Fried Donut Holes with Cottage Cheese, a rich and decadent dessert that has roots in the Easter European cuisine. These cottage cheese donuts have a golden brown crust on the outside, and are light and perfectly soft on the inside. Incredibly easy to make with a handful of ingredients, the donuts can be served with sour cream, jam, melted chocolate or just with powered sugar.
Inspired by my Romanian Papanasi, which are no-yeast donuts made with farmer's cheese, these donut holes with cottage cheese are some heavenly delicious bites that will make your mouth water.
Unlike my No-Yeast Beignets, which are spooned into the hot oil to fry, these cottage cheese donuts have a much thicker batter, and they are rolled into walnut-sized balls and dropped into the hot oil to fry.
The result will amaze even the fussiest eater, you really can't resist some divinely rich beauties that simply scream perfection. You can serve them as it is, or just with powdered sugar / icing sugar, and they are wonderful.
But, if you want to take them to the very next level, you can dip them into melted chocolate or chocolate dipping sauce, or with sour cream and jam. I used damson jam, but you can use any jam of your choice.
I have quite a few recipes of homemade jam actually, and they all work well with these donuts, here is a list of all the jams I have on the blog - Preserves.
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Note!
Go to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact quantities and detailed instructions!
Ingredients overview
- cottage cheese - I highly recommend using full-fat cottage cheese, it's a lot richer than the low fat version, and less watery
- flour - you can use regular flour
- bicarbonate of soda - reacts with the cottage cheese to create a light dough, do not swap it for baking powder, as the donuts won't be as fluffy and light
- sugar - granulated or caster sugar
- egg - depending on the size of the egg used, you might have to adjust the amount of flour used
- lemon zest - for a wondeful zesty flavour
- oil - to fry, I prefer vegetable or sunflower oil
Step-by-step photos and instructions
- in a large mixing bowl add the egg and whisk it well
- add the sugar, cottage cheese and lemon zest, and mix well
- sift in the flour and bicarb of soda, and use a spatula to bring all the ingredients together into a dough that is just slightly sticky to the hands
- set the bowl aside for 20 minutes
- heat up the oil on a medium heat
- shape balls out of the dough and fry them until golden brown
- transfer the donuts onto a plate lined with kitchen paper
Serving suggestions
Just like my papanasi, I opted to serve some of them with sour cream and jam, others were dipped into melted chocolate, and both variations were delicious.
You can also serve them with extra cottage cheese or with anything else that you like: Greek yogurt, creme fraiche, fresh cream and more.
Expert tips
If the dough is too sticky and can't be shaped into balls, add more flour, as the cottage cheese and the egg will dictate the amount of flour needed. Some brands of cottage cheese have quite a bit of liquid in, so, if you can, try to drain some.
Do not increase the heat, otherwise the donuts will look perfectly crispy and cooked on the outside, but the inside will still be raw. Make sure you turn them onto the other side, so they can fry evenly.
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Donut Holes with Cottage Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup plain flour
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- zest from one lemon
- 3 cup oil to fry
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Instructions
- Crack the egg in a large mixing bowl, and use a fork to beat it well.
- Add the cottage cheese, lemon zest and mix well.
- Sift in the flour, add the bicarb of soda, and bring everything together into a dough that is slightly sticky to the hands.
- Set it aside to rest for 20 minutes.
- Heat up oil in a large pot over a medium heat.,
- Use your hands to shape balls out of the dough - if they are slightly too sticky, add more flour to the dought.
- Fry on both sides until golden brown.
- Transfer them onto a large plate lined with kitchen paper to absorbed the excess oil.
Notes
- If the dough is too sticky and can't be shaped into balls, add more flour, as the cottage cheese and the egg will dictate the amount of flour needed. Some brands of cottage cheese have quite a bit of liquid in, so, if you can, try to drain some.
- Do not increase the heat, otherwise the donuts will look perfectly crispy and cooked on the outside, but the inside will still be raw. Make sure you turn them onto the other side, so they can fry evenly.
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