Paczki, also known as Polish pre-Lenten jelly doughnuts, are a delectable treat that holds a special place in Polish cuisine. Traditionally enjoyed on Fat Thursday, the last Thursday before Ash Wednesday, these indulgent pastries exude a rich history and unique flavors. With their fluffy yeast dough, sweet fillings, and generous dusting of powdered sugar, paczki are a true delight for the senses. Whether you're a seasoned baker looking to perfect your paczki-making skills or a curious home cook eager to try something new, this comprehensive guide will equip you with all the knowledge and techniques needed to create these delectable Polish doughnuts in the comfort of your own kitchen.
Here are our top 4 tried and tested recipes!
POLISH PACZKI JELLY DONUTS
This is a high fat, yeasted dough that will do well for both a jelly donut but also holds its own as a classic polish paczki. It checks all the boxes for the polish classic.
Provided by Kendell Stiles
Number Of Ingredients 10
Steps:
- Heat the milk to 90 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the milk and yeast. Stir lightly, and let rest until the mixture begins to foam, about 5 minutes.
- Fit the mixer with the dough hook and beat the eggs, butter, sugar, and salt into the yeast mixture. Add half of the flour, and mix until combined, then mix in the rest of the flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough seems wet at this point and isn't completely releasing from the sides of the bowl, add a little more flour, 2 tablespoons at a time. The dough will kneed for about 5 minutes before it lets go of the bowl. Remove dough and lightly spray the mixer bowl with the pan spray. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise at room temperature until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and roll it to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut the doughnuts out with a 3-inch biscuit cutter. Knead any scraps together, only once, let rest for a few minutes, repeat the process.
- Put the doughnuts onto floured baking sheets with plenty of room between each one. Cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm place until they are slightly puffed up and delicate, about 30 minutes. You can also proof in the oven. Heat to 200 at the beginning of this step, turn off the heat, put the baking sheets in the oven and leave the door ajar. We don't want to heat the dough, just create a warm environment for the yeast to work.
- About 15 minutes before the doughnuts are done rising, heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat, and heat it to 375 using a candy thermometer. Meanwhile, line a cooling rack, baking sheets or plates with paper towels.
- Carefully add the doughnuts to the oil, a few at a time. If they're too delicate to pick up with your fingers (they may be this way if you rose them in the oven), use a metal spatula to pick them up and slide them into the oil. It's okay if they deflate a bit; they'll puff back up as they fry. When the bottoms are deep golden, after 45 seconds to a minute, use your spider strainer to flip; cook until they're deep golden all over. Transfer the doughnuts to the prepared plates or racks, and repeat with the rest of the dough, adjusting the heat as needed to keep the oil at 375.
- When the doughnuts are totally cool fill with your favorite jelly, dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!
Nutrition Facts : ServingSize 1 grams, UnsaturatedFat 0 grams unsaturated fat
POLISH DOUGHNUTS - PACZKI
There are many recipes for Paczki. Some call for 10-20 egg yolks, grated orange or lemon rind, cream, rum or vodka. This is a simplified version flavored with mace. My Polish grandmother made her own plum jam from the trees in her yard but you can use your favorite. Posted by request. Prep time is estimated and includes rising time.
Provided by Lorac
Categories Yeast Breads
Time 3h10m
Yield 30 doughnuts
Number Of Ingredients 13
Steps:
- Scald milk and allow to cool to lukewarm, add yeast and stir.
- Beat sugar and butter until fluffy, add eggs, salt, vanilla and mace.
- Add flour and yeast-milk gradually, beating well.
- Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk.
- Punch down and let rise again.
- Roll out dough, on a floured surface, 3/4 inch thick.
- Cut out 1 1/2 inch circles.
- Top half of the circles with 1 tsp jam, cover with the remaining circles and seal edges.
- Heat oil mixed with 1 tbls water to 375°F.
- Fry, turning once, to a medium golden brown.
- Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with sugar.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 125.1, Fat 4.3, SaturatedFat 2.5, Cholesterol 34.9, Sodium 108.7, Carbohydrate 18.5, Fiber 0.6, Sugar 3.4, Protein 3
PACZKI
Paczki (pronounced puun-ch-key) are supercharged jelly doughnuts, made with both whole eggs and yolks for a rich, almost savory dough, with a sweet glaze on top. Though typically enjoyed on Fat Thursday in Poland (the Thursday before Ash Wednesday), in Polish neighborhoods in the US, paczki are enjoyed as part of the Fat Tuesday celebration. The tradition started as a festive way to use up eggs, butter and lard before Lent. Though typically fried in lard, we're frying these in vegetable oil, which is a little more accessible. Either way, some say that starting the Lenten season by eating these sweet rich treats will bring good luck and happiness throughout the year.
Provided by Food Network Kitchen
Time 2h40m
Yield 15 doughnuts
Number Of Ingredients 12
Steps:
- For the paczki: Whisk together the flour and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Microwave the milk in a small microwave-safe bowl until warm (between 110 to 115 degrees F.), about 1 minute, then stir to even out the temperature. Add the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the granulated sugar, stirring just enough to hydrate the yeast. Let bloom for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add the butter and remaining granulated sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Cream together on medium high-speed, stopping and scraping the bowl once or twice as necessary, until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the whole eggs and beat on medium high to combine, about 1 minute. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and beat together another minute.
- Starting with the mixer on low and then raising to medium high, add the flour mixture in 2 parts, alternating with the yeast mixture. Once the last addition of flour has been combined, knead the dough in the mixer until smooth, 6 to 8 minutes. The dough will be slack and sticking to the sides but not too sticky to the touch. If it is too sticky, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of flour and knead a minute more to tighten it up.
- Put the dough on a flour-dusted surface and knead by hand a few times, tucking the dough under itself to form a smooth ball. Transfer to a large, greased bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll or pat down to 1/2 inch thick. Cut the dough into 3-inch circles and place on a lightly floured baking sheet. Make one more circle from the dough scraps or make mini paczki to fry. Cover the dough circles with a kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a deep Dutch oven to 350 degrees F; line a baking sheet with paper towels.
- Shake off any flour from the dough circles and fry in batches of 3 to 4 until deep golden brown, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes on each side. You will be able to tell they are cooked through because the amount of bubbles will reduce to almost nothing. Transfer the doughnuts to the paper towel-lined baking sheet as they come out of the oil. Return the oil to 350 degrees F between batches. Let rest until cool enough to handle.
- For the filling and glaze. Fit a pastry bag with a small round tip and fill with the jam. Set aside.
- Use a thick skewer or chopstick to poke a hole in the middle of each doughnut and wiggle a little space, taking care to not poke all the way through. Fill with the jam using the pastry bag.
- To make the glaze, add the confectioners' sugar to a small bowl big enough to dip a doughnut into. Whisk in the milk until smooth. The glaze should be a little loose, close to the consistency of maple syrup. Dip each doughnut in the glaze, letting it roll off a bit before turning it over to set. Some of the glaze will run down the sides which is okay, but if you need to adjust the thickness, add a little more confectioners' sugar or milk depending on what you need. Let the glaze set for about 5 minutes! If you want to skip the glaze, just dust with confectioners' sugar; many paczki are enjoyed this way too. Paczki are best the day they are made, but they can be stored in an airtight container to enjoy the next day.
PACZKI (POLISH "JELLY" DOUGHNUTS)
These are usually served just before the beginning of Lent. If you don't have a good old-fashioned bakery nearby, or you want to try your hand at making these treats, here recipe and tips on paczki-making from Polish Heritage Cookery. Prep time does not include rising time, and the cooking time is for 1 batch. The number of doughnuts bepends on size made and size of cutter used. Save the egg whites for another project. I've added a note about egg white recipes.
