A delicious, authentic Polish Pączki recipe (Polish donuts), traditionally made for Fat Tuesday or Thursday in February, to celebrate the last day before Lent fasting begins.
When it comes to Fat Tuesday, I’m all about the Polish tradition of Paczki! The Polish do it right, because these Polish donuts are definitely a worthy Fat Tuesday splurge!
Pączki are essentially donuts, made by frying dough, filling with a variety of fruit or custard fillings, and coated with sugar. Paczki are made from a rich dough containing eggs, fats, sugar, yeast and sometimes milk, so they tend to be a little more rich and dense than a typical donut.
Packzi can have a variety of fruit or cream fillings. They can be glazed or covered with either granulated or powdered sugar. In Poland, a stewed plum jam or a wild rose hip jam are the most traditional fillings, but many others are used as well, including strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, apple, prune or custard.
In Poland, Paczki are eaten on Fat Thursday, which is the last Thursday prior to Ash Wednesday (prior to lent). The traditional reason for making pączki was to use up all the lard, sugar, eggs and fruit in the house, in preparation for the fasting of Lent ahead.
In North America, Paczki Day typically occurs on Fat Tuesday, the last day before the beginning of Lent. In some communities with large Polish populations, Paczki day is celebrated on both Fat Thursday and Fat Tuesday.
While there are slight variations, the typical North American pronunciation of Paczki is POONCH-key. Some prefer more of a PAUNCH-key.
Traditionally, Paczki are filled with a prune filling, plum jam, custard or a poppy seed filling, but that said, you can fill with any filling you enjoy. I love fruit jam, such as raspberry, strawberry, blueberry or plum. Apple jam/compotes are also good. On the creamy side, Bavarian Cream would also be nice.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Yeast – You can use either Active Dry or regular Instant yeast such as SAF Brand Instant Yeast (my yeast of choice)
Flour – Use regular all-purpose flour. I like to use unbleached all purpose flour, as a rule, though regular bleached all purpose flour will work well here as well.
Milk – Whole milk is recommended, for best flavour and texture. Whole milk is full-fat milk, known as Homo milk here in Canada. It is generally 3-3.5% butterfat.
Filling – I have used raspberry jam here, as it is my favourite, but any jam is fine here. As noted above, you could also fill with apple, cream or custard. You want to make sure whatever filling you use is not too thin, but also, not too thick, as it needs to be pipe-able to fill the donut.
Oil – for frying the paczki. I like vegetable oil, for frying, though any neutral-tasting oil with a higher smoke point will work here.
You will also need – Eggs (2), white sugar, butter, vanilla, salt.
Tip! Sometimes, traditional Paczki recipes call for a small amount of vodka to be added to the dough, to enhance the flavour and foster a more light and airy texture. If you’d like to experiment with this addition, add about 1-2 Tablespoon of vodka to the dough with the eggs.
Step-by-Step Photos
This is a visual summary of how the Paczki come together. Always refer to the complete instructions in the Recipe Card below.
Recipe Tips
- I like my Paczki rolled in granulated sugar. There’s just something about that sugar crunch! Some Paczki are made with a thin glaze of icing sugar and milk, if you’d rather go that route. You could also dust them in icing/confectioners’ sugar. Any way you eat them, they’re a really delicious treat and definitely a splurge.
- You don’t need a deep fryer to make these, although that’s definitely the easiest route, as it keeps the oil a constant temperature and is safer. If you don’t have a fryer, use a deep, heavy pot and a portable thermometer to monitor the temperature. Do be careful though and have a lid handy, just in case. In the unlikely event the oil ignites, simply cover the pot with the lid to extinguish. Keep kids well away from the deep frying process and take care yourself!
- When deep frying, be sure to use a thermometer to keep the oil temperature constant. If the oil is too hot, it will cook the outside before the inside is cooked. If it is not hot enough, the dough will absorb oil, rather than just cooking the outside to seal the oil out. Also, avoid frying too many Paczki at one time, as it will lower the oil temperature.
- Be sure to coat your Paczki in granulated sugar while they are still warm, so the sugar will stick. If opting for powdered sugar, obviously you’d want to wait until the Paczki are cool before coating, to avoid melting it. As powdered sugar will dissolve over time, add powdered sugar just before serving.
- Every deep fryer is a bit different, so if you find the specified 360F oil temperature is either too hot or too cool, don’t hesitate to adjust up or down as needed, until you find the sweet spot for your fryer.
Making Ahead, Storing and Freezing
Paczki are best enjoyed the day they are made, though they are still nice the next day. Don’t store too tightly wrapped, or the sugar coating will get quite moist. Paczki freeze beautifully, so rather than let them get stale, wrap well and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter for 30 minutes to enjoy.
