Portuguese Malasada's (Portuguese Doughnuts)
A delicious and easy recipe for Portuguese Malasadas, a traditional fried dough treat.
A delicious and easy recipe for Portuguese Malasadas, a traditional fried dough treat.
- Carbohydrate 480.784525591073 g
- Cholesterol 70.806250026162 mg
- Fat 31.8544625175946 g
- Fiber 19.7100003195252 g
- Protein 75.3336875788644 g
- Saturated Fat 16.9610950074771 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (1415g)
- Sodium 203438.040228118 mg
- Sugar 461.074525271548 g
- Trans Fat 3.9148375032393 g
- Calories 2554 calories
Step-by-step
- In a large bowl, add the yeast to â…“ cup of the milk. Let stand until frothy--about 5 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, combine the butter and sugar and 1 cup of milk. Stir together well.
- Add milk mixture to yeast mixture and mix. **I used the dough hook on my stand mixer as I don't like to change attachments all the time. However, if you aren't lazy you may want to start with the paddle attachment and then move to the dough hook once you get it all combined.**
- Slowly add the eggs and flour. Let the dough hook do the work here and really mix up your dough. You will want the dough to pull away from the sides and become smooth and supple. You may need to add a bit more flour or milk to get it to the correct consistency.
- Place your dough ball in a lightly oiled bowl and cover in a warm area. I put mine on a shelf outside since it has been so warm lately. Or, you can just set on the stove-top with the oven on. Let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- After an hour, punch down your dough and roll it out into a rectangle.
- Cut the dough into small circles. You don't have to picky about the shape of them but you want them to be about 2 inches in diameter.
- Lay the circle on parchment paper on a cookie sheet or other flat surface. Cover and let rise in a warm area for 2-10 hours.
- When you are ready to fry them, heat up 2-3 inches of oil in a pan. Use a thermometer to keep the oil right at 350 degrees.
- Drop one or two dough balls into the oil at a time, turning at about 1 minute. They should turn nice and brown on each side. You may want to test one to see if they are done in the middle but with the oil at 350 degrees and cooking for 1-1â…Ÿ minutes per side---you should be OK.
- Immediately after the hot oil bath, toss them in a large bowl of granulated sugar. Toss until covered completely.
- Eat warm!
Swapping dairy milk for plant-based alternatives like rice milk introduces significantly less fat and protein into the mixing bowl, which changes how much all-purpose flour the dough absorbs before it reaches a smooth and supple consistency that easily pulls away from the mixing bowl sides. When dissolving the active dry yeast in the initial half-cup of warm liquid, verify that the temperature registers between 105 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit so the microorganisms activate properly without dying from excessive heat. Utilizing a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook saves considerable physical labor during the intensive kneading phase required to develop the gluten structure necessary for trapping air.
Controlling the cooking environment remains the single factor determining whether these fried doughnuts achieve a crisp exterior or absorb excess oil and turn soggy. Heat two to three inches of neutral frying oil in a heavy-bottomed pan, monitoring the temperature continuously with a digital thermometer to hold it steady at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Dropping too many pieces of dough into the pan at once causes the oil temperature to plummet instantly, leading to an overly greasy product that lacks the desired golden-brown crust on each side.
After their brief one-to-two-minute oil bath, transfer the hot pastries directly into a large bowl filled with granulated sugar so the crystals adhere properly to the warm surface. Because these traditional fried treats stale rapidly due to moisture migration from the interior crumb, consuming them immediately yields the best textural contrast between the crisp sugar coating and the tender inside.
Leftover fried dough items lose their structural integrity quickly, but day-old malasadas can be salvaged by slicing them horizontally and warming them in a dry skillet over medium heat for one minute to revive the interior texture before dusting with fresh cinnamon sugar.
