Grilled Cheese Donuts
A fried crescent-dough donut stuffed with American cheese, brushed with honey mustard, and topped with chopped bacon. Two childhood foods, one pan.
Grilled cheese and donuts: two things every kid I grew up with loved, now welded into one fried, cheesy, bacon-topped object. The trick is crescent roll dough, folded around American cheese, cut into rings, and dropped in hot oil. Honey mustard and chopped bacon finish it.
Recipe courtesy of The Kitchen.
Ingredients
- Two 8-ounce tubes of crescent roll dough
- 6 slices American cheese
- Frying oil, canola or peanut
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3 strips crisp-cooked bacon, coarsely chopped
- All-purpose flour, for rolling
Directions
- Unroll the crescent roll dough onto a lightly floured surface. Dust the top with flour and roll into a 12-by-14-inch rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. Repeat with the second tube of dough.
- Lay a single layer of cheese slices over one of the dough rectangles, then set the second rectangle on top. Use the rolling pin to seal the edges.
- Form a tri-fold with the layered dough. Roll it back out to a 6-by-10-inch rectangle, around 3/8 inch thick.
- With a 3-inch donut cutter, cut out 4 donuts.
- Pour oil into a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven to come 3 inches up the sides. Heat over medium-high until the oil reaches 340°F.
- Fry the donuts in batches, about 1 minute per side, until golden brown. If the oil isn’t hot enough they’ll come out heavy and soggy.
- Drain the donuts on a wire rack-lined baking sheet.
- Mix the Dijon mustard and honey in a small bowl. Brush the tops of the donuts with the honey mustard and sprinkle with the chopped bacon.
Serve warm. They don’t keep — that’s the point.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I bake these instead of frying them? You can, but you’ll lose the point. The fry is what gives the outside that thin, crisp shell while the cheese stays molten inside. Baked crescent dough is a different animal — fine on its own, not what this is.
Why American cheese and not something sharper? American melts clean and holds together under heat. Cheddar will leak and pool. This is a fried object, not a cheese board — American is the right call.
How hot does the oil need to be, and does it matter? It matters a lot. Below 340°F and the dough absorbs oil before it sets, and you get something heavy and greasy. A thermometer isn’t optional here.