Bomboloni
October 15, 2008 
Bomboloni. Little Italian doughnuts. Don't you love the name? It's fun to say. And they are fun to make. The dough is not hard and they take about 30 seconds to cook. It's fun to watch them turn from flat discs into little puffs as they fry. And they are so delicious made fresh (they're great the next day, too). Sometimes these are made with a stuffing of jam. Del Posto, Mario Batali's New York restaurant, has served these stuffed with an orange vanilla custard. These, however, are just plain and really good with some coffee.
Bomboloni
for a printer friendly recipe, click here
Ingredients:
- 3 packages rapid rise yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 3 to 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar for coating combined with
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- canola oil (4-5 cups) for frying
Instructions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, mix together the yeast, water, sugar, egg, butter, milk and salt. Slowly add in the flour. You may use as little as 3 cups or as much as four. Just add in enough flour until the dough is no longer super sticky.
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out about 1/4 inch thick. Use a 2-inch round cookie cutter to cut out as many rounds as possible (don't use leftover scraps). Place on floured baking sheets and let rise again until doubled, about 10 minutes.
Put the 1 cup of sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl and set aside.
In a large, heavy pot over high heat, pour in oil. Heat to about 350 degrees on a thermometer. Add a few of the bomboloni and fry, turning once, until golden. (This only takes about 30-40 seconds). Transfer to paper towels to drain. While still warm, toss in the sugar to coat thoroughly. Repeat with remaining dough.
Reader Comments (14)
Elaine, Can I live with you???
Bomboloni, yeah the name sounds so wonderful.
I am sure going to try them.
If i want to have a filling, what can i do.
Look, you just know I'm going to be inserting "bomboloni" into all my conversations tonight. "Dear, can you please wash the bomboloni!" "These politicians are really full of bomboloni!" "We should really bomboloni those bombolonis!" Italian language is a continuous joy to me. :) Thanks for sharing these little pops.
ah, Bomboloni, these remind me so much of our holiday in the Maremma Italy. Everytime we went to the beach we passed the panetteria where we bought our bread ánd a bag full of the most delicious mini bomboloni stuffed with vanilla creme.... lovely choice!!
i love bombolini
and i never thought to make them until now.
and i think i am mad at you for giving me the option.
Proud: Yes! We would have fun cooking together.
Happy Cook: Fill a pastry bag with jam or pastry creme, make a small hole in the doughnut with the tip of a knife, insert the pastry tip and squeeze. You'll have to experiment a little to find the right amount to insert. Hope this helps.
Irene: You are hilarious!
lien: What a great memory!
Fret: I'm mad at myself! Ha!
These look delicious! I sometimes make them with biscuit dough, but I'll have to try making my own from scratch. I like to cover them with powdered sugar, then dip them in warm raspberry jam.
oh these look gooood...
mmmmmmmmmmm... :)
Could you please tell me how much yeast (in g or tsp) there is in one package rapid rise yeast? I buy mine in 125 g packages :)
Olasz: 1 package of rapid rise yeast is 7 grams of yeast. It is equal to 1 cake fresh yeast. Hope this helps!
Last week I made the Bomboloni for my family. Unfortunately you had not mentioned that you have to let the yeast rise before putting the ingredients in. Because of this I had to repeat the recipe. Also, for 3 packages of yeast there is not enough water at 1/4 cup. You need at least 1 cup, since you have the milk. Wonder if anyone else encountered similar problems? I do have quite a bit of experience in baking so therefore I am familiar with the importance of all these points.
From The Italian Dish:
Phylilis: You don't have to let the yeast rise prior to adding ingredients because I call for instant yeast (Rapid Rise). I always use instant yeast in my recipes, because it requires no proofing. As for the amount of water, that should be correct. Were you thinking the dough was too dry or what?
Can this dough be made the day before ?