Yeah, You Can Totally Make Doughnuts Out of Bisquick
Readers asked, and it turns out Bisquick absolutely fits the bill as an easy doughnut mix.
At the time, I didn’t realize what door I had kicked down when I made surprisingly sensational apple fritters from boxed pancake mix. I can see now, that door was doughnut-shaped. Thanks to you, readers, with your thoughtful inquiries and shared excitement for fried dough, I chased one of your leads to another tasty morsel.
While I was scooping boxed complete pancake mix, a few folks out there pulled Bisquick out of their cabinets and wondered, “Will you work, my dear, sweet Bisquick? Or will you turn me into a meme about not following recipe instructions?” Your instincts were correct. Not only can you use the Fargo-famous mix for my apple fritter recipe linked above, but you can make other doughnuts too. Once again, they’re frickin’ fantastic.
I bought myself a box of classic “Bisquick pancake and baking mix” (even the company is pushing us to explore using this dry mix in creative ways). Although I haven’t tried every boxed pancake mix out there, I have a pretty good feeling they’ll all work decently well for this application. The small percentage of flavoring, milk powder, or egg powder count for bonus points, but the most important ingredients are the flour, leavening, and salt, which all boxed pancake mixes are sure to have.
Two of the most common types of doughnuts you’ll see in a shop are yeast-raised, or cake doughnuts. The yeast variety is more delicate and light, like the signature Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut. When it comes to making your own Bisquick-based doughnuts, or any other powdered pancake mix, you’re making cake doughnuts. They’re leavened with baking soda, baking powder, or another type of chemical leavener. The texture is sturdier, a bit more close textured, and similar to cake (no surprise there)—think, blueberry cake doughnuts, apple cider doughnuts, sour cream doughnuts, or chocolate glazed.
How to make easy glazed cake doughnuts
Just like with the apple fritter recipe, this one is startlingly simple and tastes like you just picked up some fresh chocolate glazed from the doughnut shop. The only thing your mix needs to come together is water, but don’t add it until the oil starts heating up. The chemical leaveners get right to work as soon as moisture is added, but they have limited power. If you let the dough sit too long, they won’t puff as well in the oil later.
1. Heat the oil
You need about two inches of oil in a small pot. Start heating your frying oil to 375°F.
2. Mix the dry ingredients
Any of the aforementioned flavors are fair game, but since I had to start somewhere, I started with chocolate glazed. Add the Bisquick to a medium-sized bowl. To make it chocolate, add a few tablespoons of cocoa powder. I used Hershey’s Special Dark, which is Dutch-processed, but regular cocoa will work just fine. Whisk it together to fully combine the powders and break up any clumps.
3. Add water
When the oil is close to temperature, mix in the water. You’re looking for a very thick dough that comes together into a ball, like in the picture. I started adding most of the water and stopped with just a little left in my measuring cup. No dry powdery spots should remain. If you see some, add the last bit of water.
4. Cut out the doughnuts
Lightly flour a work surface. Plop the blob of dough on the flour and flip it over so both sides get coated in flour. The dough will be soft. Either use your fingers or a rolling pin to flatten the dough. It should be around a half-inch thick, or just shy of that. Use a large and small round cookie cutter to make doughnuts and doughnut holes.
5. Fry ‘em up
Carefully lower one doughnut at a time into the hot oil and fry for one minute per side (The doughnut holes only take about 45 seconds, but make sure you agitate them constantly so they flip around and cook evenly). The chocolate dough doesn’t reveal color change as easily as plain dough, so I use a timer to keep track. Dab the fried dough on some paper towel (or one of these options if you ran out) and let them cool on a wire rack positioned over a baking sheet.
6. Glaze the doughnuts
While the doughnuts cool, whip up an easy powdered sugar icing. Add the powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, and water to a deep bowl. Stir with a spoon, making sure to smash any lumps, until it’s smooth. The glaze will be runny. Add one doughnut at a time to the icing pool. Use a spoon to scoop the icing over the top until it’s covered. Lift it out of the icing with a fork and let some of the excess glaze drip off. Place it back on the wire rack to drip-dry. Repeat this with all of the doughnuts and holes.
This recipe makes enough for four large doughnuts and about a dozen little doughnut holes. Like most doughnuts, they’re best on the first day, but you can put leftovers in a covered container and keep them at room temperature for about two days before they begin to stale.
Chocolate Glazed Bisquick Doughnuts
Ingredients:
2 cups Bisquick
3 tablespoons Special Dark cocoa powder
¾ cup minus 2 teaspoons cold water
Oil for frying
For the icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup water
1. Pour two inches of oil into a pot and begin heating it to 375°F. Set up a wire rack over a sheet tray with a piece of paper towel nearby.
2. Mix the Bisquick and cocoa powder until well combined. Once the oil nears 375°F, lightly flour a work surface. Pour the water into the dry ingredients. The dough will be thick, but mix it until no more dry powder remains.
3. Put the dough onto the floured surface and flip it over to get flour on both sides. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until it’s a half-inch thick. Use a large and small round cookie or biscuit cutter to cut out large doughnuts and doughnut holes. Fry each of the large doughnuts for one minute per side. Dab them on the paper towel and then place them on the wire rack to cool. Fry five or six of the doughnut holes together at a time for about 45 seconds. Be sure to dunk them repeatedly so they cook evenly. Repeat this with all the doughnuts.
4. While the doughnuts cool, make the icing. Mix all of the icing ingredients together until you get a smooth glaze. Working one at a time, add a doughnut to the bowl and use a spoon to scoop the icing over the top until it’s completely covered. Lift it out of the bowl with a fork and move it to dry on the cooling rack. Allow all of the doughnuts to dry for at least 10 minutes before devouring.