Pillsbury Doughnuts
When I was in 6th grade, my Mother introduced me to Pillsbury doughnuts. She was in charge of a fundraiser for Missionettes, which was the Assemblies of God’s equivalent of Girl Scouts. I believe we were raising money for camp. She had long spoken to me of the glory of doughnuts made from potatoes, though she had never made them, to my knowledge. Instead, she had tasted them at a church in Oklahoma, many years before; and I suppose church and doughnuts somehow became intertwined.
The literally hundreds of doughnuts we made that night, at Brother Soto’s first church, in Los Angeles, were sold for ten cents apiece, and I do remember not a single doughnut was left. These are a very easy treat to make, requiring only three ingredients, and offering you minutes of pleasure – with chilly nights approaching, make a pot of hot chocolate, unless of course you are in some fine place where a glass of ice cold milk well instead hit the spot. I promise, they will not last, which is fine, as they are best enjoyed hot.
Ingredients:
Cans of Pillsbury Biscuits (plan on at least two doughnuts per person, though you should not be surprised if they eat twice that many)
Enough Oil to fill a small skillet about half full
Sugar – I normally just use granulated sugar, though you could use powered sugar and you could also add cinnamon to the sugar
Directions:
Pop open the can of biscuits, and place each biscuit on a clean kitchen counter, near the stove. You can use a small lid, like that of the oil, to make a hole in the center, and then use the doughnut holes to test the heat of the oil. I find it best to fry fewer doughnuts, at a time, serving them as I go. Let the uncooked biscuits rest on the counter top, until they are no longer cold to the touch, about ten minutes. Heat the oil until it sizzles, drop one to two biscuits in the oil, letting it brown, then turn over, cook, and either drop in a paper bag, with about a cup of sugar, give a good shake, and then transfer to a plate, or remove doughnut from oil, shake off oil, and place in small bowl with sugar, turning it to make sure it is well covered. Serve them warm!
This is a great group activity, as well as at least two A’s – one in 7th grade, when I had to demonstrate an activity in front of my class, and one in college, during a speech class, which required me teaching my fellow students something – who does not love hot, fried dough?
