What are bunuelos?

What are bunuelos? Bunuelo= Buñuelos=Fritters

If you have come across the trend bunuelos, you might be wondering "what are bunuelos?" Let me tell you about this sweet, delicious treat! 

The proper way to write this word is using the "ñ," the letter we don't have in English, so most of the time, it just appear the "n." So you write it like this: BUÑUELO.  

Here you can watch the video on how I make some easy buñuelos: 

Let me tell you a little bit about the history of this treat. 

Buñuelos fall in the same category of some of the most famous desserts, that its origin is  not well-established. Spain have buñuelos  recipes dating back to the XVI century. Buñuelos were known to be a favorite dessert of the Arabian people who settled in Granada, referred to as "buñuelos de agua miel."

These treats were made from a light dough fried in oil and then bathed in a boiling honey syrup. This recipe migrated to Mexico during the times of the Conquest and the addition of a piloncillo ( unprocessed sugar cane ) syrup gave the Mexican twist to the traditional Spanish recipe. 

There are different kinds of buñuelos, with the most popular in Spain being the "buñuelos de viento." These are made with wheat flour, lard, and eggs. After being deep-fried, sprinkled with sugar, they are filled with cream paté, chocolate ganache, or Chantilly cream—very similar to what we know as beignets.

In Mexico, the most popular buñuelos are made with a light dough consisting of wheat flour, eggs, water, and lard. This dough is then kneaded with the palms of your hands and extended until it is very light and almost translucent, similar to a pañuelo (Kleenex tissue) in the shape of a large tortilla.

These buñuelos are then bathed in boiling piloncillo syrup or simply sprinkled with fine sugar or a cinnamon sugar mix.

As food technology has evolved and fewer people have time to make buñuelos from scratch, there are several easy ways to make these treats. Although they don't taste the same, when you are craving those crispy buñuelos, easy recipes can curb your craving.

My mother in law make some mini buñuelos using a very light mix and she use this kind of tool to dip it in the mix and then deep fried them, they are very delicate and taste delicious. 

Some other people just deep-fry flour tortillas and then add sugar or syrup. These are the ones found in Mexican bakeries here in the US.

I came up with the idea to make snowflakes buñuelos, making cut outs on partially cooked flour tortillas. So, if you come across partially cooked flour tortillas, you can give it a try and make your own buñuelos and use your favorite cookie cutter to cut them in your favorite shapes. 

I will recommend to have an electric fryer or a good cast iron skillet for better results.  I also used extra light olive oil that is good for frying, but you can use your favorite oil for frying.