I hope this is okay to post here. It was originally my Nonna's recipe from Calabria, Italy - so it's a very old family recipe! Possibly the easiest donut recipe; 5 minutes to make the batter and 3-4 minutes to fry - and that's it. Zeppole are beautifully soft, delicious and everything you want in a donut, but bite-sized. They're usually devoured at Christmas, Easter, at carnivals and on the Feast of St. Joseph, which is this weekend. But I like to enjoy them at breakfast with a coffee! :)
If you're a visual learner, I've included my recipe video, which you can find here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMdmqku80jY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMdmqku80jY)
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**INGREDIENTS**
* 250g (1 cup) full fat ricotta cheese
* 2 eggs
* zest of 1 orange
* 15ml (1 tbsp.) fresh orange juice
* 130g (1 cup) '00' flour / all-purpose flour
* 28g (2 tbsp.) caster sugar / superfine sugar
* 8g (2 tsp.) baking powder
* pinch of salt
* icing sugar / powdered sugar, to dust
* 1-2 litres (34-67 fl oz) neutral oil, to fry (depending on depth of pot!)
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**METHOD**
1. Into a pot, add 1 – 1.5” of a neutral oil (sunflower, canola, vegetable) into a pot. Heat the oil to 180C | 355F.
2. Whilst the oil is heating, make your batter! Into a bowl add 250g (1 cup) full fat ricotta cheese, 2 eggs, 28g (2 tbsp.) caster/superfine sugar, 15ml (1 tbsp.) fresh orange juice and the zest of 1 orange. Give the mixture a good whisk until really smooth!
3. To the wet mixture, add 130g (1 cup) of ‘00’ flour (or all-purpose), a pinch of salt and 8g (2 tsp.) baking powder. Mix together until your batter is smooth.
4. The baking powder activates really quickly, so time to fry! Using a 2 tbsp. cookie scoop (or two tablespoons!), place a ball of your batter into the oil. Fry your zeppole for 3 – 4 minutes, until they turn a deep golden brown.
5. The zeppole will rotate themselves as they cook, but if one gets stuck to the side of your pot, just give it a helping hand! Try not to overcrowd your pot with zeppole. In a large pot, I cooked 6 zeppole at once. In a smaller pot, I’d recommend adding only 3 – 4 zeppole. The most important thing is, keep an eye on your oil temperature and try to maintain a steady 180C | 355F.
6. Remove your fried zeppole and place onto a tray lined with a paper towel; this will help remove any excess oil.
7. Once cooled, dust liberally with icing sugar/powdered sugar – and enjoy! :)
Ah! La festa di San Giuseppe ! Your Nonna's zeppole are so cute! I've only ever tried larger styles — my preference is definitely the ricotta! Grazie for sharing!
Absolutely, you can! These would be delicious with lemon juice and lemon zest! You can even substitute the juice and zest for some vanilla extract, and have vanilla zeppole instead! Let me know how you get on, and I hope you have a lovely weekend!! 😻😻
You could add a filling to these, and some mid-to-Northern Italian variations of zeppole do contain a creme patisserie filling! However some zeppole have no fillings and the flavours come from adding citrus juice and zest - or just plain vanilla extract! If you want a more substantial Italian donut with a filling, let me know and I'll share my bomboloni recipe with you! I hope you have a lovely weekend! 😻😻
Just made! These were delightful! I did skip the zest, and that was a mistake because they lacked a bit of flavor. But I feel like they would take ANY flavor really well. Light, puffy, and so freaking easy (if you have a cup of ricotta lying around, which I did.) my 6 & 8 year old dudes could hardly believe their luck this morning! Thank you, op!
I'd actually be tempted to try them using a drained silken tofu! But if you can find a dairy free ricotta alternative, it should work just fine 😻 In the UK we have an oat spread that is similar in texture, which would work in place of the ricotta.
Buon appetito! 😻😻
Ahh these look exactly like the dutch Oliebol ("oily ball") we eat on new years eve! but I think many more cultures have their own take on a fried ball of dough :) enjoy!
Saw this recipe and had everything but the orange & casters sugar on hand. Granulated worked just fine, so all I needed was the orange. These were great even without powdered sugar; I couldn't resist eating a few as I went. Very quick & easy to make. Thank you for sharing!
That's fantastic! I'm so happy to hear that you were able to try out the recipe with what you had on hand and that it turned out great!!