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Get the Recipe: Authentic Polish Paczki
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 tsp (7 g) dry active or instant yeast, not rapid or quick-rise yeast
- 1 cup (227 ml) whole milk, (3% b.f.) scalded and cooled
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated white sugar
- 2 Tbsp butter, melted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 – 3 1/2 cups (360 – 420 g) all-purpose flour, use only as much as you need to make a moist, but not sticky dough
- Oil, for frying
- White Granulated Sugar, for dusting after frying
- Jam or custard, for filling (suggested: Raspberry, Blueberry, Cherry or Strawberry Jam)
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, heat the milk until steaming with small bubbles forming around the edges (about 180F). Do not boil. Remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm (about 105F). *It's important to ensure the milk has cooled to lukewarm, of it may kill the yeast.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk and let stand for 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of the flour. Mix together and let stand for 20-30 minutes, until really bubbly.
- In the meantime, beat the yolks in a small bowl until they are light and fluffy.
- To the yeast mixture, add the melted butter and sugar and mix. Add salt and vanilla. Add beaten egg yolks. Slowly add more of the flour to bowl in small increments, adding flour just until you have a soft, moist, but not sticky dough. Remove the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead 1 minute (adding a bit more flour if it is sticking to your hands or the work surface). Form dough into a ball.
- Grease a clean bowl and add the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until doubled in size. (This dough is a bit of a slow riser, so expect this rise to be up to 90 minutes).
- Deflate dough and pat out onto a floured cutting board. With a rolling pin, gently roll into a 1/2-inch thick circle. Gently cut out circles with 3-inch biscuit cutter. Place onto a parchment lined baking sheet, cover with a clean tea towel and let rise until doubled (about 30 minutes). *You can re-roll the scraps and cut more pieces, though they are never quite as neat as the first cuts. I like to use the ugliest of these ones as "test" ones, to test the temperature of the oil. I fry one, let cool, then cut it open to make sure it is cooking all the way through. I can then adjust time/temperature, as needed from there.
- Meanwhile, heat oil to 360°F. in a deep fryer or in a large, heavy pot. Fry the Paczki until golden on one side, flip and fry the other side. *Tip! chopsticks are great for flipping the Paczki! Don't try to cook too many at a time, so you don't reduce the temperature of the oil by adding too many at once. Don't rush the frying, to ensure that they are cooked all the way through well. Fry until they are a deep golden colour. Remove paczki to a cooling rack for about 30 seconds, then immediately roll in granulated sugar. Let stand until completely cooled.
- Once cooled, using a sharp knife, poke a hole on the side. Use a pastry bag with a large plain tip to pipe the jam or custard filling inside.
- Paczki are best enjoyed when freshly made, but you can freeze any extras up to 3 months.
Notes
More Donut Recipes to Love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
These look amazing! I’d like to make them this week. Is it possible to make the dough the night before and refrigerate before frying? Nothing beats a fresh donut! Thanks
Hi Lynne, I have’t tried a refrigerator rise, but I think it might work. I don’t think I would cut the rounds before refrigerating though, but rather refrigerate the dough as a whole, then roll and cut the next day. The last rise before frying will be longer, of course, since they are cold, so just let them sit until they are doubled, however long that takes. If you try it, let me know how it works out.
Jennifer, Your tips were perfect! I refrigerated the dough, got up this morning and cut the rounds and let them rise. Rising took about 1 hour. These are incredibly good! So pillowy and light. I filled half with pastry cream and half with jam. I may have eaten 3. Will definitely make again, thank you!!
Glad to hear, Lynne :) Love these with pastry cream, too. And lemon curd is fabulous, as well. Can’t go wrong any way, imo! Thanks :)
Made this version and also a version using Bob red mill 1 to 1 gluten free baking flour and they came out amazing!! The gluten free version didn’t look perfect but they tasted good which is a win in my book! Love finding out that the gluten free flour works with certain recipes so I thought i’d share :)
So glad you enjoyed them, Meridith and always great to know that they work well with gluten-free flour, as well :) Thanks!
I thought about doing this, will have to try next time!! So glad it worked out. Did you use non-dairy milk?
Hi i just made these yesterday. Everything went graet they looked great but the inside was still somewhat raw (doughy) any tips on how to get a even cook? Thanks
Hi Kay, you have to find the sweet spot with the oil temperature. If yours were golden on the outside, but undercooked on the inside, the oil was a touch too hot. Lower it a bit so they can cook longer.
