Nostalgic Canned Biscuit Donuts

These donuts are ridiculously easy, melt in your mouth, and are accidentally vegan. My family  them all the time when I was a kid. My dad would fry them, my mom would put them in a paper sack full of powdered sugar, and I’d shake them up. I hadn’t had them in years, but they were as good as I remember. 

VEGAN CANNED BISCUIT DONUTS 

Cheap canned biscuits (as many as you’d like to make. Check the labels to be sure they are vegan, if you care about that. Don’t get the flaky or Grands style biscuits. Just the cheap plain ones!)

1 qt light oil (vegetable, canola, whatever your preference)

Powdered sugar (about 1/2-1 cup)

Cinnamon sugar (1/2-1 cup)

Other optional toppings/coatings, such as sugar with lemon zest, simple powdered sugar glaze, melted chocolate or chocolate frosting, sprinkles, etc

Pour oil into a Dutch oven or large saucepot. Heat on medium-high until it reaches between 370 and 400 degrees on a candy thermometer. Adjust your heat setting to try to keep it within that range. 

While the oil is heating, use a small round cutter the size of a quarter to cut holes in the center of each biscuit. The small round pieces fry up into perfectly puffed up donut holes. When your oil is ready, place your biscuit on a wooden spoon and place it gently in the oil. Be sure not to crowd your pot with donuts; stick to three or four at the most at one time. Let them fry until you just see the edges turning brown, then flip them over with your spoon. They only take 1-2 minutes per donut. As you pull a batch out of the oil, lay them on a towel and then drop them straight into a paper bag full of your powdered sugar (or other topping). Roll the top closed and shake well to coat. Keep repeating those steps until you’ve fried up all of your donuts. They’re best eaten immediately while warm, but they can be saved in paper bags until the next day. Eat them within a day, or they get a bit tough.