Nona's Sopapillas
Recipe by Nona Stone
Our Recipe Books•Feb 7, 2025
My grandma, who is from New Mexico, passed this recipe down to me. Serve as a side with honey. Tear off the corner and drizzle honey inside while the sopapillas are still hot - delicious!! Or make a sopapilla sundae - dip the hot sopapillas in cinnamon sugar and serve with vanilla ice cream, caramel, and chocolate sauce.
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Instructions
While the oil comes to temperature, roll the dough out on a floured counter until about 1/4 inch thick. Using a pizza cutter, trim the edges smooth then cut the dough into rough rectanges or triangles about 3 inches on each side.
It's okay if you end up with several different shapes and sizes!
Once the oil is hot, carefully drop one piece of dough into the oil. It will sink at first, then float right back to the top. Using metal tongs, gently tap each corner of the sopapilla until it puffs into a pillow shape. As soon as it has puffed, flip it over and cook for an additional minute until the top is browned. Grab your tongs and place on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels.
Repeat with remaining dough until complete.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour (4 cups), salt (1 ¾ tsp), baking powder (1 tsp), sugar (1 Tbsp), and yeast (2 tsp) together. In a medium sized bowl, mix the oil (1 Tbsp), water (⅓ cup), and milk (1 ¼ cups) together.
Stir liquid mixture into dry ingredients. Knead approximately 10 times then place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 20 minutes.
At this point the dough can also be refrigerated for up to 24 hours.
When you are ready to fry the sopapillas, heat the canola oil (2 quarts) over high heat in a large Dutch oven until 420°F degrees.
This is a much higher temperature than you would fry most food but this heat is essential to making the sopapillas puff.
Notes
Serving suggestions: These make a great side for a Mexican themed dinner. Serve warm with honey. Tear off a corner and drizzle the honey inside! Or while just out of the oil, dip in a cinnmon/sugar mixture. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream drizzled with caramel and chocolate sauce.
