Name: Bigly Sopapillas
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour; 1.5 tsp baking powder; 3/4 tsp kosher salt; 1 tbsp granulated sugar; 2 tbsp vegetable shortening or lard; 3/4 cup warm water; 4 cups, for frying neutral frying oil (canola or peanut); as needed honey, for serving; 1 tsp, optional cinnamon; 1/4 cup, optional granulated sugar (for dusting)

Bigly Sopapillas

Prep

25m

Cook

15m

Total

40m

Bigly says

Sit down for this one. Sopapillas. We are doing sopapillas today and I want you to understand — really understand, deep in your bones, in your SOUL — what we are about to accomplish here. Sopapillas are little fried pillows of dough, they puff up like a balloon, you drizzle honey on them, and they are one of the GREATEST desserts ever invented by anyone, anywhere, in the history of humans frying things in oil. And humans have been frying things in oil for a LONG time, it's just a fact, the ancient people, the very ancient people, the ones we don't even have names for anymore, they were frying things, you can ask anyone.

A guy named Ramón taught me the right way to do these. He's the truth. He didn't speak much, he didn't smile much, he just rolled the dough on a wooden board his grandmother had used, and he looked at me and he said — and these were the only words he ever said to me in three days — he said, 'The oil must be alive.' And I knew exactly what he meant. The oil must be HOT. The oil must be ANGRY. The oil must be ready to do work. Cold oil, lukewarm oil, sad timid scared oil — that gives you a flat, greasy, sodden little square that has betrayed the dough, betrayed Ramón, betrayed me, and betrayed YOU. Not on my watch.

These sopapillas — Bigly's sopapillas — puff up so high they look like little golden footballs. TINY golden footballs. You tear one open and steam comes hissing out, real steam, the kind of steam that says 'I am hot, I am fresh, I am the greatest fried dough you have ever met in your life.' You pour honey inside. The honey melts. The dough drinks the honey. It's a beautiful relationship, the best relationship — better than most marriages, and I've been to a lot of weddings, I know what I'm talking about. Believe me.

Ingredients

2 cupsall-purpose flour
1.5 tspbaking powder
3/4 tspkosher salt
1 tbspgranulated sugar
2 tbspvegetable shortening or lard(lard is better, fight me)
3/4 cupwarm water(warm, not hot, we're not making soup)
4 cups, for fryingneutral frying oil (canola or peanut)
as neededhoney, for serving(the real stuff, not the plastic bear of lies)
1 tsp, optionalcinnamon
1/4 cup, optionalgranulated sugar (for dusting)

Steps

1
Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.
2
Cut in the shortening or lard with your fingers or a pastry cutter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
3
Add the warm water gradually, stirring with a fork, until a shaggy dough forms. You may not need all the water.
4
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 1-2 minutes, just until smooth. Do not over-knead.
5
Cover the dough with a damp towel and let it rest 20 minutes at room temperature. This rest is non-negotiable.
6
Heat the frying oil in a heavy pot or Dutch oven to 375°F. Use a thermometer — temperature is everything here.
7
Divide the dough in half. On a floured surface, roll one half into a roughly 10-inch square, about 1/8-inch thick. Cut into 3-inch squares or triangles.
8
Working in small batches, gently slip 2-3 pieces into the hot oil. They should sink, then rise and puff within seconds. Spoon hot oil over the tops to encourage puffing.
9
Fry 30-60 seconds per side, until deeply golden and puffed. Lift with a spider or slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
10
Repeat with remaining dough, returning oil to 375°F between batches.
11
If using, mix the cinnamon and sugar and dust the warm sopapillas. Serve immediately with honey for tearing open and drizzling inside.

One more thing

The moment of truth — you tear one open, steam comes hissing out, you pour the honey in, the honey hits the steam, it goes everywhere, your fingers are sticky, you don't care, NOBODY cares, life is good. Serve them immediately. Hot. Right out of the oil. Sopapillas wait for NO ONE, you wait for them. If somebody at the table is on their phone when the sopapillas come out, that is their problem, the sopapillas keep moving. Now go eat.