Easy Biscuit Donuts Recipe
I’ve said it a million times, and I’ll say it again: donuts are my kryptonite.
I could eat donuts for every meal (I mean, I don’t… but I could ????) and be so happy.
Growing up, my dad would visit a local bakery most Saturdays and come home with a box of freshly made donuts. I looked forward to it each weekend. Of course, we didn’t like anything that wasn’t covered in chocolate and sprinkles.
These days I love warm donuts coated in cinnamon and sugar or a simple buttermilk glaze. I L-O-V-E custard filled and angel cream filled donuts, and I adore devil’s food cake donuts. But back then, it was only about the chocolate frosting and the sprinkles.
These donuts are made to taste just like a bakery’s donuts– fried, not baked. But there’s a simple shortcut to that famous bakery taste! You can skip over the mixing and kneading and rising and cutting by using refrigerated biscuit dough instead of homemade.
It tastes just as good, I promise.
Here’s the secret: glaze the donuts before you frost them.
Any good donut-making bakery worth its salt will glaze their donuts before frosting them. It makes all the difference in the world between feeling like you’re eating something fried and feeling like you’re eating something that melts in your mouth.
So let’s talk about the frosting. I already cheated using the refrigerated dough, so I decided to go the homemade route with the frosting. If you wanted, you could always just melt canned frosting and dip the donuts in that. But for today’s donuts I made my favorite chocolate glaze (the same I used on these NYC Black & White Cookies).
I think the chocolate glaze is perfect. But if you wanted something a little thicker, you could always dunk your donuts in this chocolate ganache. Unreal.
Enjoy!
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Game Day Recipes + Dad’s Famous Chili Recipe
My dad’s famous, award-winning, much loved secret chili recipe! Plus: awesome recipes you can make in less than 10 minutes for last minute Game Day treats.
I know, I know. The world has turned upside down. Where are the cookies? The fudge? The cupcakes? Where’s the chocolate and the butter and sugar??
Don’t worry. I’ve definitely got some sweet stuff for you today that will be PERFECT for those last minute treats you need to whip up in time for your Game Day parties.
But first: CHILI. Hearty, meaty, manly, quick and easy, FOOTBALL chili.
Not just any chili. And definitely not your typical recipe. This is my dad’s famous, award-winning, secret recipe chili. This is the chili I grew up eating and loving, and I can’t eat chili any other way. My dad has won a bazillion chili cook-offs with this simple recipe, and now I’m sharing it with you.
Don’t worry. He won’t mind. It’s only “top secret” because he can’t ever remember how he makes it! ???? One time when I was in college, I made him call me while he was mixing up a batch and wrote down every ingredient with approximate measurements (since he just tosses everything in according to taste, no measuring!) as he added them. And that’s the way I’ve made my chili ever since.
I mentioned that this recipe is a little unconventional. That’s because, as my husband puts it, it’s basically glorified tomato sauce.
Hang on, just stick with me. It’s GOOD. I promise.
Here’s how it goes:
You need meat. Like, a lot of meat. There are NO BEANS in this recipe. Just lots and lots and lots of meat. When I asked me dad why he didn’t use beans in his chili, he said beans would just take up space that he would rather use for meat. Sound reasoning in my opinion ????. Ground beef grosses me out, so I always use ground turkey. But that’s totally your call.
Brown sugar. This is key. The sweetness gives this chili it’s signature taste that will have your guests coming back for bowl after bowl.
Next up: TOMATO SAUCE. This is really the golden ingredient where flavor is concerned. I love using Ragu. Their tradition of using high-quality ingredients is something I can depend on for achieving the best flavor. You’ll need TWO 45-ounce jars of Ragu® tomato sauce. Sam’s Club sells this size in a 3-pack, and it’s a pretty great value. Plus, Ragu® is an awesome staple ingredient to buy in bulk anyway. Save a jar for spaghetti night orrrrrrr– you could make a huge batch of chili for the big game tonight.
But I digress.
Back to the chili. How about I just show you how to make it? My brother and I teamed up again to bring you another stellar video! This one is my favorite so far. Check it out and let me know what you think:
Now, my dad likes to let his chili slow cook on low for several hours to really let the flavors marry together. But I’m not much of a planner, and I’ve made it a million times in less than an hour. It’s still amazing. So don’t worry, you can totally pull this off for tonight with minimal prep time. If you don’t have an hour, just skip the simmering and make sure it’s heated through.
And the only right way to serve chili? With heaping amounts of shredded cheddar, sour cream, and corn chips.
There you have it! This chili is an award-winning tradition in our family, and now you can make it yours.
Enjoy!
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I’ve obviously been in the mood for snacking lately. I don’t know if it’s me trying to prepare lots of Super Bowl recipes, or if it’s just the fact that I’ve been dieting for 19 days a billion years.
(How are your New Year’s eating resolutions going? Still going strong?)
Either way, munchies have been on the brain, because the past two weeks of recipes have included 2 snack mixes and 2 dips, plus today’s popcorn and yet another dip recipe tomorrow. ????
Today’s popcorn is one of my favorites from the book, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Popcorn (on page 75)! This is one of my most used go-to recipes for a quick and easy popcorn treat. It can be packaged for giving away or for entertaining guests.
This Ultimate Peanut Butter Popcorn recipe is a slight variation on the chocolate chip version in my book. Beyond creamy peanut butter and white chocolate, this version is also stuffed with lots of Oreos. (Is there a more heavenly combination than Oreos and PB?), Reese’s Pieces, and a chocolate-y drizzle.
