Projects

Quick and Easy Donut Recipe

January 16, 2021January 21, 2021by Jenn MandellLeave a Comment

Pillsbury Original Biscuits Make Delicious Quick and Easy Donuts

Pillsbury Biscuits make easy and delicious donuts. Simply fry the dough in vegetable oil and top with your favorite glaze.

Sometimes when you wake up on a lazy weekend morning you want something delicious and sinful to eat while reading and drinking a hot cup of coffee or tea. Now, I have posted some delicious breakfast recipes but they take time and sometimes you want to cheat a little which is definitely ok. This is the perfect moment to pop open a can of Pillsbury biscuits and make delicious donuts. Simply cut a hole in the middle using the top of a shot glass or a mini round cookie cutter. Anything small and round will do. It’s so fun and easy.

After cutting a round hole in the middle of each biscuit, fry them in 2 inches of vegetable oil until golden brown on each side. This will take about 2 minutes per side. Drain on a paper towel after frying. Mix confectioners sugar with a little milk and a touch of light corn syrup to make a sugar glaze or mix cinnamon and granulated sugar together to dip the donuts. I like to dip the donut holes in cinnamon and sugar and glaze the whole donuts.

This is a very fun morning activity to do alone or with your family. Be creative! Add a little food coloring into the glaze or dip the glazed donut into sprinkles for an added touch. You can also melt some chocolate or spoon some raspberry jam into a bowl to serve as a dipping sauce. There is nothing like a warm donut in the morning. Your friends and family will be very impressed when you serve a gorgeous platter of homemade donuts and no one has to know how easy they were to prepare. Enjoy!

Rate this Recipe

5 from 1 vote

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Easy Donut Recipe

quick and easy donut recipe

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Frosting10

Total Time25

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: pastry, donuts

Servings: donuts

Ingredients

Donuts

1 can Pillsbury Grands Biscuits
vegetable oil for frying

Glaze

2 cups confectioners sugar
3 tbsp milk may need more if glaze is too dry
½ tsp light corn syrup

Cinnamon Sugar Topping

½ cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon

Instructions

Donuts

Open can and remove biscuits
use the top of a small glass or small round cookie cutter to cut out center of each biscuit
put 2 inches of oil in a sauce pan and heat on medium heat
Test temperature with a donut hole to make sure oil is hot
fry donuts in batches. Do not over crowd. I fry 2 at a time.
drain on paper towel and let cool

Option 1: Glaze

Mix confectioners sugar, milk and corn syrup together. Add food color if desired.
Dip top of donut in glaze and set aside to harden

Option 2: Cinnamon Sugar coating

Mix cinnamon and sugar together
dip donut or donut hole in while still warm

Notes

Have fun with this. Dip donuts in sprinkles or crushed cereal after dipping in glaze. Try crumbling crisp bacon on top after dipping in glaze. You should do this before glaze hardens.

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Projects, Dessert, Holiday and Special Occasion

Easy and Delicious Christmas Cookies

December 20, 2020January 19, 2021by Jenn MandellLeave a Comment

Sugar cookies decorated with icing and candy

Baking is a great indoor activity. It’s fun to do alone or with friends and family. Christmas cookies should not only look good but they should also taste great. This is a simple recipe that comes together in a matter of minutes. I have been using this recipe since my children were small and each year we set aside an afternoon to bake and decorate cookies. I used to love when they actually believed that they were making cookies for Santa which is why we started calling them Santa Cookies.

This Sugar Cookie recipe is easy and absolutely delicious. It is much easier to roll the dough when it is slightly chilled so you should divide the dough into four pieces, roll them each into a ball and chill. Take them out of the refrigerator when you are ready to roll and cut out the shapes. After cutting the shapes re-roll the scraps and put back in refrigerator for a few minutes so you can use all the dough. This recipe should make about 3 dozen cookies depending on the size of the cookie cutters. We like making a variety of sizes, some bite sized and some that are 2 or 3 inches. It’s really up to you.

Carefully use a spatula to lift the cookie off the surface and place it on a parchment lined baking sheet. Do not overtake the cookies, they should only take 8 to 10 minutes. Remove them from oven when the edges start to turn a very light brown. Let cool completely before frosting. I recommend making your own frosting and placing it into squeeze bottles. Squeeze bottles makes frosting the cookies much easier and the frosting will not dry out as quickly. The frosting needs to have a little corn syrup in it in order to dry with a nice sheen on top. This makes the cookies absolutely beautiful. Use food coloring to color the frosting and place each in a separate bottle.

