Sopaipillas

Everyone has their measure for judging restaurants. For my husband, one of those measures at Mexican restaurants, is whether the sopaipillas are authentic or not (that would be if they just fry tortillas or actually make sopaipillas). We had some friends over for dinner the other night and I made some sopaipillas for dessert. Of course I had to put my own spin on them, but overall they came out great and passed my husbands very discerning palette. They are often served as savory bread accompaniment to meals or served with honey for a sweet treat. There are so many great honeys out there, this is a time that is worthy of seeking some of them out. You'll see two different versions, fried and baked. I was originally going to fry them and then was looking at one recipe that had been adapted to bake them instead of frying. As long as they are baked right before you eat them they are a great lower in fat alternative. Although nothing really takes the place of something fried! So I made them both ways. I have also used this as my entry for the Time To Make The Doughnuts Event



Sopaipillas (makes about 30 1 1/2 x 3" portions)

1 cup milk (scalded)
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
2 TBS sugar
2 TBS butter (softened)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp orange zest, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
2 cups AP flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
oil for frying

After the milk is scalded and it's cooled off enough, mix in the egg, vanilla, butter and sugar to help further cool down the milk. Once at room temperature, add the rest of the ingredients and mix the dough until smooth and elastic. (After initial combining of ingredients I like the let the dough sit 5 minutes before continuing to knead the dough. This lets the liquid be absorbed and the dough isn't as sticky and hard to work with). Once dough is well kneaded and smooth, place the dough in a clean greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set the bowl in a warm place and let the dough rise until doubled. At this point you can either go ahead and use the dough or put it in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours. When ready to cook, roll the dough, on a lightly floured surface, 1/8th-1/4" thick. At this point you can cut the dough into squares, rectangles, or triangles. I kept the size at roughly 1 1/2" x 3" and cut some in triangles and some in rectangles.*
For frying: use a large thick bottomed pot and fill it a few inches high with oil. Heat the oil to about 360 degrees (use a thermometer). Fry 4-8 pieces (depending on how large they are) at a time to ensure even and quick cooking- you don't want to crowd the pan. Flip after a few minutes (dough should turn a dark golden brown)and cook on other side. Make sure the oil has returned to 360 degrees before putting the second batch in the oil to cook. Drain on a paper towel and sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving. Serve with honey for dipping.
To Bake: heat the oven to 500 degrees (and if you have a pizza stone, put that in now to heat up). When the oven is hot, either put the dough onto a lined or greased sheet pan, or directly on the hot pizza stone and bake until a golden brown (10-15 minutes). If desired, once they come out of the oven brush with melted butter and roll in cinnamon sugar. Serve with honey for dipping.
*To have these ready ahead of time, you can roll out the dough, put it on a sheet pan, cover it and refrigerator until ready to cook (take out to heat up, about 20 minutes before cooking).