Loukoumades (Greek Honey Dumplings)

evelyn/athens's Note:

A treat anytime!

• Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 2 hrs
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 10

• 2 cups lukewarm water
• 1 cup lukewarm milk
• 2 packages dry yeast
• 4 cups flour (or enough until a thick, pancake-like batter consistency is reached)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons oil
• oil (for frying)

Garnish

• 1 cup honey (Greek thyme honey is best, and authentic)
• ¼ cup water
• cinnamon
• finely chopped walnuts (optional)
• sesame seed , toasted (optional)

Directions:

1. Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water.
2. Put it along with the remaining dough ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix well until a smooth batter is obtained.
3. Cover and let the batter rise in a warm place until it is approximately three times its previous bulk, (1-2 hours).
4. Heat the oil for frying in a saucepan on the stove until very hot.
5. Dip a teaspoon into oil to coat and spoon out some dough into the hot oil.
6. Repeat until there are enough fritters to comfortably fill the surface area of the saucepan, without overcrowding.
7. Dip the spoon in oil, every time the dough starts to stick on it.
8. Fry loukoumades in very hot oil until golden brown, pushing them into the oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to a serving dish lined with kitchen paper for them to drain.
9. Keep making more fritters in this way.
10. When done, put them on a large platter and pour hot honey syrup over them and lightly dust with cinnamon.
11. Sprinkle them with chopped walnuts and sesame seeds.
12. Serve immediately.
13. To make honey syrup.
14. Heat honey and water in a small saucepan and skim off any froth that may form on top.
15. Boil for 5 minutes together and pour over fritters.

Reviews

[Char & Jeff]

This was GREAT!~ I drizzled them with orange blossom honey, then sprinkled them with cinnamon and finely, nearly crushed walnuts. They were TRE"f YUMMY!~ I would suggest cutting the recipe in half for two people, it makes a LOT. :D

[Alaskan Dreamer]

Once I attended a local greek festival, I HAD to find a good recipe for loukoumades, and I did! I did! These are soooo easy and so delicious! I often make half a recipe, and it works out great. I will also sometimes let the dough do a "slow" rise in the fridge so I can make the honey balls at my convenience, especially if I am serving them at the end of an evening, or a long dinner. The honey coating makes these little guys crisp and sweet, and the cinnamon adds that great mediterranean flavor. I leave the choice of the walnuts and the sesame seeds to my guests. The tip about dipping the spoon in the oil before spooning the dough was a great trick. This is one of my most requested treats at my gatherings. OOPA!

[~Nimz~]

Oh now these were awesome. I halved the recipe and still had a huge amount. I don't know what Greek Honey Dumplings are suppose to look like, but these look like big American donut holes. They are great as the recipe states, but dip them in a little splenda or powered sugar and they are just as good. I did use splenda in place of the sugar and it seemed to work fine. It took my dough about 2 hours and 15 minutes to rise. The top of the dough got a little dry but didn't seem to matter. I didn't skim any of the froth off the honey mixture either because I didn't want to waste any of it. Thanks EV for a great recipe.