Nutella Filled Zeppoli (Italian Donuts)

Starting this blog has been the best decision I've made all year, because whenever I want to eat something naughty and delicious, I say say it's for Bub's Grubs! This afternoon I was craving something sweet, but had pretty limited ingredients on hand so I whipped up these gorgeous little Zeppoli.

Zeppoli are an Italian version of donuts, except they are way quicker to prepare. Overall these took about 20 minutes and WOW these hit the spot. You may recognise this recipe, because it is precisely the same ingredients as choux pastry. If you baked these instead of fried, you would have the perfect profiteroles or eclairs!

Not only are these incredibly quick and easy to make, but they also use only 6 pantry staple ingredients to make the dough. After piping them full of Nutella, I realised what a versatile recipe this really is. These are traditionally coated in icing sugar, but I opted for cinnamon sugar for a more donuty vibe. I always keep some cinnamon sugar in the pantry at all times. Just combine 1 cup of caster sugar with 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon and keep in an airtight container.

You can absolutely fill these with anything you like. These would be great with a creme patissiere, or even some fresh cream whipped with some icing sugar. Whatever you fill these with, they will definitely impress your friends and satisfy any Friday afternoon sweet cravings.

Ingredients:

• 125g Butter

• 1 Cup Water

• 3 Tbs Sugar

• 1/2 Tsp Salt

• 1 Cup Plain Flour

• 4 Eggs

• Rice Bran Oil, for frying

• Cinnamon Sugar, to dust

• 1/2 Cup Nutella

Let's Make These Zeppoli:

1. Pre heat oven to 180 degree Celsius and line a baking tray.

2. In a saucepan, combine butter, water, sugar, and salt and simmer until butter is melted. Remove from heat, and add in the flour. Mix well with a wooden spoon and return to the heat.

3. Continue mixing until a round dough ball forms. This step is to allow the flour taste to cook out of the dough.

4. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for around 5 minutes. This will prevent the eggs from scrambling when they hit the hot dough.

5. Add in eggs, one at a time, and stir thoroughly. A very sticky dough will be formed.

6. In a deep fry pan, heat oil and keep on a low simmer. Using two teaspoons, create balls of dough and drop them into the oil. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan, so only put in about 4 or 5 at a time.

7. Allow Zeppoli to cook for around 8 minutes, turning over repeatedly to ensure an even cook. They will puff up and roughly triple in size, and be a light golden colour when cooked.

8. Transfer Zeppoli to a baking tray and put in the oven for around 5 minutes to allow them to dry out on the inside.

9. Allow Zeppoli to cool slightly, and coat them in cinnamon sugar. Using a piping bag, fill each donut with Nutella.

These don't keep for long (not that they will last!), so I recommend eating straight away.