• A microwave-safe plate
• Damp paper towel 

1. Wrap your doughnut loosely in the damp paper towel. Put your doughnut on a microwave-safe plate.
2. Warm for 20 to 30 seconds on 50% power. Check it/them, heat al little longer, if needed.
3. That’s it. Just don’t burn yourself, please.

How to Reheat Doughnuts in the Oven

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F
2. Wrap each doughnut in aluminum foil (this helps knock the staling away).
3. Place in the oven for about 5 minutes.
4. Check to ensure they’re warmed all the way through.
5. Enjoy

This one is much like heating a baked potato, no?

How to safely dispose of frying oil

Let the oil or grease cool to room temp and transfer it to a disposal container. I use either takeout containers that I don’t need/won’t use or I’ll create a little bowl out of foil and just wrap up the grease that way (works great for bacon grease).

Once your container is full, simply throw it away. You just want to avoid pouring anything down a sink, as can be become a nasty, hard-to-clean nightmare for you.

If you like the looks of these Biscuit Doughnuts, you might also enjoy:

Cranberry & White Chocolate Ricotta Fritters

Vanilla Chai Swirl Pull-Apart Bread

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