The cookies can be stored for 5 days in an airtight container. They are so festive and fun to make and look beautiful served after dinner on Christmas Eve or Christmas. The cookies also make a great homemade gift. Buy cookie boxes or tins and wrap a beautiful red ribbon around it to give as a holiday gift to friends and family. Homemade gifts are so thoughtful to give, especially edible ones. They are gifts that took your time to make, which is the greatest gift of all. Please share your cookie pictures with me on instagram by tagging @itsjennsview . I would love to see how they come out!!!

Rate this Recipe

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe

The Best Christmas Cookies

Sugar cookies frosted with icing

Prep Time10

Cook Time8

Chilling Time30

Total Time48

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Cookies, Holiday

Servings: cookies

Calories: 123kcal

Equipment

Cookie cutters

Ingredients

Sugar cookies recipe

1 cup butter softened
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder

Cookie icing recipe

2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp light corn syrup
2½-3 tbsp lukewarm water
food coloring – optional

Instructions

Sugar Cookies

Preheat oven 350
Mix butter and sugar together until light and blended
Mix in beaten egg and vanilla
Blend baking powder and flour and add 1 cup at a time
Make dough into a ball and cut into 4
Make into 4 small balls, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 min
Roll ball into a ¼ inch slab on a piece of parchment so it won't stick.
Cut out desired shapes, reroll scraps and place back in refrigerator while you are working on the next ball of dough. Keep rotating until all dough is used.
Bake in oven for 8 -10 minutes
Let cool before icing

Cookie Icing

Mix ingredients together and add food coloring if desired
Pour into frosting bag fitted with a small tip or a squeeze bottle

Nutrition

Great Finds, Gifts and Accessories, Projects, fashion and home

Exquisite Holiday Table

December 12, 2020December 15, 2020by Jenn MandellLeave a Comment

There is something so special about a sparkly holiday table. It just makes you feel festive. Strolling down Fifth Avenue today I decided to pop into Bergdorf Goodman and visit the holiday decor floor. Every year I like to buy one or two ornaments there to add to the tree. This year my friend Jen and I were taken aback by the beautiful glittering table settings they had on display. Imagine being invited to such a gorgeous dinner. I had to share pictures to start putting everyone in the holiday spirit. The trick to a great table is to have objects at different heights in the middle of the table. Decorative objects and candlelight work well. Pick a color scheme and then work within that. Use jewel tones around the holidays to represent the time of year. You do not have to spend a fortune to create a festive look. Try using a luxurious velvet tablecloth in green or blue like this one from Amazon ($18.39) as the base for your holiday decor. Then you can add a charger or beaded placemat and top your dinner plates with a napkin tucked into a napkin ring. A bowl full of ornaments surrounded by candles can work well as a centerpiece. Use my pictures for inspiration and let me know how your table decor turns out. Have fun with it.

I think it’s very important this year to do something to make yourself happy. Bake some Christmas cookies, decorate a gingerbread house, watch a silly holiday movie, buy a poinsettia plant or some pretty Amaryllis flowers to brighten up your home. Whatever it may be, do something to lift your spirits and make this a special time of year. I ordered a fresh garland and a bunch of Amaryllis flowers from Flowerbx. I have used this floral delivery company in the past and have been pleased with the quality and variety of flowers they have. The flowers, garland and wreaths come well packaged in white cardboard boxes so the flowers are ready to be placed in a vase. You can also purchase a vase from them which will be packaged separately. Flowerbx is an online delivery company that delivers the flowers straight from the growers to you. As a result their prices are a bit lower than a traditional florist.The Holiday flowers took a week to be delivered to me but they do offer a wide variety of flowers that can be delivered the next day. Since we are all spending a lot of time at home I recommend creating a cozy winter look in one or two of your rooms. This can be done by switching your regular throw pillows with some that are more wintery, maybe velvet or faux fur? A warm cozy throw will complete the look all winer long. In the Spring you can switch back to your other pillows and the room will look fresh for the next season. I have two sets of pillows for my house, one for the colder months and one set for the Spring/Summer. I always keep my furniture neutral so I can change the look of a room without spending a fortune. I would love to hear what you like to do around the holidays so please email me.

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