All of these Fat Tuesday commercials got me salivating for some Paczkis and I can’t wait!
I grew up eating donuts but never heard of Fat Tuesday until I moved to the States. In the Balkans we call donuts “Krofne” but here, everyone refers to them as Paczkis.
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But there is a difference between the two.
Paczkis/ Krofne, unlike the American donuts, are made from a very rich dough. The dough contains eggs, fats, sugar, yeast, milk and are typically topped with powdered sugar or filled with jam.
Today I wanted to try my favorite childhood recipe but instead of frying them in oil, I am using the Air Fryer. Come on, follow along.
DISCLAIMER: if you are expecting your traditional paczkis, this is not it. This is an air fryer version that is a bit easier but obviously not fried. You can use this recipe to fry them as well for that more traditional taste.
[THIS RECIPE HAS BEEN UPDATED IN 2O20]
INGREDIENTS:
- 3-4 cups of AP flour* + 1/2 cup for later
- 1 TBSP of dry yeast
- 1 3/4 cups of Vitamin D milk
- 1 TBSP of white sugar [add 1 more tbsp if you don’t plan on filling them]
- 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
- 2 pinches of salt
- 2 eggs
- powdered sugar for topping
- jam, jelly or Nutella for filling
You will also need:
- rolling pin, mixing paddle
- medium bowl or stand mixer
- circle cookie cutter or a medium size cup
- Air Fryer
- Parchment paper
DIRECTIONS:
- Gather and measure out your ingredients.
- Heat up your milk in the microwave just until warm. 30 seconds.
- In a medium bowl or stand mixer add the warm milk along with your yeast and sugar. Mix until incorporated.
- Add 3 cups of flour, oil, salt and eggs. Mix until combined.
- The dough will be sticky at this stage.
- Add 1/4 cup of flour at a time just until the dough comes together in a loose and semi sticky dough. You may use a full cup of flour here.
- Sprinkle the dough with a few pinches of flour and cover the bowl with a dish towel or a plate and let the dough rise for about 1 hour.
- After it has doubled in size, sprinkle your counter with a some flour and transfer your dough from the bowl onto the floured surface.
- Knead it until it forms a nice smooth ball. No more than 10 times.
- Roll it into a 1 inch thick pizza/ round shape.
- Using your cookie cutter or a cup, cut out as many donuts as you can.
- Let the donuts rise up for another 10-15 minutes. You can discard the leftover dough or use it to make donut holes.
- Warm up your Air Fryer to 370 degrees for 3 minutes.
- Line the bottom of the Air Fryer with parchment paper and place 4 donuts at a time. Do not line the air fryer with parchment paper and put it inside without the donuts. The paper will burn. It needs the donuts on top to hold it down and prevent a fire.
- Bake for 6-8 minutes on one side, open – flip, and finish baking on the other side. But check at about 2 minutes left to make sure they are not burning. You want a nice golden color.
- Remove from Air Fyer and place on a paper towel lined platter and sprinkle with powdered sugar. DO NOT PANIC: they come out fairly hard, more like a muffin, but after they rest and cool off they are light, airy, soft and delicious.
- Let it cool off before you fill them with your favorites. I love jelly but Nutella is always a favorite around here.
*please note that your location as well as quality of flour can change the recipe. If you feel like your recipe is too sticky, add a little more flour at a time. If you feel like it needs more milk, add a splash of milk at a time. It may take a few tries before you make your first PERFECT batch. But that is all part of the fun.
Here is a step by step slideshow for ya!
If you prefer fried donuts, once again – you can use this recipe. Just heat up your oil on low medium and fry a couple at a time. Flipping them as soon as they start browning. You want the middle to get cooked through but without burning. Also, when you fry the donuts, let them cool before you sprinkle with powdered sugar. Otherwise the oil will melt the sugar immediately.
Whatever you decide, this recipe is fail proof but it does take time and patience. Plus keep in mind all flour is not created equal, some eggs are larger than others and fryers are different. So you may need more flour or more cooking time. Play around with it and enjoy.
x, Dijana
Hello! What kind of yeast do you use? Aka, dry yeast or rapid yeast like for bread machines/American recipes, or fresh yeast? My mom’s recipes from Poland generally use the fresh yeast which can be a bit trickier lol
I use dry yeast. I know what you mean with the fresh yeast my mom uses that for many recipes 🙂
There is something wrong with the measurements of milk and flour in this recipe. It calls for too much milk and/or not enough flour. If you add all that milk you will need to add more flour to get the right consistency. It is too watery the way it is written.
Thank you for letting me know. I am sorry you experience that. I’ve had many people make it and this is the first time I hear this. I will try again myself just to make sure. Thanks again. I appreciate the feedback very much. Thanks for trying.
I had the same problem. I added more (a lot more) flour after letting it rise so I could roll it out, but then they came out more like buns than pączki.
Oh man. I wonder if it’s the flour I use. I will make it tonight haha I have to fix this. Thanks ladies
Make sure you follow me on Instagram and I filmed another video of step by step and they came out great for me again. I did adjust the recipe to reflect a few changes to make it easier for some of you. Hope that helps. Thanks again for trying my recipe and for your honest feedback.
Here I go! I will just fry them. The unhealthy version 😁
These look great! Would they be okay if you used less yeast and increased the rise time? Yeast is sort of a commodity right now.
I believe so! Thanks for asking and good luck 🙂
Hi! I’m happy to see you’re sharing a recipe for polish pączki!
Just a side note, “pączki” ale already plural from so no need for “s”!
Cheers!
Thank you so much for letting me know. I had no idea. I will update this asap.
Hi! I definitely want to try this recipe! I do have a quick question since krofne is my childhood favorite but since then I had to change a few things in my diet 😊… Can I use any non dairy milk? Also can I replace regular sugar with coconut sugar or even stevia? Hvala od srca and wish me luck! Dusan
Those are fantastic questions! I honestly don’t know. I am so sorry. I don’t see why it won’t work but if you try it please please come back and tell me 🙂