Sopapillas??

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lhanson

Cook
Joined
Jun 21, 2005
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51
Location
Oregon
Back when I was a teenager, my family used to eat at a little Mexican restaurant that served what they called "sopapillas" for dessert. They were deep fried pieces of chewy dough which they served with honey buttter. They were SOOOO good, but it closed up years ago and I've never ran across anything similar. Does anyone know what I'm talking about and if so do you know where I could get a recipe?

Thanks!
 
ihanson, I've never had sopaipillas but I do have a recipe..It's a yeast recipe that involves frying the dough ..If this might be what your looking for I'd be happy to post it for ou... It is served warm with honey

kadesma:)
 
This is my favorite southwestern dessert -

Sopapillas


3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. shortening
1 cup warm water




-mix first 3 ingredients; cut in shortening and add water.
-Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; cover with damp cloth; Let dough rest for approximately one hour.
-Divide into 2 equal pieces and roll each piece to 1/2" - 3/4" thick.
-Cut triangles out of dough. (about the size of your hand)
-heat oil (about 1-1/2" deep) to 425. Fry triangles, turning once, until golden; drain on brown paper bags covered with paper towels.


Notes: Serve with honey butter.
 
Kadesma-
That sounds like what I'm looking for. Please post it when you get a chance. Almost all the restaurants I've been to other than that one serve a crisp chip-like triangle sprinkled with cinnamon, honey, whipped cream and sometimes strawberries which they also call "sopapillas". I think those might be what the recipe Jkath posted would produce. These were almost like donuts but a chewier texture and were in no particular shape, just blobs of dough.
Thanks for all your help!
 
Here it is ihanson, I hope this is what you are looking for.

Sopaipillas

1-package active dry yeast
1/4c- warm water (about110f)
1-1/2c-milk
3-Tab lard or vegetable shortening
1-tea. salt
2-Tab. sugar
1-c. whole wheat flour
about 4 c. a/p flour
salad oil
powdered sugar
Honey
in large bowl, stir yeast into warm water and let stand til soft (about 5min.).
In a 1-1/2-to-2-quart pan, combine milk, lard, salt, and sugar, heat over low heat to 110f and stir into yeast mixture. Beat in whole wheat flour and 3 cups of a/p flour, til dough is stretchy. Knead on lightly floured board til dough is smooth and satiny, adding more a/p flour as needed. Place in a greased bowl, turn to coat.Cover and let rise at room temp til double about 1 hour.
Punch down dough, knead briefly. On lightly floured board, roll dough, a quarter at a time, into rectangles about 1/8 thick. Cut each rectangle into 6 equal pieces; place in lightly floured pans and cover with plastic wrap.
Pour oil to a depth of 2 inches in a deep 3-4 qt. pan and heat to 350 on a deep fry thermometer. Add dough, 2 or 3 pieces at a time, and cook turning and gently pushing bubbly portion into into hot oil to help sopaipillas puff ebenly, til golden 1-2 min total. Drain on paper towels.Dust while warm with powdered sugar...If made ahead, let cool,cover ad refrigerate for up to 2 days,freeze for longer storage. To reheat, thaw if frozen. Arrange on baking sheets and bake in a 300 oven, turning once til warm 5-8 min. makes 2 dozen.
There is a picture of them , they look like small puffy pillows and it says to serve with hot chocolate and to drench them with honey.
I do hope this is what you are looking for. And can enjoy once again.
kadesma:)
 
I think jkath had the most traditional recipe (using baking powder) - but I would be interested in trying the version using yeast.

If you ever get to New Orleans, LA - go to the French Quarter and look for a place over on the east side near the river in the old French Market - called Cafe du Monde (anybody in the quarter will be able to give you directions). The Mexican restaurants call them Sopaipillas and serve them with butter/honey/cinnamon - the French Acadian's called them Beignets and serve them with copious amounts of powdered sugar. Either way - it's a puffy fried fritter/donut.

For more recipe options:
Sopaipillas: http://www.google.com/search?biw=1004&hl=en&q=Sopaipilla+recipes

Beignets: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&biw=1004&q=beignet+recipes
 
Last edited:
Michael - I had my first beignet last year at Downtown Disney (between the 2 theme parks) at a Louisiana-themed restaurant. They were quite tasty indeed!
 
