Make Mexican Buñuelos Without a Recipe
By Rick Martinez
Photo: Alex Lau
Growing up, New Year’s Eve meant going to Grandma’s house for buñuelos and hot chocolate. Her front door would open and we were greeted by the smell of cinnamon, chocolate, and fried pastry. And a big hug and kiss of course. With a small, pitted dowel and what seemed like two passes, she’d roll perfect circles of dough while I watched on in awe. She would stack the finished pastry in perfectly straight columns with all her grandkids running around the kitchen waiting for the “okay” to attack them.
My grandmother never used a recipe. She just knew.
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When I was in third grade, our class was asked to bring baked goods to a school function. My mom decided that we were going to make buñuelos, even though she had never made them. All the other kids were bringing cupcakes and cookies and I was going to bring something that no one had ever tasted, heard of, or could even pronounce. But that’s what we were making; she was determined to learn. She called my grandmother that night and wrote down everything she said: no measurements, just instruction. She made them and just like grandma’s. Any fear I had that the other kids were not going to like what my mom and I made vanished like all of the buñuelos in that Tupperware container I took to school that day.
After years of watching these women, studying, taking notes, and getting a hands-on tutorial from my Aunt Terry, here’s what I’ve learned.
It’s all about the dough—how it feels, how it looks, and how it stretches. It’s soft, slightly sticky, and not too elastic. Don’t overwork it or you’ll end up with something that resembles a fried cracker. It fries quickly and wants to puff up—but don’t let it or it won’t cook evenly. And use a food processor; it makes life so much easier.
Here’s how to do it:
Pulse 3 cups of AP flour, and a teaspoon of each baking soda and salt in a food processor until it’s combined. Add ½ cup vegetable shortening and pulse until the mixture looks like wet sand. With the motor running, slowly pour in 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water and process until the dough comes together and forms a ball. Turn the dough out and knead for about 1 minute, just until the dough is smooth. Let it rest for about 30 minutes and divide it up into little Ping Pong-sized balls.
Then, heat up about an inch of oil in a large cast iron skillet. Flatten out the dough balls and roll them out as thin as you possibly can. And don’t worry if the dough is not a perfect circle; the edges will magically round out when you drop them in the oil. Gently lay them down into the oil. Bubbles will form on the surface of the dough, prick them with the tines of a fork to let the steam escape and to keep them from getting too puffy. Fry them on both sides until they are golden brown and crispy. Drain the buñuelos on paper towels and generously sprinkle them with cinnamon-sugar. Serve with a mug of Mexican hot chocolate.
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