No Recipe Buñuelos
Buñuelos are one of my childhood (and adulthood) holiday favorites. My grandmother would fry these cinnamon-sugar topped treats all night long on New Years Eve. Her dining room table would be piled high with buñuelos as family and friends stopped in to visit. I would sit at the table, greet guest and nibble away all night long. Literally all night long with a cup of Mexican hot chocolate. Buñuelos are a great party food because you break off a piece, and leave the rest for someone else to finish. I'm excellent at finishing off everyone else's buñuelo.
My grandmother had a gift for making the perfect dough from scratch. If she were here today, she would undoubtedly laugh at the fact that I use store purchased raw tortilla dough to make my buñuelos. My two tips for making great buñuelos are making your own cinnamon sugar, and frying in oil that remains consistently hot.
Look for cinnamon sticks in the Latin food aisle of your grocery store. The cinnamon sticks should break apart easily into paper-thin strips. Don't use the hard cinnamon sticks often used for crafts. Separate the cinnamon sticks into thin flaky layers, and pulse in a blender. When making buñuelos, I stop pulsing when there are still some sliver-like pieces of cinnamon mixed in with the finely ground cinnamon. For baking, I stop pulsing when all of the cinnamon has been finely ground.
Mix some of the freshly ground cinnamon with granulated sugar to make your own cinnamon sugar.
Purchase raw flour tortillas in the refrigerated Hispanic section of your grocery store. Line the baking sheets with paper towels before frying the tortillas.
Heat the vegetable oil to a high temperature, but not so hot that it begins smoking. I use an electric skillet to maintain a consistent temperature. Place a raw tortilla or two into the hot oil, and allow to puff up and brown on the bottom side. Flip and brown on the second side. If your oil begins to cool down after making a few batches, wait a few minutes and allow the oil to heat up to a high temperature before continuing.
Generously sprinkle each side of the fried tortilla immediately after frying. Drain and cool on the paper towel lined baking sheets. Buñuelos will last for a week when stored in an airtight container.
