As a kid, canned biscuits were a staple in our house.
My mom was a great cook and made a big fuss over dinner most nights. However, breakfast was considered an “on your own” type of meal, so our kitchen was always well stocked with eggs, cereal, oatmeal, and canned biscuits we could make as needed.
I used to play with tubes of biscuit dough quite a bit to make all sorts of carby creations. Those little pre-sectioned pillows of dough are just so darn handy!
So today I thought it would be fun to share ways to elevate canned biscuit dough. These ideas are great when you are in a hurry, when you’re cooking with kids, or for those that love to cook but hate to bake.
Quickie Doughnuts. One of my favorite childhood uses for canned biscuits is making fast fresh doughnuts.
Use a small cookie cutter (or apple corer) to cut a hole in the center of each biscuit. Then fry the doughnuts for 15–30 seconds per side in a pot of hot oil. Carefully lift the doughnuts out of the oil with tongs and toss them in powdered sugar.
You can spice things up a bit by adding pumpkin pie spice to the powdered sugar. Also try adding cocoa powder to the powdered sugar!
“Sweet Biscuit” Scones. What are scones, after all, but slightly sweetened biscuits?
You can easily turn canned biscuits into scones by pressing dried fruit, oats and brown sugar, or chocolate chips into the dough before baking. Also try drizzling a simple glaze (made with milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar) over them after baking to fancy them up.
Cinnamon Rolls. Easiest sweet rolls ever!
Place the entire unwrapped tube of dough on a floured work surface and roll it into a thin rectangle. Sprinkle the dough with sugar and cinnamon. Then roll the dough into a cylinder and slice into rounds. Bake and devour.
Sausage Rolls. Two perfect words, dough and sausages.
Cut each unbaked biscuit in half. Roll out the dough pieces into flat ovals. Cut bun-length sausages in half. Then wrap each sausage half in dough.
Bake until golden. Then serve with mustard or BBQ sauce.
Mini Calzones or Hand Pies. Sweet or savory pies in minutes.
Roll each disk of dough into a thin circle. Then fill with pizza fillings, or go sweet with fresh berries tossed in sugar. Fold the dough over the top, and pinch the edges closed, to form semi-circle shaped pies. Bake and serve warm.
Mini Pizzas and Fruit Pizzas. So the hand pies above sound like too much work? No problem.
Just roll the dough flat and sprinkle toppings over the mini crusts before baking. No folding or crimping required.
Pot Pie or Cobbler Toppers. Place sweet or savory fillings in 6-8 ounce ramekins. Place an unbaked biscuit over each ramekin and bake!
Navajo Fry Bread. A fabulous alternative to plain rolls or biscuits.
Roll the biscuit dough out into flat circles. Fry the circles in hot oil for 10–20 seconds per side. Once golden, carefully lift them out of the oil with tongs and sprinkle with garlic salt and chile powder. (Then be tempted—very tempted—to make Erica’s Fry Bread Tacos from the previous post.)
Monkey Bread. A classic family favorite!
Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces of dough. Toss the pieces with cinnamon sugar, and place in a bundt pan. (You can add chopped dried fruit or fresh fruit into the pan if desired.) Pour a mixture of melted butter and brown sugar into the pan and bake until golden and bubbly around the edges.
Breakfast Sandwiches. Nothing makes a biscuit complete like ham, cheese, and eggs.
Bake the biscuits according to the package instructions. Then cut them open and fill with savory ingredients.
Garlic Knots. Possibly the best thing ever made with canned biscuits!
Use your hands to roll each unbaked biscuit into a 6-8 inch rope. Tie each rope into a knot and place them on a baking sheet. Bake the knots until fluffy and golden.
Then mix melted butter with minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Dunk the knots in the garlic butter and sprinkle the tops with parmesan cheese. Pure heaven!
See? Canned biscuits are delicious, full of possibilities, and a huge time-saver. Keep a can in your fridge for easy meal prep any day of the week.
Do you have a unique use for canned biscuits? Tell us all about it in the comments below!
