Greek honey puffs are little bites of heaven! An amazing Greek dessert that despite being an indulgent delight still complies with the dietary instructions of the Lenten season!
These traditional Greek sweet little honey puffs are definitely one of my favourite desserts, so I was excited to prepare a dairy free Lenten alternative, which is equally delicious as the traditional Greek honey puffs.
Loukoumades are little bite-sized fluffy Greek honey puffs, which are deep fried until golden and crispy, soaked in honey and garnished with chopped walnuts and cinnamon. Simply irresistible!
Lenten Greek honey puffs recipe – Tips
The perfect Greek honey puffs are crispy and golden on the outside and fluffy and airy in the inside. To achieve this perfect texture make sure to use self rising flour and yeast to help the dough to rise. Give it time to rise and it will reward you with its distinctive air-y fluffiness.
Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water and let the dough rise in warm environment. If the room temperature is low, a little trick is to preheat the oven to 40-50 C, turn it off and place the dough in the warm oven.
Maybe the most important part when preparing Greek honey puffs is the ratio between water and flour. Some experimenting has shown me that the more liquid the batter, the more fluffy the honey puffs will become. If you try adding a little bit less water, then the shape will be more elegant, but a little bit heavy on the inside. Using corn starch in the dough helps the honey puffs become more crispy and crunchy on the outside.
Frying the honey puffs the right way is the key to success. Make sure to fry them in batches, so that the surface off the pan is comfortably filled, otherwise they will probably stick together and the temperature of the oil will decrease. You don’t want your honey puffs to become mushy and less crunchy on the outside.
Enjoy this delicious Greek Lenten dessert while still hot with a drizzle of good quality honey and chopped walnuts!
PrintDelicious Lenten Greek Honey puffs recipe (Loukoumades)
- Prep Time: 40 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 25 pieces 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Fried
- Cuisine: Greek
Description
These traditional sweet Greek honey puffs are one of my favourite desserts. So I was excited to prepare this dairy free Lenten alternative, which is just as delicious as the traditional Greek honey puffs!
Ingredients
- 200g self rising flour (7 oz.)
- 50g corn starch (1.7 oz.)
- 280g water (9.8 oz.)
- 9g dry active yeast (1 1/2 tbsp)
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp salt
- 150g honey for garnish (5 oz.)
- 1/4 cups chopped walnuts for garnish
Instructions
- To prepare this delicious Greek honey puffs recipe, start by dissolving the yeast in the water. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for about 5 minutes, until it starts bubbling.
- In a separate bowl add the flour, corn starch and salt and blend to combine. Add the flour mixture in the yeast mixture and pour in the honey. Whisk all the ingredients together, until the batter is smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for about 30 minutes.
- Into a medium sized frying pan pour enough vegetable oil to deep fry the loukoumades. Heat the oil to high heat until hot. Test if the oil is hot enough by dipping in some of the dough. If it sizzles the oil is ready or check its temperature. It should read 160C or 320F.
- Take a handful of the dough in your palm and squeeze it out, between your thumb and index finger, onto a tablespoon dipped in water. Then drop it in the oil and fry until golden. Repeat this procedure until the surface off the pan is comfortably filled. It is important to dip the spoon in a glass of water every time, so that the batter doesn’t stick on it. You want the spoon to be covered in water but not filled with it.
- While being fried, use a slotted spoon to push the honey puffs into the oil and turn them around, until golden brown on all sides. Place the loukoumades on some kitchen paper to drain and repeat with the rest of the dough.
- When done, place these delicious golden Greek honey puffs on a large platter, drizzle with (heated) honey and sprinkle with cinnamon and chopped walnuts. Enjoy!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 piece
- Calories: 108kcal
- Sugar: 16.8g
- Sodium: 94.4mg
- Fat: 0.9g
- Saturated Fat: 0.1g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0.7g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 25g
- Fiber: 0.5g
- Protein: 1.2g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Bit like Dutch doughnuts.
Have to try it
yeas this is nice cooment.
Self raising flour and yeast? What the…
I’m game to try a batch !! Yiayia would say po po po Kouklamou 🙂
Im sure she would :)!!
Kouklamou I just made them and YES!!! they are wonderful the only thing I did was add the sugar to the warm water yeast let proof. Added to the flour and corn starch. Added a tiny bit more flouor for a firmer dough, maybe a 1/3 cup as I mixed the liquid and dry. Proofed in oven and it rose fabulouly. Dropped in hot oil and wonderful!!! you now have taken over my yiayia’s recipe! Thank you for sharing. This is great!!
Im so glad you loved it :)!! And Yiayia would be proud 🙂