Bunuelos

I can remember when I was a kid, my mom used to make little mexican doughnuts on weekend mornings. They were cut from a round cookie cutter and we used a thimble to poke out the center hole. My favorite was the 'holes'.
Although labor intensive, they make for a great weekend treat.

The following recipe comes from a Sunset Mexican Cookbook (1977). This recipe did not appear in later versions of this book. I had to do some serious hunting in thrift stores for my copy.

Bunuelos (fried sweet puffs)

4 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups flour, unsifted
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Oil for frying (350 degrees)
Cinnamon and sugar for the coating (mix together) 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon

Mix together eggs and 1/4 cup sugar. Mix with electric mixer (the batter gets thick). Mix dry ingredients and stir in into egg batter. Turn batter onto floured surface and knead until batter is smooth and no longer sticky (it is very stick to start with). Cut into fourths and roll to 1/4" thick. Use cookie cutters to create, but remember that the dough expands, the above picture is of snowflakes...now they are seastars. Once cut, fry in oil, turning once. They cook fast! Set onto towel to drain excess oil. Coat each bunuelo with cinnamon sugar mix and serve.
If sugar mix is put in a ziploc, toss in a few and give to kids to shake.

Enjoy!