Homemade Donuts Are Simple With Pancake Mix

The best time to eat a donut is when it comes fresh out of the fryer and has been tossed in powdered sugar. Alas, making your own donuts in order to experience this heavenly moment is a time-consuming activity that requires patience and skill. Fortunately, we've got a hack that makes this process easier: starting with store-bought pancake mix.

Pancake mix contains all the same dry ingredients you'd find in a donut recipe, like flour, sugar, and a leavening agent, such as baking soda. While classic donuts are made with yeast, there are many modern recipes that use baking powder as a leavener. Using the mix results in a slightly denser textured donut because the dough doesn't have those same structured pockets of air inside that come from the yeast. Having said that, baking soda also works when you're in a rush and haven't got time for a yeasted dough to prove. 

To get started, add your liquid ingredients, including eggs, milk, and melted butter, to the pancake mix, pour the batter into a donut pan, and bake until golden (or for about nine to eleven minutes).  Alternatively, to make donuts that taste closer to the genuine article, hold back some of the liquid ingredients (or nix the egg and use only milk) to make a shaggy dough that can be rolled out on the counter. Cut donut shapes out of the dough and deep fry them to achieve that classic golden exterior and fried flavor.

Deep frying your donuts is the best way to cook them because it results in puffy, golden rings that have a slightly crisp surface and tender center. It's this contrast of the caramelized exterior against the fluffy, vanilla-scented middle that turns a basic dough mixture into an ambrosial delight. However, the dangers of deep frying can often deter people from making donuts at home. An excellent way to prevent oil splatters while frying donuts is to place each one on a square of parchment paper. Simply slide each square of donut-topped paper into oil heated to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and let it sizzle away for about two to three minutes on one side, then one minute on the other. Once you're ready to flip, turn it over with a pair of tongs, and fish out the paper. 

When the donuts are cooked and removed, let them cool, and then you can go nuts and coat them in cinnamon sugar, glaze them in chocolate, or scatter over some rainbow sprinkles. And, of course, it goes without saying that you must deep-fry the leftover dough to produce cute little donut holes.

Common mistakes to avoid when making donuts are failing to measure the flour properly or using expired yeast. Using pancake mix eliminates many of these pitfalls because the ingredients have been pre-measured and are ready to go. Don't have any pancake mix? Consider making light and fluffy donuts in the air fryer with canned biscuits. Just cut a hole in the middle of each round piece, air fry them until golden (turning them over halfway through), and decorate with your favorite glaze.