Baked Pączki (Polish Doughnuts)

These pączki (Polish doughnuts) are perfect for anyone who doesn't like kneading yeast dough or is afraid of deep frying. The second reason is exactly why I decided to try this recipe. Frying pączki in oil just doesn't work for me, and I'm not going to try again. With these baked ones, I found something that works for me. They are easy to make, you can shape them any way you like, and they are lighter than fried pączki. Even though they look a bit like dinner rolls, they taste like fried pączki. To bring out that flavor a little more, I brushed the pączki with melted butter after baking – I didn't worry about the calories – pączki are pączki 😊

I used the recipe from ko ko ko. My modifications are limited to a few changes in the method. Besides brushing them with butter (you can also do it before baking), I added vanilla sugar to the dough. I cut out the first baking sheet of dough with a drinking glass, as the recipe says. The second part of the dough, however, I gently shaped into balls, which rose together with the first batch of pączki, plus the time it took to bake them.

If you like doughnut-style treats, I invite you to also try oponki (Polish tire-shaped doughnuts) and donuts, which you can find HERE.

Instructions:

In a small bowl, combine the yeast with a pinch of sugar and dissolve it in a little of the warm water, then set aside for 5 minutes.

In a larger bowl, mix the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt, then add the yeast and sugar mixture, melted butter, egg and milk. Gently mix all the ingredients (not for too long) until you get a very sticky, wet batter. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place for at least 60 minutes, until the dough doubles in size.

After that time, preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F).

Generously dust your work surface with flour and turn the dough out onto it (careful, it's sticky, so flour your hands or spatula!). Do NOT knead the dough or punch it down; just lightly and gently spread it out to a thickness of about 2 cm. Dip a biscuit cutter or a drinking glass in flour and cut out the pączki. Using a spatula, transfer the pączki to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Gently knead the remaining dough, pat it out and cut out more pączki, then transfer them to a second baking sheet.
Let the pączki rise for 20 minutes, then bake for about 7-10 minutes on the middle rack of the oven. When they turn slightly golden, take them out and cool them on a wire rack. Then bake the pączki from the second baking sheet.

Once cooled, the pączki can be filled with jam and sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

Additional information:

The second baking sheet of pączki should rise longer, by the baking time of the first pączki, because the dough was kneaded a bit more and therefore lost some of its air. So remember not to bake both sheets at the same time.