Zeppoli and Stroufoli -- Add more flour as needed!

When I moved to Pennsylvania, I made stroufoli and zeppoli on my own for the first time, using my mother’s recipes.  Now, I'm no chemist but the egg/flour ratio that she wrote didn't look right to me. When I called to ask her about it she said, "When you do it, it will come out OK, you'll see." And, of course, she added, "And double the recipe because it never makes enough."

I put 2 dozen eggs and 8 cups of flour (double her original recipe) in a bowl and mixed it up. It looked too soupy to turn onto the counter and knead so I called her again. She said, impatiently, "Just do it, turn it over and you'll see, it will all come together."

So I did as I was told and the soupy flour egg mixture ran over the counter and down the sides. I was using my whole arms to gather it in the middle of the kitchen island while I poured more flour until I could make dough.

I called her back and told her this and she said, "Well, you know I just estimated the amounts. You have to add a little more flour as needed."

Here's a better estimate of the ingredients and please, if it looks like it needs a little more flour, add it before you turn the dough onto the counter!

Always make the Zeppoli dough first because it has to raise.

Ingredients for Zeppoli: 
4 cups flour
3 packages of yeast -- dissolve in 1/2 cup of warm water and let it bubble before adding to the flour
2 Tbs salt
Oil for frying (sunflower oil works best)

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Add more warm water to make a very soft, stretchy, sticky dough. Let it rise about two hours. (While you're waiting for it to rise, make the stroufoli dough and shapes)

Always fry the zeppoli first, because the stroufali dough has eggs in it and ruins the oil.

Heat the oil in a deep saucepan.  Put a little COLD oil in a small bowl so you can dip your fingers in. This will keep the dough from sticking to your fingers. With your hands, pick up a small piece of dough -- about a tablespoon full -- stretch it a little and drop it gently into the hot oil. Turn the zeppoli to brown on both sides.  Put them in a brown paper bag to absorb the extra oil.

Stroufoli: 

Ingredients:

1 dozen eggs
8 cups of flour and ADD MORE AS NEEDED!!!!
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

Mix all ingredients until smooth and ADD MORE FLOUR as needed to make a soft, smooth dough.
Turn it on to the floured counter top (only when you're sure it's dough, not soup) and knead until smooth.

Let the dough rest about 20 minutes. Then, roll strips between your hands and cut into 1/4 inch nuggets. Make sure they're all the same size in honor of Gram! For pinwheels, roll dough out to a thin circle and cut into inch-wide strips, about 10 inches long. Pinch the dough together every inch and then twirl into a circle. You can also make bows by cutting the long strips into 3-inch pieces and pinching the middle.

Put all of the creations on floured trays. After you finish frying the zeppoli, fry the stroufoli in batches until golden brown.
Put it all in a brown paper bag to absorb the extra oil.

To serve the stroufoli and zeppoli:
 Mix two parts honey with one part water -- so if you empty a jar of honey into a pot, fill the empty jar halfway with water and mix with the honey.  Heat over medium heat and add the stroufoli in batches and boil for a few minutes.  Transfer to a serving dish with a slotted spoon. Decorate with colored sprinkles.


Enjoy! Just a note -- we rarely made Christmas cookies but enjoyed the stroufoli and zeppoli instead.