Pignolata - Italian Honey Balls - Italian Recipe Book

Pignolata - Italian Fried Honey Balls {Recipe}

5 from 2 votes

Pignolata - Italian Honey Balls

Make this delicious Sicilian pignolata also known as fried honey balls. Citrus flavored, all coated in honey and served with a squeeze of lemon juice. Yum!

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Resting Time30

Total Time1

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Calories: 270kcal

Author: Svi

Equipment

Deep Frying Pan

Ingredients

For the dough:

2 cups all purpose flour 280 grams
2 oz butter softened, 55 grams
2 eggs
2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 lemon zest
2 tablespoon limoncello liqueur or rum (optional)
Vegetable oil for frying

For honey coating and decoration:

½ cup honey
Rainbow sugar sprinkles
Lemon zest or candied oranges

Instructions

In a large bowl add sieved flour, softened butter, sugar, baking powder and lemon zest. Mix with your hands until you get crumbly texture.
2 cups all purpose flour, 2 oz butter, 2 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 lemon zest, 2 tablespoon limoncello liqueur
Add 2 beaten eggs, mix again until the dough comes together. Knead with your hands for a couple of minutes. As a result you should have a compact ball of dough.
NOTE: If the dough is too hard to knead add a tablespoon of warm milk or water. If it’s too loose, add some more flour.
2 eggs
Cover the dough with a plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
Once the dough is rested, lightly flour the work surface. Cut off a piece of dough and roll it with your hands into ⅓ inch thick rope. Then cut the rope again into ⅓ inch pieces.
At this point you can leave the dough “pillows” as they’re, slightly irregular shape, or you can pass each piece quickly between the palm of your hands giving it a round shape.
Preheat vegetable oil for frying in a deep pan to 340F (170C) - perfect temperature for frying.
Vegetable oil for frying
Make sure to heat the oil on medium heat and use enough of it so that the dough balls float and not touch the bottom of the pan.
If you don’t have a kitchen thermometer you can test if the oil is hot enough by simply deeping one ball once you think the oil is hot enough. If it starts to sizzle almost immediately and come up floating, the oil is good to go.
Attention: Oil should NOT be smoking or burning.
Reduce the heat to low or medium low once it reached the perfect temperature.
Deep pignolata dough in preheated oil, small portions at a time to prevent the oil from cooling too much. Fry for approx 4-5 minutes stirring continuously.
Once ready discard fried dough on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
Once all the dough is fried, transfer it in a deep bowl and top with honey. Mix well.
½ cup honey
Arrange on a plate forming a ring shape or a pinecone shape.
Decorate with sugar sprinkles and lemon zest.
Rainbow sugar sprinkles, Lemon zest or candied oranges

Nutrition