Hello! I will be making these on Sunday morning as a gift to someone! I have done a lot of research and I think this will be my recipe, but just to clarify – if I use instant yeast I can just add it in with the dry ingredients, correct? And, I found a very similar recipe online for baked Paczki, almost all the same measurements but they only used 1 1/2 cups of flour… does the fact that those are baked have to do with the flour being so much less? I have seen online that most fried donut recipes require quite a bit more flour than the baked ones. Cheers!
Hi Margaret, just to be clear, the Instant Yeast referred to in this recipe isn’t anything labeled “Quick Rise” or “Rapid Rise”. It is Instant Yeast, such as SAF brand instant yeast. It is yeast intended for two-rise yeast dough recipes. After that, I have no idea about the baked recipe and flour amounts etc. Honestly, if they are baked, they aren’t donuts, they are a bun, and not a Paczki :)
AMAZING!!!!
So glad to hear! Thanks :)
My stove was out of order waiting for parts so I made the dough and cooked them in an Instant Pot Vortex air fryer. They came out perfect. I do want to make another batch to fry when I get my burners back but these paczti were some of the greatest things I ever ate.
This dough recipe is dynamite. I can’t wait to use it (without the sugar) for Parker House rolls.
So glad you enjoyed them, Henry :) Thanks!
What was the brand of small fryer you used. name /photo helpful. Thank you.
Hi Chris, the one I have they don’t make anymore, but it’s very similar in size and shape to this one – https://www.amazon.ca/Ovente-FDM1091BR-Removable-Adjustable-Temperature/dp/B0746Z3DPM/ref=sr_1_15?keywords=bravetti+deep+fryer&qid=1582848478&sr=8-15 . The key is a small one. It takes less oil and is much easier to store. Of course, it does mean you have to fry in smaller batches (I do only 2 of these paczki at a time), but I don’t deep fry that often, so I don’t find it a major issue. Hope that helps :)
Very, very good, authentic Paczki!
Happy Paczki Day!
Glad you enjoyed them, Jan and Happy Paczki Day to you, as well :) Thanks!
can these be made one day in advance? I want to make them for my boss, but won’t be able to stay up all night to make them and bring them in fresh =)
Hi Karmel, While the donut itself will stand up somewhat well a day ahead, the sugar coating will probably dissolve. Not sure how long you think these take to make, but I just made a batch and it was a bit less than 3 hours, start to finish. If you do make them ahead, don’t put them in a completely air-tight container. That might help the sugar stand up a bit better (let the moisture escape a bit).
I was going to make this recipe but was confused about how long it takes for the dough to double the first time.
Hi Mia, it doesn’t state a time, because it will be different in each kitchen, depending on the temperature of the kitchen. You need to let it rise until it doubles, however, long that takes in your kitchen. That said, as I just made these again myself, I can tell you that in MY kitchen, the first rise took 90 minutes.
We made this recipe tonight with raspberry jam, and it was perfect. My husband (whose family is Polish) said they were just right! This will be the recipe we use from now on. Thanks so much.
So glad to hear, Megan! Raspberry is my favourite :) Thanks so much!
These sound amazing. I bought some at our local Polish deli and they were quite the disappointment. The paczki tasted ok but there was next to nothing in the filling. And they were pretty pricey. So I will be trying your recipe. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Thanks Christine! I think these will hit the spot for you. Enjoy :)
Haven’t tried to make yet but the recipe looks less intimadating then others then others I’ve seen. Also the replies about using fresh non quick rising yeast are also helpful. I’m wondering if I can airfry instead of deep frying?
Hi Penny, Yes, you don’t want to use rapid rise yeast here. It poops out too quickly and you won’t get a good second rise. Someone tried air frying recently and said they we “ok”. For my money, deep frying is really the only way to go here, for best taste and texture. If you try the air frying, let me know what you thought.
I made paczki every year for fat Thursday when I lived in Poland. I always added 95 % grain spirit. It killssome gluten so dough is more puffy. For above recipe I use 1 Tbsp everclear alcohol and 1 Tbsp good brandy or rum. Also adding 1 tsp lemon juice is good.
Hi Slavo and thanks for your tips! I’m not sure we can get 95% alcohol here in Canada, but thinking that vodka might perform similarly?
Vodka will drastically change the taste of dough and will not be the same. Find the brand Everclear. That is what we use if anything calls for spirytus
These are similar to Fank, hungarian doughnuts and the recipe does include rum it apparently stops the oil penetraiting too much.
Good to know, Valerie! Thanks :)
I’ve been using this recipe for a few years now and for some reason they never puff up.. what am I doing wrong??
Hi Alyssa, Are you saying they don’t rise (get puffy before baking) or they don’t puff up when you fry them? If it’s the rise, what type of yeast are you using. If you are using a Rapid Rise type yeast, it may not last long enough. Could that be the issue?