Easy Fat Tuesday Paczki Pastry
My Easy Fat Tuesday Paczki Pastry recipe is a quick and tasty, raspberry-filled version of a popular Fat Tuesday pastry. Made with just four simple ingredients, this fried dessert is an easy, but decadent treat.
No need to get up early and run to your local pastry shop this Fat Tuesday; instead, make your own easy paczki doughnuts at home! In no time, you’ll have enough chewy, buttery paczki to feed a hungry crowd. After all, a good “Paczki Day” is all about indulgence! To make your table really festive for a get-together, try our Easy Beignets New Orleans Style and Apple Rose Tart.
We Love This Recipe Because It’s…
- Rich, sweet, fluffy, fruity, and delicious!
- A fool-proof homemade doughnut recipe.
- Almost as beautiful as it is tasty.
- Made with only 4 simple ingredients.
- A great treat for Easter, Mother’s Day, Sunday brunch, or Fat Tuesday.
What Is Paczki Pastry?
You can think of paczki as Polish doughnuts. It is pronounced, “poon-ski.” They are sweet fried pastries that are typically filled with jam, pudding, or custard and are topped with frosting, glaze, or powdered sugar. Traditionally, these Polish doughnuts are enjoyed on Fat Tuesday and are very popular in the northern region of the United States. Some Northerners even refer to Fat Tuesday as “Paczki Day!”
What Equipment Do I Need To Make Paczki Pastry?
The equipment that is needed are: a deep frying pan, deep fryer or dutch oven; sieve, strainer, paper towel, butter knife, and pipping bag with filling tip (I use Wilton tip 230)
Ingredients:
- 2 cans or 20 total of pre-made biscuit dough
- 1/2 cup of seedless raspberry jam
- 1/3 cup of powdered sugar
- canola or vegetable oil for frying
How to Make Paczki Doughnuts
- In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, bring the vegetable oil up to 350°F.
- Shape your premade dough into medium-sized “biscuits” and drop them gently into the hot oil.
- Fry the dough balls until golden brown, remove them from the oil, and allow them to drip dry on a paper towel.
- Once the doughnuts are cool, use a butter knife to cut a hole in the side of each pastry.
- Use a piping bag to fill each paczki with a generous squirt of jam.
- Garnish your easy paczki doughnuts with a dusting of powdered sugar before serving and enjoying.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between donuts and paczki?
The traditional doughnut is made from an enriched dough filled with butter, milk, eggs, and lots of sugar. Paczki is fluffy and round and is usually stuffed with some kind of jam or custard.
Why is Easy Fast Tuesday Paczki Pastry eaten on Fat Tuesday?
Fat Tuesday is a holiday celebrated before a 40-day period of prayer and fasting called Lent. During lent, many individuals abstain from eating rich ingredients such as butter, eggs, milk, and sugar. Making paczki is a fun and delicious way to use up these ingredients before beginning the fast.
What is the most popular paczki flavor?
Paczki comes in a variety of fruity, creamy, and rich flavors. Custard, strawberry, cherry, and raspberry-filled paczki are some of the most common and popular Polish doughnut flavors.
How to Serve and Store Polish Doughnuts
If you’re feeling fancy, you can also garnish these pastries with a dollop of whipped cream or a few sprigs of fresh mint. You can’t go wrong serving these easy homemade paczkis alongside other traditional Fat Tuesday treats such as faworki or king cake.
Leftover paczki should be stored in an airtight container. Paczki is best enjoyed within a day or two of making. Alternatively, you can freeze freshly made paczki for up to 3 months. Allow any frozen doughnuts to thaw completely on the counter before enjoying them.
Expert Tips and Tricks
- You’ll know that your vegetable oil is hot enough for frying if when you flick a few droplets of water into the oil, they immediately boil.
- Maintaining the temperature of your frying oil is very important. If the oil is too cold, your doughnuts will be oily. If the oil is too hot, your doughnuts will overcook on the outside faster than the inside. You can help your oil remain at the proper temperature by only frying a handful of paczki at a time.
- Don’t have a piping bag? No problem! You can use a ziplock bag with a corner cut-off to pipe your raspberry jam into these polish doughnuts.
More Recipes:
Easy Fat Tuesday Paczki Pastry
My Easy Fat Tuesday Paczki Pastry recipe is a quick and tasty, raspberry-filled version of a popular Fat Tuesday pastry. Made with just four simple ingredients, this fried dessert is an easy, but decadent treat.
Ingredients
- 2 cans or 20 total of pre-made biscuit dough
- 1/2 cup of seedless raspberry jam
- 1/3 cup of powdered sugar
- canola or vegetable oil for frying
- Ingredient Notes
- Biscuit Dough—Canned refrigerated dough or your favorite homemade biscuit recipe.
- Raspberry Jam—Seedless, will be used to fill your polish doughnuts.
- Powdered Sugar—To dust the tops of these pastries.
- Vegetable Oil—Or canola oil for frying.
Instructions
- Place the oil in the frying pan, dutch oven or deep fryer. If using a deep fryer, set to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If using a frying pan or dutch oven, heat the oil on medium heat until it reaches temperature. The oil is ready if you flick a little water into the oil and it begins to boil immediately.
- Working in batches, place 5 of the biscuits into the oil and fry for about 4-5 mins per side. Fry no more than 5 at a time. Any more than that and the temperature of the oil will drop too much. Once browned, remove from the oil and place on a paper towel to cool.
- Once the doughnuts are cooled, for about 10 minutes, use a butter knife to cut a hole into the side of the doughnut.
- Transfer the jam to a piping bag and pipe the jam into the hole you just made with the knife. Pipe the jam until it starts seeping out of the hole. You will see the doughnut expand as you add the jam.
- Lightly dust with powdered sugar and enjoy immediately.
Notes
Tools Needed:
- deep frying pan, deep fryer or dutch oven
- sieve
- strainer
- paper towel
- butter knife
- piping bag with filling tip (I used Wilton tip 230)
- The name Paczki is pronounced “Poonski”.
- This is a traditional Polish dessert that is generally eaten on Fat Tuesday (in North America) or Fat Thursday (in European countries).
- Maintaining the temperature of the oil is important. If the oil is too cool, the doughnuts will be very oily. If the oil is too hot, the inside of the doughnut will not cook properly.
- The piping tip isn’t necessary. The donuts are small enough that this could be done by just snipping a hole in the piping bag. However, the tip makes the job a lot cleaner with less waste.
- The filling doesn’t have to be raspberry jam, there are lots of variations…. strawberry, grape jelly. You can even fill it with Bavarian cream, vanilla, or chocolate pudding. If using jam, I recommend a seedless one.
- These doughnuts are best eaten the day that you make them. If you are making them in advance, don’t make them more than one day in advance, and do not sprinkle them with powdered sugar until it is time to serve them.
- Store them in an airtight container. These will only keep for a day or so before they start to get stale.
- You can freeze these doughnuts. They are best if put in an airtight container and frozen immediately after making them. Thaw at room temperature and serve immediately after thawing.
Nutrition Information
Yield
20Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 154Total Fat 7gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 3mgSodium 147mgCarbohydrates 21gFiber 1gSugar 8gProtein 2g
