I didn’t realize at the time what door I had kicked down when I made surprisingly sensational apple fritters from store-bought pancake mix. Now I see that door was shaped like a doughnut. Thanks to you, readers, with your thoughtful questions and shared enthusiasm for fried dough, I followed one of your leads to another tasty morsel.

As I scooped the entire pancake mix out of the box, a few people pulled Bisquick out of their cabinets and wondered, “Do you want to work, my sweet, sweet Bisquick? Or are you going to turn me into a meme for not following the recipe instructions?” Your instincts were right. Not only can you use Fargo’s famous mix for my apple fritter recipe linked above, but you can make other donuts as well. Again, they’re pretty damn amazing.

I bought a box of classic "Bisquick Pancake and Baking Mix" (even the company pushes us to use this dry mix in creative ways). While I haven't tried all of the pre-made pancake mixes, I have a pretty good feeling that they would all work pretty well for this application. The small percentage of flavorings, powdered milk, or powdered egg counts for bonus points, but the most important ingredients are the flour, leavening, and salt, which all pre-made pancake mixes definitely contain.

Two of the most common types of doughnuts you’ll see in a store are yeast doughnuts or cake doughnuts. The yeast variety is more delicate and lighter, like the signature Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut. If you make your own Bisquick doughnuts or another powdered pancake mix, you’re making cake doughnuts. They’re leavened with baking soda, baking powder, or another type of chemical leavening agent. The texture is firmer, slightly denser, and similar to cake (no surprise there) – think blueberry cake doughnuts, apple cider doughnuts, sour cream doughnuts, or chocolate glaze.