Youll Be Amazed By This Delicious Polish Donut Recipe Its To Die For

Celebrate Fat Tuesday the way it was intended, and stuff yourself full of delicious Pączki! Polish Donuts are fried dough dusted in sugar and sometimes filled with jams or custards.

What kind of Polish girl would I be if I didn’t share this scrumptious tradition of Pączki with you the week before Fat Tuesday? Perfect timing, too – you have all weekend to make some for yourself!

I can’t take all of the credit though, I need to thank a reader of mine, who contacted me recently and asked if I had a Pączki recipe. Funny thing was, I had just been gifted an old Polish cookbook, and when I went through and marked pages of things I wanted to try, it was one of the first!

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You all know I love a good doughnut, right? In fact, I have quite a few recipes that I have shared over the years. Typically the baked variety of donuts, nothing like these fried Paçzki, until today, that is!

My daughter’s fiance’s aunt gave me this cookbook. It is from the 1970s and it’s a collection of recipes put together by one woman’s daughters. It’s like a goldmine! (Thanks, Aunt Pat!)

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So, in case you are wondering how to pronounce it… Pączki is pronounced “Pownch-ki”. I know you don’t see the “n” in there but roll with it.

Since making Pączki has been a tradition in my family history forever, I couldn’t wait to share this recipe. Typically, making them is fairly simple. Make the dough, let it rise, then knead it back down. Let it rise again.

Normally that is never an issue. However, I think my ancestors must have been messing with me for not having made them before. It took me four tries to get the second rise out of my dough to work the way I wanted it to!

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I am not one to give up easily though. And it wasn’t like the attempts didn’t taste good either. But I was looking for that perfect balance of fluffy dough filled with sweet fillings. So I had to keep going until I got it just right.

The first batch turned out beautifully, but they were really little. I should have cut them larger. However, everyone loved them, as I dusted them in sugar and left those unfilled.

The second and third batches didn’t rise the way they should have the second time, and I credited it to the yeast. Yeast is really touchy, as you know. The third batch was perfect, albeit, not as puffy as some I have seen, but delicious just the same.

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Traditionally, the period from Fat Tuesday to Ash Wednesday is the time to get in all the big sweet treats and splurge on food before the restrictions of Lent set in. The idea was to use up all the lard, sugar, fruit, and eggs so those would not be a temptation during Lent.

Unlike German “Berliners” or Portuguese “Malasadas”, Pączki has especially rich dough containing eggs, fats, sugar, yeast, and milk. This rich dough helps them taste even better and it holds up well to fillings.

In fact, the dough recipe originated in France during the middle ages, and it traveled fast. In Poland, it just became improved and perfected.

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Rising the dough in a warm oven seems to be the most successful for me. No drafts and it was particularly chilly the day I was making these.

I think I had trouble getting a good second rise from my dough. It could have been a number of things. Make sure you check the date on your yeast. I used active dry yeast, and I had three different kinds in my pantry.

The first one I used was close to expiring, yet not expired. I do recommend making sure you get quality yeast and not using that stuff that has been on your shelf for the last however many years.

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Cutting the dough for the second rise. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or greased with Crisco or non-stick spray. Cover them and let them rise in a warm, draft free place. The oven works here, too.

Some folks get nervous about scalding milk. I don’t blame them because burnt milk is pretty nasty. Don’t let that deter you though! Scalding the milk is a lot easier than it sounds.

You can do it on the stovetop or in the microwave. In the microwave, you can cook it on medium-high for about two to two and a half minutes. Stir it every 30 seconds. When the milk reaches 180 degrees F. you are ready.

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If you scald milk on the stovetop, which is my preferred way, then get the heat up to medium-high and stir the milk constantly so it doesn’t stick. As long as you keep stirring you won’t burn it.

It will have bubbles all around the edges and steam rising from the pan. Check the temperature with an instant-read thermometer. When it reads 180 degrees F. it’s ready. Don’t let the milk get hotter than 212 degrees F. or it will be no good.

So you got through the second rise and now you are ready to start frying up your Pączki. I used a dutch oven with oil heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. I love the even temperature of cast iron and that comes in especially handy when making these.

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Don’t put too many pieces of dough into the hot oil at one time. Because you don’t want the dough to keep dropping the temperature of the oil. I suggest only 3 or 4 at a time, depending on the size of your pan. They cook quickly so don’t feel rushed.

Monitor the temperature of your oil frequently with an instant-read thermometer, keeping it as close to 350 degrees F. as possible. Because too hot or too cool and you end up with the inside being undercooked or the exterior being overdone and crunchy.

When the dough is done frying, carefully pull it out and place it in a large bowl with some paper towels to drain any excess grease before rolling the Pączki in either granulated or powdered sugar. (I prefer granulated). The Pączki needs to still be hot enough that the sugar will partially caramelize and stick to the fried dough easily.

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Too hot and the sugar just melts. So, hot enough that you can touch them just briefly is a good sign they are ready for the sugar.

That is the question. I leave it to your discretion. However, I LOVE filling them because they are amazing! So, you can fill them with a wide variety of things, jams, custards, cremes, even chocolate all work great. I filled mine with seedless raspberry jam and lemon curd, but you can try whatever sounds sweet and delicious to you.

Filling them is easy if you have a piping bag to work with. You simply poke a hole in the side with a sharp knife, then squirt in a tablespoon or two of filling inside. Alternatively, you can slice a hole into the side and spoon the filling in.

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If you like this Pączki recipe and want to learn more about the Polish recipes handed down through generations in our family, then here are some to check out:

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkDeep-fried with a crisp exterior and fluffy, chewy interior, Pączki are mind-blowingly delicious yeasted Polish donuts with a fruit or custard filling.

Crispy outside, soft and fluffy with the perfect chewiness inside and a sweet filling, Polish donuts known as Pączki will set the bar for all other doughnuts. They really are that good!

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The story behind Pączkiis that it was traditionally made in Poland before Lent started to use up rich foods like lard and sugar that weren’t allowed during the fast.

In Poland, these decadent donut-type confections are typically eaten on Fat Thursday (called Tłusty Czwartek), which is the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, which is when the Catholic season of Lent begins.

In the U.S., Pączki is a Fat Tuesday treat.You might also know the day as Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, and PączkiDay! It’s the day before Ash Wednesday.

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I first had Pączkia few years back when I was still married. My mother-in-law Sahar was Syrian, but her sister-in-law Yanina was Polish. They were both amazing cooks, and of course they taught each other their favorites. Sahar brought recipes like Ma’amoul (Middle Eastern Date-Filled Cookies) and Yanina shared dishes like Pączki.

I learned so much from my amazing mother-in-law, especially in terms of cooking. In addition to a whole host of Middle Eastern recipes, Yanina’s Pączki

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