Zeppole are tiny Italian doughnuts - crisp, light and incredibly fluffy. This version is made using a pate choux dough, which when fried, become so airy, tender and golden brown.
The wonders of pate a choux dough never ceases to amaze me. There are so many wonderful things you can make out of it - cream puffs, eclairs, pastries, cake and even dumplings in soup. You can even deep fry it to make the most tender doughnuts.
The results are really crisp and light and one of the fluffiest doughnuts I had ever tried. It's like biting into a delicious, creamy cloud. It's also so easy and quick to prepare the batter, since you don't have to wait for the yeast dough to rise, like you would for yeast doughnuts.
What Are Zeppoles?
Zeppole are Italian doughnuts. They are made from pate choux dough, the same one used for cream puffs and eclairs, made from cooking water/milk with butter and flour and then beating in eggs.
The dough is then fried. The little balls cook up golden, crisp and really tender. They are really airy and tender. With some powdered sugar, these little doughnuts are such a delicious treat.
Zeppoli vs Beignets and Doughnuts
Although all of these are fried pastries, zeppoli are made with a pate choux dough, like I mentioned earlier, and beignets are made with a yeast dough, while doughnuts are made with either a yeast dough or a cake batter dough.
Making the Zeppole Batter
In a medium saucepan, combine the water, butter, sugar and salt. Cook until the butter completely melts. Add the flour all at once and mix vigorously, keeping the heat low, until it's all incorporated and the dough comes together in a ball.
Turn off the heat and wait until the dough has cooled off before adding the eggs, one at a time. It is important to wait until the dough is only warm, otherwise the eggs will scramble when added to the dough.
Also add the eggs one at a time, so that they will be evenly mixed into the batter. You can use a wooden spoon or a mixer to add the eggs.
Can Pate Choux Dough Be Made In Advance?
Yes. You can keep the pate choux dough refrigerated for up to 3 days.
What Oil Is Best For Frying
The best oils for frying are high smoke point oils, like grape seed, avocado, vegetable, and peanut oils. Don't use low smoke point oils, like olive oil. This means that the oil will start to smoke at a lower temperature and the dough will start to burn before it's cooked through properly.
Keep the temperature above 350 at all times, preferably 360-375 degrees. If the temperature of the oil drops too much, the doughnuts will soak in too much oil and taste greasy.
Use a thermometer to monitor the temperature of the oil as you preheat it and then are frying the zeppole. You can use a candy thermometer or an infrared thermometer.
Cooking the Zeppole
Pour in enough oil into a large, heavy pot (I use my Dutch oven). You should have at least 2 inches of oil, I usually use one full container of oil. Heat up the oil to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
You can use two small spoons to drop bits of dough into the hot oil, or place the dough in a large pastry bag, cut a hole off one corner and pipe out the batter, cutting off snippets of dough into the hot oil. Be careful not to splash yourself with it though.
Fry the zeppole for about 5 minutes, turning over the ones that don't turn themselves over. Take them out of the oil using a slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel lined plate, baking sheet, etc. When you're done frying all the zeppole, dust them with powdered sugar.
Storing Zeppole
Store the zeppole at room temperature, covered with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap. They are best served right away but will keep for a few days too, they just won't taste as tender and fresh.
Zeppole - Italian Doughnuts
Zeppole are tiny Italian doughnuts - crisp, light and incredibly fluffy. This version is made using a pate choux dough, which when fried, become so airy, tender and golden brown.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Dessert
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 8 Tablespoons butter (½ cup)
- 3 Tablespoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup flour
- 4 eggs
- oil (for frying (vegetable, canola or peanut oil))
- powdered sugar (to dust the zeppole)
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine the water, butter, sugar and salt. Cook until the butter completely melts.
- Add the flour all at once and mix vigorously with a wooden spoon, until the dough comes together in a ball. Continue cooking for a minute or two.
- Place the dough in the bowl of a standing mixer. Mix with a paddle attachment, until you don't see any more steam rising up from the bowl.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, until they are fully incorporated. You can also use a hand held mixer, or even mix up the dough by hand.
- Meanwhile, pour in enough oil into a large, heavy pot (I use my Dutch oven). You should have at least 2 inches of oil, I usually use one full container of oil. Heat up the oil to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Transfer the dough to a large ziptop bag. Cut a hole in one corner. Slowly pipe out the dough and cut off snippets of the dough right into the oil. Be careful not to splash yourself. You can also use 2 small spoons to drop bits of dough into the oil, or use a small portion scoop.
- Keep the temperature above 350 at all times, preferably 360-375 degrees.
- Fry the zeppole about 5 minutes, turning over the ones that don't turn themselves over.
- Take them out of the oil using a slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel lined plate, baking sheet, etc. When you're done frying all the zeppole, dust them with powdered sugar.
The direction are poor. I tried this at 5x sizing for a party and it made soup. I added 1.5 more cups to try to thicken it. Yes I used regular sized eggs. Just a mess more like funnel cake.
I want to make these Christmas Eve.
Does Yield 4 mean that the original recipe only makes four zeppole?
4 means 4 servings, about 4 adults, Dan. I hope you enjoy them on Christmas Eve.
Can vanilla extract be put into the mixture?
I don't see why not. Give it a try.
so delicious, this was, by far, the easiest recipe I found onlinel, it also came very close to the Zeppoli i remember purchasing from the pizzarea in New York as a kid.
That's wonderful, Diana. I am so glad that you enjoyed the zeppole.
I made this recipe for St. Joseph's Day. Italians have special foods for every special day.
They taste and look great. I fried them in pure lard. I don't yet have a hi-temp thermometer. I tested the fat's temperature with my cooking chopsticks and cooked individual pieces to verify correct temperature. This did not work for a good result. I finally landed on the correct solution. These little fellows need company whilst frying! A little stirring with the slotted spoon also helped.
They have a delicate flavor which could possibly be enhanced by the addition of nutmeg or coriander.
Thank you for a well-written recipe with good notes,
Thank you for sharing, Vincent. I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe.
There hasn’t been your a recipe my family has made that we didn’t love! Thanks you for sharing this.
Thank you so much for the kind words, Jason! I'm so happy to hear that you are enjoying these recipes. I really appreciate that you took the time to write.
If I make these the night before, will they be good the next day? I want to make them for a school project.
I think they taste best fresh, but they will still be alright the next day too.
This recipe looks delicious! Can i make it dairy free by using margarine instead of butter?
I have never tried it with margarine, so I'm not sure that the results will be the same. It's worth a try.
I doubled my ingredients and cooked them.
I ate one and it was still raw and tasted like egg .please what did I do wrong
It's possible that the temperature of your oil was too hot. If the oil is too hot, the outside will cook quickly before the middle of the zeppole is cooked through.
Hi Olga, I too tried this recipe today and my dough was pretty runny also. I still tried frying them but the insides would not cook. I tried making them smaller and bringing down the temp a bit but I still could not get the insides to cook. I will try again another day and add a bit more than 1 cup of flour.
I followed this recipe to the letter and for some reason my dough is too loose like pancake batter. Any suggestions?
It shouldn't be so loose. Possibly add some more flour. It is likely that your eggs were larger in size.
Wow these came out amazing. Thank you for sharing!
Hi, for some reason mine deflated right after frying. Do you know why that might be?
Open the windows next time so there's more air in the room😏
Or use your vent:). That will work too.