Homemade Citrus & Powdered Sugar Coated Mini Janes ((Donuts))
Kade has been asking for me to make donuts for breakfast for a while. So, with our current snowed in status and no more good excuses, I decided this would be the prefect time to satisfy his cravings. Typically, I “make” donuts by quartering canned biscuit dough and deep-frying the pieces. Guess what — there were no canned biscuits in the house. I used those for snow day Tuesday.
Hang on — let me get this off of my chest: I had some major pantry issues this weekend. Here is the list of what I discovered was absent ((when I needed it most)):
- milk
- buttermilk
- canned biscuits
- powdered sugar
- sour cream
- celery
- potatoes
- cilantro
- diced tomatoes
- corn chips
Painful. I think it was most painful for David, he went to the store 6 times – icy roads and all. I am here to tell ya — the end of the month really showed in my pantry! So glad for March – time to reload!
Back to the donuts or should I say Mini Janes. Calling them “Mini Janes” cuts the calories and fat by half right or more?? Right because they are a quarter of a Long John! These miniature breakfast pastries are so pretty – they would be gorgeous for a brunch, except for one thing. They are best served within minutes of ((whisper)) deep-frying. I don’t think a hostess wants to stand over a vat of bubbling oil on party day — make the hubby do all the work, haha.
The star of the show is the crescent sheet. But with only 4 ingredients, it wasn’t hard for the crescent dough to shine. Did you notice that? Only 4 ingredients for these Mini Janes.
This recipe is very simple but each step is important:
- Preheat peanut oil to 350°. I use a thermometer and fill a 7 qt pot to 2″ below the top. Bringing the oil to temp will take about 15 minutes.
- Do not use perforated sheets. Crescent sheets can be found at Crest ((probably other places too – I just haven’t seen them at WM)). The perforations will expand while frying & that won’t be good.
- Lightly roll out the crescent sheets (I used 2 cans which yielded 16 Mini Janes).
- Fold the sheet in half & half it again.
- Lightly roll it so that the layers press together. ((roughly 9″ x 7″))
- Cut the sheet into 8 even strips.
- Line a plate with several paper towels.
- Mix together powdered sugar & citrus zest ((I used sumo)).
- Once the temp reaches 350°, carefully slip each strip into the oil. I did 5 or so at a time.
- Turn the strips over halfway through the cooking process. Once the color reaches a pretty medium golden brown, turn, about 1 minute per side.
- Remove when both sides are done and allow to rest on the paper towels for about 30 seconds.
- Dust with powdered sugar and serve.
A yummy snowy day treat! The kitchen was a mess, our lips were covered in powdered sugar & our tastebuds were dancing. I won’t mention our waistlines!
