Zeppoles are light-weight, doughnuts or fritters topped with powdered sugar. This pastry is typical of Italian cuisine. Zeppole are traditionally consumed on Saint Joseph’s Day (La Festa di San Giuseppe), 19th March.

ZEPPOLE (Italian Fried Cookies)
ZEPPOLE (Italian Fried Cookies) - light-weight, doughnuts or fritters topped with powdered sugar
Course:
Dessert
Cuisine:
Italian
Servings: 16 zeppole
Ingredients
- 1 cup (250 ml) water
- 1/3 cup (70 gr) butter
- a pinch salt
- 5 oz (150 gr) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 oz (40 gr) sugar
- 3 eggs
- zest of 1/2 lemon
- for decoration: powdered sugar pastry cream, candied cherries
Instructions
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Pour water into a saucepan, add the salt and butter and bring to a boil.
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As soon butter melts and water boils, put inside all the flour at once. Mix well with a wooden spoon for about 3 minutes, or until you get a ball of dough which no longer sticks to the sides of the pan.
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Remove the pan from the heat, add sugar and mix well. Transfer the mixture into another bowl and let cool. Once the batter reaches room temperature, add lemon zest and eggs, one at a time, incorporating each egg completely before adding the next.
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Cut out 2-in (8×8 cm) squares of baking paper. Put the batter in a pastry bag fitted with a star-shaped tip. On each paper square, form a ring of dough with a spiral movement.
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Place 2-3 zeppoles in hot oil (170° C) together with paper. The paper will come off by itself after a few seconds. Once golden and puffed up, remove zeppoles with a slotted spoon and place them on paper towels to drain.
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Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar or filled with pastry cream and garnished with candied cherries.
Love the recipes, can’t wait to try them. So many to try and so little time to do so. Darn. But I will make time. Yum.
Everything about this cookie sounds exciting!
do you have recipe for the pastry cream you used? I don’t have a recipe.
these look wonderful
@tonya
You can use any pastry cream or custard creme (Italians call it “crema pasticcera”), like the one I used for Cream Puffs:
https://www.kitchennostalgia.com/croatian-recipes/princes-krafne-easy-cream-puff-recipe.html
wow! I am so excited by all of these recipes, can’t wait to get started, I don’t know what I am going to try first,