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Crisp, golden brown bunuelos are a popular Mexican dessert served during the Christmas season. Sprinkled liberally with cinnamon sugar and drizzled with homemade piloncillo syrup, these sweet fritters are a crowd-pleasing treat.
Mexican buñuelos are a simple dessert typically served around Christmas and New Year’s. They’re made with an easy dough and fried quickly to crisp, golden perfection. Bunuelos are best served with a hearty sprinkle of cinnamon sugar and a light drizzle of homemade piloncillo syrup.
If you’ve never used piloncillo, it is a type of unrefined cane sugar typically sold in a cone-shaped stick. It has a very molasses-forward flavor with burnt caramel notes and even a subtle smokiness (very tasty!). I’ve always been able to find it easily at my local grocery store in the Hispanic food aisle. For more Mexican desserts, try my decadent Mexican hot chocolate, Mexican wedding cookies recipe, and conchas recipe.
What You Need to Make this Recipe
Piloncillo — piloncillo is a type of raw or unrefined brown cane sugar. You’ll often find it sold as a cone-shaped structure in the Hispanic section at your grocery store. Sometimes called Mexican brown sugar or Panela, piloncillo has a rich molasses taste with hints of burnt caramel and a pleasant earthiness.
Flavorings for piloncillo syrup — you need a cinnamon stick, orange zest, and vanilla extract to add warmth and fresh citrus flavor to the homemade piloncillo syrup.
Leavening — baking powder helps the dough puff up when fried, creating air pockets for a crisp and light texture.
Oil — vegetable oil adds moisture to the dough and is essential for frying. You will also need about 2 cups for frying.
Cinnamon sugar — ground cinnamon and granulated sugar are all you need for the yummy cinnamon sugar.
How to Make Bunuelos
1. Start by making the piloncillo syrup in a medium saucepan. Add 1 ½ cups water, the piloncillo cone, cinnamon stick, orange zest, and vanilla extract to the pan and set it over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally until the piloncillo dissolves. Then reduce the heat to medium heat or lower, just to simmer, and cook for about 30 minutes or until the mixture has reduced to 1 cup. Remove the syrup from the heat, strain into a small bowl, and set aside.
2. While the syrup simmers, work on the bunuelo dough. Whisk together the all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, baking powder, salt, and 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.
3. Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the egg.
4. Then add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Stir until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Slowly add warm water, a tablespoon at a time, mixing and kneading with your hands until a soft, smooth dough forms. Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.
5. Once the 30 minutes is up, divide the dough into 12 small balls and cover for the moment.
6. Place one dough ball on a lightly floured surface. Roll until a thin circle forms, as thin as it can possibly be without tearing, as if you were making flour tortillas. (they don’t need to be a perfect circle to be delicious!) Carefully place the round on a large kitchen towel. Repeat that with the remaining dough balls, placing them on the dish towel, too. Make sure the dough rounds do not touch each other.
7. In a large skillet, fry the dough rounds one at a time in an inch of oil heated anywhere from 350°F to 375°F. Press down with a spatula to submerge the dough in the hot oil so large bubbles do not form, and fry until golden and crispy. This will take about 1 minute per side. Drain excess oil off the bunuelos on a baking sheet lined with paper towels and allow them to cool.
8. In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon. Sprinkle both sides of the buñuelos with the cinnamon mixture and serve drizzled with homemade piloncillo syrup.
Pro Tips for Making this Recipe
- Time-saving tip: While the syrup is simmering for 30 minutes, make the dough since it needs to rest for 30 minutes.
- Use a stand mixer. The dough can also be made in a stand mixer using a dough hook if you don’t want to mix and knead it by hand.
- Place the rolled dough on a dish towel. This helps them to dry out a bit so they are crispier and absorb less oil while frying. Just pick one that is smooth and lint-free- I prefer a floursack-type towel for this.
- Prevent large bubbles from forming. While frying, make sure to press down on the bunuelos with a spatula so large bubbles in the dough do not form. Small bubbles are okay.
Frequently Asked Questions
While sopapillas (or sopaipillas) and buñuelos are made with basically the same sweet dough, they have very different textures. Sopapillas are softer, slightly chewy, and more pillowy (more like a donut) and served with a drizzle of honey, while bunuelos are thin, have a crispy exterior and light, airy interior, and are served with cinnamon sugar and piloncillo syrup.
Buñuelos will keep well in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can reheat them in an oven heated to 300°F. If you store any uncoated in sugar, you can brush them with melted butter once reheated and then coat in sugar.
To prepare ahead, make the buñuelo dough a day in advance, cover it with plastic wrap, and refrigerate. Allow it to come to room temperature before dividing it and shaping it into balls.
You can freeze the dough for up to a month, wrapped well in plastic wrap and a layer or two of aluminum foil. Thaw the dough overnight in the refrigerator, and set it on the counter to come to room temperature before starting to form the bunuelos.
If you’ve tried this bunuelos recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Bunuelos
Equipment
- Medium Saucepan
- Mixing Bowls
- Rolling Pin
- Kitchen towel
- Large skillet
- Baking Sheet
- Paper towels
- Spatula
Ingredients
For the Piloncillo Syrup:
- 1½ cups water (360mL)
- 1 (8-ounce) piloncillo stick (226g)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 2-inch strip orange zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Bunuelos:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (240g)
- ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar divided (100g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon plus ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon divided
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil plus more for frying (about 2 cups/480mL)
- ½ cup warm water (120mL)
Instructions
For the Piloncillo Syrup:
- In a medium saucepan, combine the water, piloncillo stick, cinnamon stick, orange zest, and extract. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occassionally, until the piloncillo stick dissolves. Reduce the heat to medium-low heat and simmer steadily until the mixture has reduced to 1 cup, about 30 minutes.
- Remove from the heat, strain into a small bowl, and set aside.
For the Bunuelos:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, baking powder, salt, and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Form in well in the center and add the egg and 1 tablespoon oil. Stir until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Slowly add the warm water, a tablespoon at a time, mixing and kneading with hands until a soft and smooth dough forms. Cover the dough and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 12 small balls and cover.
- Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet to 350°-375°.
- Place one dough ball on a lightly floured surface and roll to form a circle as thin as possible without tearing. Place on a large dish towel. Repeat with the remaining dough balls, placing them on the dish towel, but not touching each other.
- Line a baking sheet with paper towels.
- Fry the dough rounds one at a time, pressing down with a spatula to submerge the dough so large bubbles do not form, until golden and crispy, about 1 minute on each side. Drain on the paper towels and let cool.
- In a small bowl, stir together the remaining ½ cup sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon. Sprinkle both sides of the bunuelos with the sugar mixture. Serve drizzled with the Piloncillo syrup.
Notes
- Time-saving tip: While the syrup is simmering for 30 minutes, make the dough since it needs to rest for 30 minutes.
- Use a stand mixer. The dough can also be made in a stand mixer using a dough hook if you don’t want to mix and knead it by hand.
- Place the rolled dough on a dish towel. This helps them to dry out a bit so they are crispier and absorb less oil while frying. Just pick one that is smooth and lint-free- I prefer a floursack-type towel for this.
- Prevent large bubbles from forming. While frying, make sure to press down on the bunuelos with a spatula so large bubbles in the dough do not form. Small bubbles are okay.
Nutrition
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