For years, I have wanted to make paczki. But, every recipe I found simply overwhelmed me. It takes lots of time for the dough to rest, rise, punch down and rise again and so on. I view quite a few Polish recipe Facebook pages and I found this recipe recently – just in time for Fat Tuesday!
The kids and I made these and they turned out quite well. Not as good as they should have because I didn’t have a thermometer (ordered one yesterday!), so I guessed with the warm milk for the yeast. This was also the first time I used a recipe calling for yeast; I usually avoid yeast! The best part of this recipe is that you bake the paczki instead of deep frying (all that hot oil around the kids scares me!).
John’s Babcia used to make paczki all the time and she never filled hers. When we made ours, we did not fill them either. As Ryanna said, these tasted like heaven.
Since you are stuck in the house, why not give these a try? Lots of fun and so good!
Place 3/4 cup whole milk – warm (120-130*) but not too hot for yeast, in a bowl.
Add:
Add:
Add:
Using a mixer, beat all ingredients until the dough holds together, adding more flour when necessary.
On a floured surface, knead 5 minutes, cover with linen cloth or plastic and let rest for 10-15 minutes.
On a floured surface, roll dough ½-inch thick. Cut circles using a 2 ½-inch round cutter, or water glass dipped in flour, until all dough is used.
Place paczki on greased baking sheet. Cover with a towel, and let rise in a warm spot about 1 hour at room temperature, until almost doubled.
Bake for 10 -12 minutes in preheated 350-degree oven until nicely browned.
Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in microwave and place ½ cup sugar in a brown lunch bag or bowl.
Brush each paczki while warm with the melted butter and place in bag to coat with sugar (you may use a cinnamon sugar mixture, instead of just sugar).
As I mentioned, I did not fill mine, but here is the recipe just in case you want a little more work!
While dough is resting, in a saucepan combine:
Stir in slowly:
Bring to a boil, stirring continuously for 1 ½ minutes.
Remove from stove and pour cooked custard in bowl and place in refrigerator to cool.
Let the paczki cool, then fill using a pastry bag with a long tip, pushing into the side. Squeeze custard filling in gently (the paczki will grow a bit when filled with the custard).
PFA’s “Let’s Walk” Program
As has been mentioned and promoted previously, the Polish Falcons offers a walking program for Members. Druhna Chris has made a few modifications and is strongly encouraging all of us to participate. With that in mind, Cupid (a bit early) brought Fitbits for John, Ryan, Ryanna and myself. It is lots of fun for the kids and it does help to get one moving.
Obviously, you don’t need a Fitbit; there are numerous free apps to use or one can continue to log miles. Whatever works! (Especially after eating paczki, we need to do lots of walking!)
Our weather is interesting in that we are getting a fair amount of snow, it is cold, but there is often wonderful sunshine! Sun helps my soul so I have been trying to get outside during these bursts. The kids love the great outdoors so they are outside regardless of the temperature or the time of day!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Keep warm and safe!
