Learn how to make delicious Italian zeppole, a fried dough dessert topped with sugar and enjoyed throughout Italy for festivals. This traditional recipe is made with a sweet dough that is fried in olive oil until golden brown and has a pillowy soft inside. It is perfect for special occasions or anytime you're craving a sweet treat Italian style.
What Are Zeppole
Zeppole in Italian means donuts and there are many ways to make them and many different dough recipes for it. Some dough recipes use a simple yeast pizza dough and some, like this recipe, use a sweet dough called choux.
This fried dough recipe is inspired by the sweet dough style of zeppole the Italians make for the feast of San Giuseppe (St Joseph) in May. Instead of making them into full-sized donut shapes with a custard filling, I like to make Italian donut holes with them and then dust them with a little cinnamon and sugar.
It is easier and they cook up more evenly. It is also how I learned to make this Italian donut.
Also, these Italian donuts are fried in olive oil. I bet you didn't expect that 🙂 It tastes amazing and you will not taste the olive oil, I promise.
It is delicious and you can enjoy these in May as they do in Italy or for special occasions and holidays as my family does.
What You Will Need
- All-Purpose Flour
- Eggs: I like to use large eggs.
- Unsalted Butter
- Granulated Sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Cinnamon
- Water
- Olive oil: Look for regular olive oil if you can. It is lighter in flavor and costs less than extra virgin olive oil. You will need lots of this for frying so don't waste your money on expensive olive oil.
- Kosher salt
How To Make Italian Fried Dough (Zeppole)
- Make the sweet dough (choux): In a medium saucepan on the stovetop mix the flour, sugar, and butter until it forms a thick dough ball when stirring.
- Mix in eggs: Remove this from the heat then mix in the eggs one at a time until the dough is smooth.
- Heat oil: In a large deep bottom pan, add enough oil to come halfway up the sides of the pan. Heat the oil until it reaches 375 degrees.
- Drop in dough: Carefully, drop in small teaspoon-sized portions of dough into the hot oil. Try to only do a few at a time so they cook evenly. If you put too much dough in the oil at one time, it will lower the temperature of the oil.
- Drain on a paper towel: Place the cooked donuts onto paper towels to drain any excess oil.
- Roll in sugar: Now roll the slightly cooled donuts in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Enjoy right away.
Storing And Reheating
Zeppole are best eaten right away since they are fried. I do not recommend storing them for long.
If left out too long, they will flatten since the dough puffs up during frying. If you do want to reheat them, you can place them in a 350-degree preheated oven for about 5 minutes.
Recipe Tips
- The best oil to use: I recommend using regular olive oil, not extra virgin olive for this recipe. The regular olive oil will be lighter in flavor and it will cost less. You need lots of oil for frying so don't waste your money buying olive oil that is expensive.
- Only fill your frying pan halfway: This will prevent hot oil from bubbling out of the pan.
- Color of the olive oil when frying: Olive oil has a lower smoking point than vegetable oil so you will notice towards the end of frying that the olive oil darkens. This is normal. Just make sure the oil stays at the correct temperature when frying by using a candy thermometer to test it.
- For perfect round donut holes: If you want the fried dough to be perfectly round, you can use a pastry bag and pipe large teaspoon-sized pieces into the hot oil. I like the simplicity of using a teaspoon but it won't always produce perfectly round donuts. This is up to you and only about aesthetics.
Variations and Substitutions
- Use powdered sugar: Skip the cinnamon and sugar topping and use powdered sugar for a beautiful presentation. Just make sure to let them cool before doing this.
- Omit the cinnamon: For a classic fried dough flavor, skip the cinnamon and just dust the donuts with sugar.
- Add some citrus flavor: A little lemon zest or orange zest in the dough is wonderful.
- Use your pizza dough: If you want to skip making the choux, you can use pizza dough instead.
- Use Vegetable Oil: If you do not have olive oil on hand, go ahead and use vegetable oil.
Recipe Faqs
Zeppole dough can be made from pizza dough, yeast dough, or sweet dough (choux).
Pasta fritta is how Italians say fried dough.
Zeppole can be made with pizza dough although there are other variations for this Italian donut.
Zeppole are similar to donuts and beignets.
More Classic Italian Desserts
Italian Fried Dough Recipe (Zeppole)
Ingredients
Fried dough
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup water
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- powdered sugar for dusting optional
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan on the stovetop add the water, sugar, salt and butter and melt over medium heat.¼ cup granulated sugar, ¼ cup unsalted butter, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ cup water
- Add the flour to the mixture and mix until it forms a thick dough ball when stirring.1 cup all-purpose flour
- Remove this from the heat and add the dough ball to a large bowl then mix in the vanilla then the eggs one at a time until the dough is smooth.4 large eggs, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a large deep bottom pan, add enough oil to come halfway up the sides of the pan. Heat the oil until it reaches 375 degrees.
- Carefully, drop in small teaspoon-sized portions of dough into the hot oil. Try to only do a few at a time so they cook evenly.
- Place the cooked donuts onto paper towels to drain any excess oil.
- On a small plate, add the cinnamon and sugar and mix well.1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ cup granulated sugar
- Now roll the slightly cooled donuts in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Enjoy right away, dust with powdered sugar for a nice presentation.powdered sugar for dusting
Meg says
My family loves this!