RECIPE: Homemade Doughnuts

I made doughnuts in the shapes of stars and hearts this morning. After posting a picture on Twitter, Robin asked if I would post the recipe on my blog.

I'm not sure I can even call it a recipe because they're so easy to make! I have to give credit to my friend Chapell for showing me how to make them many years ago.

Ingredients

Vegetable oil (or any other cooking oil that you prefer)
Canned biscuit dough 
Granulated sugar and/or powdered sugar

Directions

1. Pour a significant amount of cooking oil into a small pot. You can also use a fryer if you have one. Heat vegetable oil at medium-high heat.

2. Flatten each biscuit and cut out a hole in the center with a knife. (For the doughnuts above, I used a cookie cutter for the star and heart shapes. I took the dough around the edges and rolled it into balls for doughnut holes.)

3. Drop a doughnut hole into the oil to determine if it's hot enough. It will float to the top if the oil is ready or sink to the bottom if it isn't.

4. When the oil is hot enough, drop each biscuit into the cooking oil. I usually cook one doughnut and two holes at a time. Depending on the size of the pot you're using, you can obviously cook more than that. Just make sure the doughnuts aren't too close to each other because they will stick together.

**There's no hard and fast rule for timing when to flip the doughnut over. I eyeball it, and flip it with a fork when it begins to turn a light golden brown. This happens quickly! You also want to be sure the doughnuts aren't too thick and that you flatten them really well because they can turn out gooey inside.**

5. When the doughnuts turn golden brown, remove them from the pot with a slotted spoon or spatula. Place the doughnuts on a paper towel covered plate to soak up the oil. Allow them to cool for approximately 3-4 minutes.

6. Drop each doughnut into a Ziploc bag with granulated sugar and/or powdered sugar, and shake bag to coat doughnuts. You don't need a whole lot. You only need enough to coat them and I usually throw several in at a time.


That's all it takes to make yummy doughnuts that taste like funnel cakes and in only a matter of minutes!

RECIPE: Scooter's Spaghetti

This spaghetti is HANDS DOWN the best I've ever tasted. I originally found the recipe on Pinterest, but the link no longer works. 

Ingredients

8 ounces uncooked spaghetti 

1 pound ground beef

1 large can spaghetti sauce

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup chopped green peppers

1/3 cup chopped onions

8 ounces cream cheese

2 tablespoons milk

Grated Parmesan cheese

French fried onions (small can)

1. Cook spaghetti; drain and set aside.

2. Brown ground beef; drain. Add spaghetti sauce to the skillet and heat through.

3. Combine onions, peppers, and butter in a small bowl. Cover and microwave for four minutes on high, until soft. (As usual, I don't like adding veggies because I feel the need to keep my foods fatty.) I actually don't mind the vegetables in this recipe, but I didn't have them on hand, so I just melted the butter in the microwave.

4. Add cream cheese and milk to the vegetables (or in my case, to the butter); stir. 

 

5. In a casserole dish, layer the following in order:

Spaghetti

Cream Cheese Mixture

Spaghetti Sauce

Parmesan Cheese (add however much you prefer)

French Fried Onions (add during the last five minutes of the baking process)

*I mixed half the sauce in with the meat and noodles prior to layering, and I used the remainder as directed in the layering process. I was afraid the sauce wouldn't be evenly distributed otherwise.

 

 

*I didn't have eight ounces of spaghetti noodles so I added ziti noodles to the amount I did have.

I left the French Onions on my second attempt. The original poster claimed that the French Onions are what makes the recipe so special, but I beg to differ. Omitting them didn't make the recipe any less delicious, and I don't think adding them makes it any better either. The ingredient that makes this spaghetti so addictive is the cream cheese baked inside. 

It's so creamy, like "melt in your mouth" creamy. The major fail for most baked spaghetti recipes is that they usually turn out really dry. You don't need to worry about that with this one. I can't think of one thing that would make it taste better. This dish is in heavy rotation at my house.