Love Chinese Buffet Donuts? Make Them At Home With A Simple Shortcut

If you can't seem to get enough of the stacks of donuts found at the buffet station of your local Chinese restaurant, there's good news: Instead of piling more onto your plate at the restaurant, you can get your fill of these tasty delights in the comfort of your own home. A copycat recipe is surprisingly easy to put together — that is, as long as you have a roll of pre-made biscuit dough on hand. Simply pick up an extra package of your favorite brand of store-bought biscuits, and you'll have all the fried, pillowy pieces you need to feed your family or indulge sweet cravings of your own.

Any canned biscuit brand can work for to make these Chinese delicacies at home. But, instead of baking the biscuits as you normally would, these babies will go into the deep fryer or a deep frying pan filled with the best type of oil for frying donuts at home. Simply separate the refrigerated biscuits, or slice the pieces in halves or quarters for smaller bites, and form them into round balls between your hands. Then, drop them into the hot oil for a 1 to 2 minutes on each side, until the exterior is golden and crispy. Once fried, you'll coat them in granulated sugar – and, from there, you can bite into them while they're still hot and fresh. 

Should you not want to deal with the hassle of a deep fryer or the extra dishes included in frying these donuts on the stovetop, you can have fresh donuts anytime with an easy air fryer trick. After separating and forming the biscuits, spray them with a cooking spray and place them in a single layer on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Set at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, simply cook the donuts for a few minutes on one side before flipping them and cooking them for another few minutes on the other. After that, they should be golden, crispy, and ready for their sugar coating. 

To further reduce the amount of dishes these donuts require, you can use a large plastic bag instead of a bowl to fully coat each fried biscuit piece in sugar. If for some reason the sugar isn't sticking, coat the pieces with melted butter first. You can add powdered cocoa, cinnamon, or pumpkin pie spice to the sugary mixture to create seasonal flavors or try experimenting with different types of sugar to customize the donuts. Borrow inspiration from some of your favorite donut recipes to satisfy a sweet tooth, and embellish platters of your homemade desserts with drizzles of icing or chocolate. 

With a can of store-bought biscuit dough, you'll have a fresh batch to present to house guests or dig into as you catch up on the latest Netflix series in less than 20 minutes. Just be warned: Once served fresh, these copycat donuts go fast.