This recipe was fantastic, thanks!
To those having problems getting a good "puff" out of your sopapillas, here are some tips, all of which are related to keeping your oil at the right temperature:
1. Use adequate oil. You want at least an inch depth of oil to fry in. Contrary to what some believe, more oil in the pot means less oil in your food, because the temperature stays more constant, and the food finishes cooking before it begins sucking up oil.
2. You need an candy/fry thermometer. Don't trust strange voodoo methods like timing the cooking of bread cubes. Don't trust your electric skillet's temperature controller (mine is off by about 75 degrees!) Spend $10 and buy a thermometer. There's no excuse to guess at the temperature when it's so cheap and easy to measure it.
3. Don't overload the oil. When I made these, I was frying no more than 2 sopapillas at a time. Putting food into hot oil is like dropping an ice cube into a warm beverage -- the food is going to cool the oil around it. Putting a lot of food in will dramatically drop your oil temperature. This is especially bad if you're also violating point #1 and not using enough oil.
HELPFUL TIPS THAT WORK FOR ME EACH TIME: It's very true that to get these to by puffy, you must get the dough as thin as possible. I just make sure the oil is at a temp that if you enter something, it sizzles. Never need a thermometer :) Mine are super puffy if I let one side cook for 2 min, flip ...then another 2 min. They taste exactly like they do at restaurants, and enough of a pocket inside to insert that warm honey. And why stick to squares? I found a star shape cookie cutter & used them. Thought they were cuter. Don't overload your fryer though because you have to leave time to hurry & flip. Also, be sure to wipe off extra oil w/ paper towels!!! Mine didn't taste greasy AT ALL doing it this way. :)
I've been looking for a recipe this good for over five years, and this THE ONE. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon and the honey they recommend, and serve with a scoop of Breyer's vanilla ice cream. It's truly the best.
This recipe is wonderful!! Light and tender... crispy and easy to cook all the way through. I worked in a Mexican restaurant for a bit and we used to take the balls of fresh tortilla dough and just lightly spread/pull them to the right thickness & round shape in front of the fryer. Instead of rolling & messing up my counter, I let the dough rest 20 min.... rolled it into 2" balls & then let them rest about 10 min. & pulled them like I used to. They turned out better than the restaurant's! The last few had an extra 15 min rest and they were even better. This will be my only sopapilla recipe & I'm using it for fresh tortillas too! Thank you for the recipe!! **UPDATE** I stuck several leftover balls of dough in the freezer..just to see what happens. A few days later... HOLY COW! They rose as they defrosted, and, when fried they were soo puffy that they were almost round & completely hollow. I noticed a little bit of a crust on the raw dough just from air contact, but it was completely undetectable after fried. How dangerous can it get with amazing sopapillas just minutes away with virtually no prep??? Thanks again.....I think :o)
I'm Hispanic, and this is a regular dessert at my house. One thing I learned from my my mother was not to roll out the whole dough. Make small meatball size portions and roll out one at the time. They come out thin, puffy, and very crispy.
the recipe was pretty good. and actually sopapillas are from new mexico.
I made these to go with my Mexican Buffet for Super Bowl Sunday. Everyone loved them. They were quick and easy to make. I used a cinnamon, sugar mix to coat them with, while they were still warm.
PUFFING YOUR SOPAPILLA: I realize this is somewhat an issue commonly discussed so I shall tell you all what needs to happen in order to puff your sopapillas. When you drop the dough into your oil you should then proceed to spoon oil over the dough. Yes, begin this immediately. Once the sopapilla is puffed be sure to remember and flip it so that it browns evenly on both sides. Don't forget that the dough needs to not be a thick piece, as a sopapilla should be hollow on the inside. This will happen if you use thin pieces of dough. I hope this helps everyone. Good luck!