Provided by Nana Lee
Categories Breads
Time 1h6m
Yield 24 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 11
Steps:
- SPONGE:.
- Dissolve crushed yeast in lukewarm milk, sift in flour, add sugar.
- Mix, cover, and let stand in warm place to rise.
- Beat egg yolks with powdered sugar and vanilla sugar until fluffy.
- Sift flour into bowl, add sponge (yeast mixture), egg mixture, and grain alcohol or rum.
- Knead well until dough is smooth and glossy.
- Gradually add melted lukewarm butter and continue kneading dough until it no longer clings to hands and bowl and air blisters appear.
- Cover with cloth and let rise in warm place until doubled.
- Punch dough down and let it rise again. Transfer dough to floured board, sprinkle top with flour, and roll out about 1/2" inch thick.
- With glass or biscuit-cutter, cut into rounds.
- Arrange on floured board and proceed in either of the following ways:.
- SMALL PACZKI:.
- Place a spoonful of fruit filling (rose-hip preserves, cherry preserves, or other thick jam) off center on each round.
- Raise edges of dough and pinch together over filling, then roll between palms snowball fashion to form balls.
- Let rise in warm place until doubled.
- LARGE PACZKI:.
- Place a spoonful of fruit filling as above on only 1/2 dough rounds, cover each with another round, pinch edges together, and roll between palms to form a ball.
- Let rise until doubled in warm, draft-free place.
- Heat 1 1/2-2 lbs. lard in deep pan so paczki can float freely during frying.
- It is hot enough when a small piece of dough dropped into hot fat immediately floats up.
- Fry paczki without crowding several minutes until nicely browned on bottom, then turn over and fry on other side another 3 minutes or so.
- NOTE:.
- If using electric fryer, set temperature at 360-375 degrees.
- If frying in stove-top pan and fat begins to burn, add several slices of peeled raw potato which will both lower the temperature and absorb the burnt flavor.
- Paczki may also be fried in oil, but lard produces the tastiest results.
- If you are cutting down on animal fats, you can compromise by using a lard and oil combination.
- Transfer fried paczki to absorbent paper and set aside to cool.
- When cool, dust generously with powdered sugar, glaze or icing.
- RECIPES USING EGG WHITES:.
- Fat-Free, Sugar-Free & Cholesterol-Free Banana Bread! Recipe #45394.
- Angel Food Cake Recipe #12591.
- Fruit pies with meringue topping.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 139.7, Fat 5.8, SaturatedFat 3.2, Cholesterol 74.5, Sodium 35.5, Carbohydrate 18.7, Fiber 0.6, Sugar 3.9, Protein 3.2
Tips for Making Polish Pre-Lenten Jelly Doughnuts (Pączki):
- Ensure your yeast is active by checking its expiration date and following the package instructions. If using instant yeast, whisk it into the warm milk directly. - Knead the dough until it's smooth and elastic. This will result in light and fluffy doughnuts. - Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place until it doubles in size. This step allows the yeast to ferment and produce gas, which creates the characteristic holes in the doughnuts. - Fry the doughnuts in hot oil until they are golden brown. Use a thermometer to ensure the oil is at the correct temperature (375°F). - Fill the doughnuts with your desired filling using a piping bag or syringe. You can use various fillings such as prune, rose petal, or custard. - Dust the doughnuts with powdered sugar or glaze them with a simple glaze made from powdered sugar and milk.Conclusion:
Polish Pre-Lenten Jelly Doughnuts (Pączki) are a delicious and traditional treat enjoyed during the pre-Lenten period. They are soft, fluffy, and filled with a variety of sweet fillings. With careful attention to the dough's preparation, frying technique, and filling, you can create perfect pączki that will be a hit with family and friends. Whether you prefer them plain or filled, these doughnuts are sure to be a delightful addition to your pre-Lenten celebrations.
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