We’re less than a week away from Christmas, and I’m just about ready to finalize our menu!
For appetizers, I’m going to be serving: Sambal Chicken Skewers, Honey Mole Glazed Wings, Crema Mexicana Pickled Jalapeño Deviled Eggs, and pico de gallo. For dinner, I’m going to be making tamales (recipe coming soon!), my moms’ favorite beer braised ribs and some rice pilaf. For dessert, I’m going to make the Horchata Tiramisu, Ensalada de Fruta, and the buñuelos I’m sharing today!
Buñuelos de viento are these crispy, airy, fritters covered in sugar that are very popular during Christmas time in Mexico. There are two popular variations of buñuelos found in Mexico, buñuelos de rodilla which use a a dough, are flat and circular in shape and are typically drenched in a piloncillo syrup and then there are buñuelos de viento which use a batter and an iron rosette mold. (Be sure to head over to my instagram page for a chance to win a rosette mold!)
These fritters are pretty easy to make, you just have to remember to dip your mold into the batter about half way, so when it starts to fry, the buñuelo slips right off the mold. You also need to be aware of the temperature of your oil while you’re frying. If the oil is too hot, you run the risk of them browning on the outside very quickly and being raw in the center.
My mouth is watering just thinking about these fritters, so I’m going to fix myself a warm cup of chocolate abuelita and eat the rest of these buñuelos. Have a great Holiday season!
Find the recipe in my new cookbook Chicano Bakes!
Buñuelos de Viento
Ingredients
- For the buñuelos:
- 2 eggs
- 1 ¼ cup milk
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- For the sugar coating:
- 1 ¼ cup sugar
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
Oil to Fry
- 6 Cups Vegetable Oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, just until everything has been combined. In a second large bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, sugar and cinnamon. Slowly pour in your wet ingredients into the flour mixture, continuously whisking until your liquid has been fully incorporated and your batter is smooth.
- Preheat a deep frying pan or dutch oven filled with 6 cups of vegetable oil. Once your oil reaches 350 degrees, place your rosette iron in the oil for about one minute. While the rosette iron heats up, make the sugar coating. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon and ginger, then set aside.
- Take your rosette out of the oil and carefully dip your rosette half way into the batter. (If you completely submerge the rosette into the batter, the buñuelo will enclose your iron once you dip it into the oil and won't release). Your iron needs to be hot enough so when you dip it into the batter, it sizzles.
- Place the rosette back into the oil and gently shake until the buñelo releases into the oil. Fry for 30 seconds to a minute then flip over and fry another 30 seconds to a minute until the buñelo is golden and crispy then carefully transfer it to the spiced sugar mixture and toss until coated.
10 Comments
terrymtz
December 20, 2017 at 2:16 pmSo interesting! I’ve never seen buñuelos de rodilla in syrup before–we always do canela and granulated sugar in the Rio Grande Valley. One of our housekeepers also made buñuelos with fruit punch Jarritos soda (I think to make them more crisp, in theory?), and it turned them a pretty pink color!
Irene Zaragoza
January 5, 2020 at 2:39 pmHelp!
My buñuelos looked good. But they soon
became soggy in the center. The edges were crisp. By morning they were all soggy.
What can the problem be?
Thank you. Irene
Esteban
January 5, 2020 at 3:25 pmHi Irene,
I’m so sorry that happened! I think it could be a few things that come to mind. Did you stack them as they were done frying? Perhaps some of the excess oil could have dripped down into some of the buñuelos. Another thing I can think of is that they might have just needed to be fried a little longer! I made the buñuelos on my Instagram stories, I’m including the link so you can follow along and see what I did, I think that might be a little more help! https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17855056018670436/
Lee Walzer
December 25, 2020 at 8:39 amI cannot get the buñuelos to separate from the mold. What am I doing wrong?!
Esteban
December 26, 2020 at 12:17 pmHi Lee, was the iron completely sumbmerged into the batter? If it was, the buñuelo will enclose the iron and not come off, the iron needs to be dipped about halfway into the batter, then when you dip it into the oil, give it a slight shake as it starts to fry and it should release with ease.
Lee Walzer
December 26, 2020 at 1:51 pmHi, Esteban,
The iron was not completely submerged in the batter. The source of my problem may be any of the following (or a combination): 1) I didn’t properly prepare the iron in advance (I rinsed it); 2) the oil isn’t hot enough and/or I didn’t leave the iron in the oil long enough; 3) I didn’t shake off enough oil or let it rest on a towel before submerging it in the batter. The batter just fried right onto the iron and never separated, which made cleaning it off again very challenging. Thank you for your help! Lee
Martha
December 25, 2020 at 5:53 pmI tried these and they were delicious and a hit! However, towards the end of the batter I could not get the batter to stick on. The batter sizzled then fell off the rosette before I could transfer to the oil. I tried to hover around 350-360. Have you ever encountered this?
Esteban
December 26, 2020 at 12:18 pmHi Martha, it sounds like the iron just wasn’t hot enough towards the end! After frying a couple of them I like to leave the iron in the oil for a minute or two to get hot again before frying some more!
Martha
December 26, 2020 at 1:39 pmThank you! I will do that next time and not be so impatient 🙂
Mexican Christmas Dinner - A Joyfully Mad Kitchen
December 7, 2022 at 4:16 pm[…] food after the posadas includes tamales, atole, buñuelos and a hot drink called ponche de fruita (which is sometimes spiked with rum or tequila for the […]