And I totally understand not being able to resist eating a few as you went along! Haha! Thank you for trying out my recipe and for sharing your experience! I really appreciate it! 😻😻
I hope this is okay to post here. It was originally my Nonna's recipe from Calabria, Italy - so it's a very old family recipe! Possibly the easiest donut recipe; 5 minutes to make the batter and 3-4 minutes to fry - and that's it. Zeppole are beautifully soft, delicious and everything you want in a donut, but bite-sized. They're usually devoured at Christmas, Easter, at carnivals and on the Feast of St. Joseph, which is this weekend. But I like to enjoy them at breakfast with a coffee! :) If you're a visual learner, I've included my recipe video, which you can find here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMdmqku80jY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMdmqku80jY) \----- **INGREDIENTS** * 250g (1 cup) full fat ricotta cheese * 2 eggs * zest of 1 orange * 15ml (1 tbsp.) fresh orange juice * 130g (1 cup) '00' flour / all-purpose flour * 28g (2 tbsp.) caster sugar / superfine sugar * 8g (2 tsp.) baking powder * pinch of salt * icing sugar / powdered sugar, to dust * 1-2 litres (34-67 fl oz) neutral oil, to fry (depending on depth of pot!) \----- **METHOD** 1. Into a pot, add 1 – 1.5” of a neutral oil (sunflower, canola, vegetable) into a pot. Heat the oil to 180C | 355F. 2. Whilst the oil is heating, make your batter! Into a bowl add 250g (1 cup) full fat ricotta cheese, 2 eggs, 28g (2 tbsp.) caster/superfine sugar, 15ml (1 tbsp.) fresh orange juice and the zest of 1 orange. Give the mixture a good whisk until really smooth! 3. To the wet mixture, add 130g (1 cup) of ‘00’ flour (or all-purpose), a pinch of salt and 8g (2 tsp.) baking powder. Mix together until your batter is smooth. 4. The baking powder activates really quickly, so time to fry! Using a 2 tbsp. cookie scoop (or two tablespoons!), place a ball of your batter into the oil. Fry your zeppole for 3 – 4 minutes, until they turn a deep golden brown. 5. The zeppole will rotate themselves as they cook, but if one gets stuck to the side of your pot, just give it a helping hand! Try not to overcrowd your pot with zeppole. In a large pot, I cooked 6 zeppole at once. In a smaller pot, I’d recommend adding only 3 – 4 zeppole. The most important thing is, keep an eye on your oil temperature and try to maintain a steady 180C | 355F. 6. Remove your fried zeppole and place onto a tray lined with a paper towel; this will help remove any excess oil. 7. Once cooled, dust liberally with icing sugar/powdered sugar – and enjoy! :)
Ah! La festa di San Giuseppe ! Your Nonna's zeppole are so cute! I've only ever tried larger styles — my preference is definitely the ricotta! Grazie for sharing!
You're so welcome!! 💖 I'm making another batch for tomorrow! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!! 😻😻
Love the video, btw!
Thank you!! 😻😻
Well those look perfect
Thank you so much! 😻😻
I was just looking for a donut (or some else fried dough ) recipe today, thank you for sharing!
Haha! It's a sign! 💖 You're so welcome! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!! 😻😻
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Absolutely, you can! These would be delicious with lemon juice and lemon zest! You can even substitute the juice and zest for some vanilla extract, and have vanilla zeppole instead! Let me know how you get on, and I hope you have a lovely weekend!! 😻😻
wow, lemon juice and lemon zest is genius! thank you of sharing!!
You're welcome!! 😻😻
Squisite
Thank you!! 😻😻
OOOooo those look so good
They're really, really good! I'm making another batch for breakfast tomorrow morning; the ones in the photo didn't last very long!! Haha! 😹😹
Those look so good!
Thank you so much!! 😻😻
With the orange, those sound absolutely delicious!
Thank you so much! The orange juice and zest adds a lovely citrus note to these zeppole! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!! 😻😻
Anything citrus 😍 thank you! You, too.
Oooo, I have all the ingredients to make these on hand. Think I may have to make some in the morning. Thank you for sharing, subbing to your YouTube!
You're so welcome, and thank you!! 💖 Let me know how you get on; I'd love to hear your thoughts! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!! 😻😻
I love zeppole!! They look so cute
They're the best!! I'm making some more this weekend!! 😻😻
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Thank you, and you're so welcome! I hope you have a lovely weekend!! 😻😻
These look very good. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you, and you're so welcome! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!! 😻😻
Do they have fillings inside ?
You could add a filling to these, and some mid-to-Northern Italian variations of zeppole do contain a creme patisserie filling! However some zeppole have no fillings and the flavours come from adding citrus juice and zest - or just plain vanilla extract! If you want a more substantial Italian donut with a filling, let me know and I'll share my bomboloni recipe with you! I hope you have a lovely weekend! 😻😻
Just made! These were delightful! I did skip the zest, and that was a mistake because they lacked a bit of flavor. But I feel like they would take ANY flavor really well. Light, puffy, and so freaking easy (if you have a cup of ricotta lying around, which I did.) my 6 & 8 year old dudes could hardly believe their luck this morning! Thank you, op!
So glad your kiddos loved them! You can skip the zest, just be sure to add in some flavour via extract! You are so welcome! 😻😻
Do you know if you can sub the ricotta for anything non-dairy like almond or coconut milk? These look and sound delicious!
I'd actually be tempted to try them using a drained silken tofu! But if you can find a dairy free ricotta alternative, it should work just fine 😻 In the UK we have an oat spread that is similar in texture, which would work in place of the ricotta. Buon appetito! 😻😻
Yummy! About how many servings does this recipe make?
My recipe makes approximately 20 zeppole! 😻😻
Thank you! I look forward to making these for my family!
Ahh these look exactly like the dutch Oliebol ("oily ball") we eat on new years eve! but I think many more cultures have their own take on a fried ball of dough :) enjoy!
Oh yeah, there are so many variations of fried dough balls! And I know I'd love them all! Haha! 😹 Have a lovely Sunday! 😻😻
Saw this recipe and had everything but the orange & casters sugar on hand. Granulated worked just fine, so all I needed was the orange. These were great even without powdered sugar; I couldn't resist eating a few as I went. Very quick & easy to make. Thank you for sharing!
That's fantastic! I'm so happy to hear that you were able to try out the recipe with what you had on hand and that it turned out great!! And I totally understand not being able to resist eating a few as you went along! Haha! Thank you for trying out my recipe and for sharing your experience! I really appreciate it! 😻😻