As I always do when making any sort of chocolate-coated confection that will be eaten with hands, I used Ghirardelli Candy Melts (NOT white chocolate chips). I’ve sang the praises of this much loved ingredient over and over again. But in case you’ve missed my soap box spiel on candy melts, here’s the gist:
Yes, I know we all love REAL chocolate chips the best. But candy melts will work SO MUCH BETTER in candy making and coating, because they are made specifically to melt well. They melt smoothly and quickly without seizing, they coat better than normal chocolate, they cool and harden quickly, and the hardened coating won’t melt all over your hands when handling.
Just use the melts please (available at Target, Walmart, Michaels, and other stores).
Rant over. ????
And you might also remember me saying this before, but it bears repeating: I LOVE this Boom Chicka Pop (found at Target) for my popcorn munch mixes!
It’s sweet and crunchy, with a sugary shell that protects the kernels from any sort of moisture from the chocolate. And it’s just overall perfection.
Of course, you can always use microwave popcorn or air popped (which has always been my preferred method in the past, I melted through TWO poppers when I was writing the book!). Your choice. But if you can get your hands on some bagged kettle corn, you’ll save a little time plus add some sweet crunch to every delectable bite.
So… wanna see how easy it is to make this??? (Say yes! Say yes!)
I made another video for you!!! I’m brand new to the video-making thing, so I don’t have many under my belt yet. But I’d say this one is already a big improvement from the first, and I’ve been SO excited to share it with you.
I hope you like it!
What did you think? My brother and I have been working so hard on making more videos for you. I can’t wait for you guys to see them.
For now, I hope you fall in love with the Peanut Butter Popcorn as much as I have. It’s perfect for a quick, last minute treat and completely addictive. For a fun variation, try adding M&Ms, PB cups, Nutter Butter cookies, or miniature marshmallows! Just to name a few ????.
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These easy, three-ingredient bakery-style Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter cookies will knock your socks off! Crispy edges, soft centers, and heavy on the peanut butter please.
Truth: I was thisclose to not posting this recipe. But my my deep and abiding love for these peanut buttery cookies trumped my hesitation, and here we are ????.
Let’s go ahead and take care of the elephant in the room: these cookies are not pretty. They’re not sexy. You’ll find no shiny, melting pools of chocolate here. They aren’t thick and fluffy. You intentionally overbake, and they are irregularly shaped. And guess what else?
These cookies are not even made from scratch.
I know. ????
Still with me?
Good. Because these cookies are going to knock your socks off. I promise.
How This All Started
My mom and I visit a nearby deli for lunch pretty often. And by “pretty often,” I mean 4 or 5 days a week. It’s a problem, really. We’re addicted to the sweet potato fries (omg). But I could really close my eyes and point to just about anything on the menu and know I’ll like it. It’s that kind of place. I could eat their chicken salad all day long and be so happy.
In addition to their sandwiches of all sorts, this deli has a fully stocked case of baked goods at the check out. And on top of the case, they haphazardly strew these saran-wrapped GINORMOUS peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.
These cookies are thin and crispy around the edges. And they have this thick, luscious swirl of peanut butter that winds all the way through the cookie. They top theirs with Reese’s Pieces (which I actually prefer), but I used M&MS in this post so I could use Valentine’s colored candy (priorities people!).
And Then…
When I was pregnant (and for a while after), I picked up one of these cookies every visit. I’d wait until I got in my car to break off a piece, thinking I could just eat a little bit and save the rest for later.
After one bite, I just can’t control myself. They are SO GOOD!
I spent weeks trying to work out the logistics of how I could replicate the cookie at home. How do you get that thick peanut butter swirl and layer on top? I toyed with a few ideas, none of which were very promising, before finally asking the cashier at the deli about who made their cookies (they have an outside vendor for most of the baked goods).
Now, I was prepared to hunt down this baker and beg for her peanut butter swirling secrets. As it turned out, no begging required. According to the cashier, the cookies are made in house and that the recipe is as simple as this:
“We just smush three chocolate chip cookies together, spread peanut butter on top, and stick some Reese’s Pieces on top of that.”
She was right– it was that easy. It only took me one try to make an exact duplicate at home (so dangerous). I used frozen cookie dough, since I was pretty confident they weren’t making dough from scratch there at the deli. And then I spread on the peanut butter and candy, just like she said, and VOILA! My favorite cookie made right in my kitchen.
Easy peasy.
So there you have it– it’s not elegant, and it’s certainly no culinary feat whatsoever. But, frozen cookie dough and all, it’s one seriously good cookie.
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Swanky Top 15 Recipes in 2015
I want to write this post every year, but the end of the year and the beginning of the new one always comes and goes so fast that I never get around to putting it together. And even though I’m running a little late (would have loved to have actually posted this in 2015 ????), it’s going up anyway!
Never mind that it’s only taken me 5+ years of blogging to finally do a “best of” post. Woot woot!
2015 was really a fun year for the blog. I did a lot of experimenting with the camera and food styling, tried out a few new lenses, and worked really hard on improving the quality of the content on Something Swanky from recipes to writing to photography. I had opportunities to develop recipes with some of my favorite brands yet (I’m looking at you M&Ms!) and learned even more about the business side of blogging than I ever have before.
Even better than all that stuff, this year I accomplished BALANCE between my blog life and the rest of my life. I handed off more responsibilities to my social media manager and spent more time focusing on me, my family, and our newest little addition. I spent almost two entire months entirely devoted to me, the baby, and being present at home while barely cracking the laptop open at all. It was so needed this year and has brought me such peace.
But before we jump into 2016, let’s take one more stroll down memory lane. Here are YOUR favorite recipes from Something Swanky in 2015:
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