Sopapillas are a fried dough often served as dessert in Tex-Mex restaurants and are very beloved in New Mexico. They can be coated in cinnamon sugar, as ours are, or dusted with confectioners’ sugar. Where I grew up in Oklahoma, the best Tex-Mex restaurants would give them out for free after your meal and serve them with honey to drizzle over. There’s always one spot in a sopapilla that puffs up the highest, and the absolute best method for eating a sopapilla is to poke a hole in that part and fill the hollow inside with honey. These are some of the easiest fried doughs to make at home: Because they aren't yeasted like donuts or beignets, they require very little resting time before they’re ready to fry!
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- Yields:
- 18
- Prep Time:
- 10 mins
- Total Time:
- 45 mins
Ingredients
- 3 c.
(360 g.) all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
- 2 1/2 tsp.
baking powder
- 3/4 tsp.
kosher salt
- 3 Tbsp.
lard or shortening
- 3/4 c.
(150 g.) granulated sugar
- 2 tsp.
ground cinnamon
Vegetable oil, for frying
Honey, for serving
Directions
- Step1In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. Add lard and work into flour mixture with your hands until pea-size pieces form. Add 1 cup warm water and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined, then knead with your hands a few times to ensure dough is hydrated. Cover and let rest 20 minutes.
- Step2Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk sugar and cinnamon.
- Step3Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, working with one half at a time, roll dough to a square about 1/8" thick. Cut dough into 9 (3") squares. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Step4Into a large, heavy pot fitted with a deep-fry thermometer, pour oil to a depth of 3". Heat over medium-high heat until thermometer registers 375°.
- Step5Working in batches to not overcrowd the pot, fry sopapillas, turning halfway through and adjusting heat as needed to keep oil at 375°, until puffed and golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to cinnamon sugar and toss to coat.
- Step6Arrange sopapillas on a platter. Serve warm with honey alongside.
How To Make Sopapillas
Ingredients
- Flour: Save the specialty flours for another day. All-purpose flour is all you need for this purpose.
- Baking Powder: This is your leavening agent, so you’ll want to make sure its leavening powers are intact. To test, stir 1/2 tsp. baking powder into 2 Tbsp. warm water—the mixture should bubble and foam. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to acquire some fresh baking powder stat.
- Lard or Shortening: Lard makes the flakiest pie doughs, the tenderest biscuits, and, for me, the best sopapillas—crisp outside and tender within. Shortening runs it a close second, though, so don’t hesitate to swap it in.
- Ground Cinnamon: Perhaps it's just me, but there’s something about cinnamon sugar that elicits a downright Pavlovian response. No way was I going to leave it out of this recipe!
- Honey: Make sure you’ve got a runny type that can be drizzled over the sopapillas.
Step-By-Step Instructions
The first step will be familiar to anyone who has ever made biscuits and will appeal to everyone who likes to play with their food. Whisk together the dry ingredients, then work in the fat with your (clean) hands, rubbing and squeezing the flour and fat together until combined and the largest pieces are pea-size.
Pour in the warm water and stir with a wooden spoon just a shaggy dough forms. Now gather the dough into a ball and knead a few times in the bowl just to make sure there are no dry patches of flour. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes to give the flour a chance to hydrate; don’t skip this step or the sopapillas might not puff up as intended when fried! While the dough is resting, whisk together the cinnamon sugar and set it near the stove so the sopapillas can go straight from the frying pan and into the cinnamon sugar.
Okay, grab your rolling pan and let’s rock and roll! Lightly dust your work surface with flour to prevent sticking. Transfer the dough to the work surface and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, roll out the dough into a rough square about 1/8" thick, then cut into 9 equal pieces. Do the same with the other dough half.
Time to fry! Heat your oil to 375° in a large heavy pot and fry the sopapillas in batches of 3 or 4 until golden brown on both sides and puffed. My top tips: Temperature is paramount when frying, so attach a deep-fry thermometer to your pot and continually monitor your oil temperature while frying. As for the pot itself, opt for a Dutch oven (enameled or not) if you’ve got one. The extra mass not only makes frying safer, but it helps keep the oil at a steady temperature.
Using a spider (pictured above) or slotted spoon, transfer the sopapillas directly to the cinnamon sugar and toss to coat. Now pile them on a platter and serve with honey for drizzling over and gilding this deep-fried lily.
Recipe Tips
- Why didn’t my dough puff up? Sopapillas always have a big spot in the middle that puffs up when frying. If yours aren’t rising like that, your dough most likely needs to rest more. After making the dough, make sure to allow it to rest for 20 to 30 minutes. This not only relaxes the dough but helps hydrate it as well. The steam will cause the dough to puff and rise as it fries.
- Can I make these ahead of time? Like most fried desserts, sopapillas are best served warm right after being made. If you’re making a big batch and want to keep them warm to serve all of them at the same time, keep these in a 200° oven until ready to serve.
Sopapilla Variations
Sopapilla Cheesecake
Easy Homemade Churros
New Orleans-Style Beignets
What To Serve With Sopapillas
Sweet sopapillas are the perfect ending to a meal of spicy enchiladas or chiles rellenos, accompanied by endless tortilla chips and homemade salsa!
Made This?
Let us know how it went in the comments below!
