Home Made Paczki | Polish Jelly Donut Recipe for Fat Tuesday

Paczki (pronounced POONCH-key) is a jelly or custard filled fried donut served on Fat Tuesday. You can find these at Polish bakeries all over Chicago. Even though they are a Polish dessert and a NoLa treat, they are often referred to as Chicago Paczki or Chicago Doughnuts. We make a yeast dough that fries up to a light, airy fried doughnut with a soft, buttery brioche consistency. Once these donuts are fried we toss them in sugar and fill them with a strawberry jam. But you could fill these with any filling you like! * Paczki Recipe * 14g active dry yeast (2 packages) 1 1/2 cups warm whole milk, about 110 F 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup butter (room temperature) 1 large egg (room temperature) 3 large egg yolks (room temperature) 1 tablespoon cognac 1 teaspoon salt 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (21 1/2 ounces) 1. Add the yeast to the warm milk. Stir to dissolve and set aside. 2. In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the sugar and butter until fluffy. 3. Beat in the egg, egg yolks, cognac, and salt until well incorporated. 4. Still using the paddle attachment, add 4 1/2 cups flour, alternating with the milk-yeast mixture. Beat for 5 or more minutes by machine until smooth. The dough will be very slack. 5. Place the dough in a greased bowl. Turn to grease the other side. 6. Cover the top with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in bulk, anywhere from 1 to 2 1/2 hours. 7. Punch down and let rise again, about 45 minutes. 8. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Pat or roll to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut rounds with a 3-inch biscuit cutter close together so you will have minimal scraps. Remove scraps and reroll and recut. 9. Cover the sheet with a damp towel and let rounds rise until doubled in size, 30 minutes or longer, before frying. 10. In a large skillet or Dutch oven, heat oil to 350 F. Place the risen pączki top-side down in the oil a few at a time and fry 2 to 3 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown. 11. Flip them over and fry another 1 to 2 minutes or until golden brown. 12. Drain pączki on paper towels. 13. Roll in granulated sugar while still warm. If you want to fill them, poke a hole in the side of the pączki and, using a pastry bag, squeeze in a generous dollop of the filling of choice. ** Follow Michael Ponzio on Social Media ** Instagram https://www.instagram.com/chefponzio Facebook https://www.facebook.com/chefponzio beignet best dounut best doughnuts New Orleans food