I was shopping at Trader Joe's to day and the have Cafe du Monde coffee and chickory and a box of bignet mix...HUMMMMMM I did buy the coffee:) kadesma
 
Michael in FtW said:
I think jkath had the most traditional recipe (using baking powder) - but I would be interested in trying the version using yeast.

If you ever get to New Orleans, LA - go to the French Quarter and look for a place over on the east side near the river in the old French Market - called Cafe du Monde (anybody in the quarter will be able to give you directions). The Mexican restaurants call them Sopaipillas and serve them with butter/honey/cinnamon - the French Acadian's called them Beignets and serve them with copious amounts of powdered sugar. Either way - it's a puffy fried fritter/donut.

For more recipe options:
Sopaipillas: http://www.google.com/search?biw=1004&hl=en&q=Sopaipilla+recipes

Beignets: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&biw=1004&q=beignet+recipes

Micheal,
I've no idea which recipe is which, but I do have a picture and they look like small puffed pillows...I think it might be fun to try both recipes and see what I get :LOL:
either way they should be yummy...Thanks for the info.
kadesma:)
 
Yeah - a Sopaipilla and a Bignet are really the same thing - puffy little hollow pillows. I know that when made with baking powder the two layers will seperate and poof - like pita bread. I really don't know, never tried it, but I'm guessing the yeast recipe would have a different internal texture.

It's sometimes called French Market coffee, sometimes Cafe du Monde coffee, it's coffee and chickory .... and there is another brand name that I can't remember right now. To borrow from Cafe Du Monde's website, "The Cafe Du Monde Coffee and Chicory is traditionally served Au Lait, mixed half and half with hot milk." While it is called Cafe au Lait - that's really not how they mix it at Cafe du Monde! If you watch them pour it, it "appears" that they are mixing half coffee and half hot milk - but the diameter on the spout of the milk pot is larger than the coffee pot ... it's really 2/3 milk and only 1/3 coffee.

Just a little trivia for those who have been there and bought a can and never could make it taste the same ....
 
Michael in FtW said:
Yeah - a Sopaipilla and a Bignet are really the same thing - puffy little hollow pillows. I know that when made with baking powder the two layers will seperate and poof - like pita bread. I really don't know, never tried it, but I'm guessing the yeast recipe would have a different internal texture.

It's sometimes called French Market coffee, sometimes Cafe du Monde coffee, it's coffee and chickory .... and there is another brand name that I can't remember right now. To borrow from Cafe Du Monde's website, "The Cafe Du Monde Coffee and Chicory is traditionally served Au Lait, mixed half and half with hot milk." While it is called Cafe au Lait - that's really not how they mix it at Cafe du Monde! If you watch them pour it, it "appears" that they are mixing half coffee and half hot milk - but the diameter on the spout of the milk pot is larger than the coffee pot ... it's really 2/3 milk and only 1/3 coffee.

Just a little trivia for those who have been there and bought a can and never could make it taste the same ....
I'm planning to try some of the coffee and chicory in the morning..Thanks for the trivia..I'm hoping it's strong and bitter and I can add some frothed warm milk to it. Of course I'll probably pay the price and not sleep for a week:ROFLMAO:
kadsma:LOL:
 
Sopapilla are common to Mexican restaurants in the Southwestern U.S. They show up in almost every Mexican restaurant in New Mexico and Arizona, but I have never seen them on the menu in either California or Texas, so it is obviously a regional Mexican delicacy.

There are many differences between the Cajun beignet and the Mexican sopapilla, the most obvious of which is that the sopapilla contain yeast and/or baking powder, while the beignet uses eggs as the leavening agent.

Typical Beignet Recipe
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1 cup water
1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cottonseed or vegetable oil for frying*
Powdered sugar

Typical Sopapilla Recipe
6 c. flour
1 1/2 tbsp. oil
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 c. warm water


You will also notice that most sopapilla recipes have little or no sugar in the batter
 
Caine, I'm a CA native, and I've had them at different places!

For anyone in the Southern CA area, there's a little hole in the wall that's worth mentioning: Anita's in Fullerton on Harbor Blvd. Great southwestern stuff, including sopaipillas with honey.
 
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