Happy Paczki Day!

Everyone has heard of Mardi Gras or its other playful name of Fat Tuesday; but what about Paczki Day???? 

Happy Paczki Day! [Pronounced: POON-check] Paczki Day was first celebrated in the US by Polish immigrants, and was brought to cities lie Chicago, Detroit, Hamtramck and New York. The city organizes the celebration, and the local Polish bakeries bake traditional pounchkis for the occasion. A pounchki is a  traditional pre-Lenten Polish "donut" and is puffy, tasty, and made with ingredients that are not the usual stuff of donuts. Though the pounchki (also named paczki or punchki ) is called a donut, it has no hole.

I may not have time to make this delicious recipe today (it took a long time for me to find it!) but I hope you will give it a try in the mean time! When I make it, I will post pictures!!!!! Until then, enjoy those Pounchkis! YUMMMMM

recipe and picture by www.ninjalite.com

Punchki Ingredents

• 7 cups flour
• 6-7 tbls. butter
• 5 tbls. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• flavoring (optional)
• (almond, lemon, or rum)
• 1-2 eggs
• 2 packages yeast
• 2 1/4 cups milk

As needed:

• filling
• oil (canola)
• brown paper bag (cut up)
• granulated sugar

Instructions

• Make sure you have a large bowl and mix the flour, butter, sugar, salt and flavoring together.
• Add the eggs to the mixture.
• Mix the yeast with some warm milk, make sure that the milk doesn’t get too hot and mix it with the rest of the ingredients.
• Let the dough rise for 40 minutes.
• Roll the dough out on your counter until it is about 1/3 of any inch thick.
• Use a cookie cutter or a large glass to cut out the Punchki.
• Let them rise again until they are slightly puffy.
• Heat the canola oil in a two inch deep pan and place them in the oil to fry.
• Drain the excess oil out of the Punchki on some paper, paper towels work.
• While they are still warm role them in some granulated sugar and will them with your desired filling.