Every year at the State Fair, I am on a mission. I am on the hunt to score a Funnel cake topped with powdered sugar. Honestly, is there anything on earth better than deep fried dough? Go on…I’ll wait while you try to come up with something ☺️
If you are a regular reader of my blog you know I have a love affair with all things dough. Here are a couple of my favorites. Clicking on either of the pictures below will take you to the recipes for How to Bake Artisan Bread and How to Bake Soft Yeast Rolls.
I must confess, deep fried dough is most definitely my favorite! I think it stems from my Hungarian heritage. Hungarians have a fried dough treat called Lángos? Lángos are served either with savory toppings or they can also be served with sweet toppings. Whatever you have a hankering for, either sweet or savory, Lángos will fulfill your craving.
I’ve made fry bread for years. It comes together quickly and uses baking powder as the leavening agent instead of yeast. It’s a delicious quick bread.
However, now that I am more comfortable using yeast doughs, I decided it was finally time to master making this recipe that harkens to my Hungarian heritage.
Lángos is to Hungarians what Funnel cake is to Americans. Lángos are a much loved, popular street food in Hungary. Whether you like it savory, brushed with garlic water and topped with sour cream and shredded cheese, or sweet, dusted with cinnamon & sugar you are going to love this Hungarian treat!
These were actually quite simple to make, it just takes a little time to make them. All right, let’s get started so we can eat them!!!
Begin by placing all the ingredients in a large bowl; flour, yeast, milk, water, salt and sugar.
Stir ingredients together with a wooden spoon. Dough will be very sticky.
Once ingredients are well combined, remove spoon. Flour hands and turn dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface.
Knead the dough for 10 minutes and continue to knead the dough until it is smooth. The dough will be soft and sticky.
You can use the dough hook attachment on your stand mixer to knead the dough if you would rather not knead it by hand.
Form the dough into a ball and place it back into the mixing bowl.
Cover bowl with a dish towel.
Place the bowl in a cold oven. Turn on the oven light (not the heat) and allow dough to rise for an hour. Dough will double in size.
After an hour
Get out a cookie sheet and oil it generously.
Oil your hands and remove dough from the bowl and place it onto your work surface.
Using a dough scraper, divide the dough into 8-12 equal sized pieces.
Form each piece of dough into a ball and place on the oiled cookie sheet
Cover cookie sheet with a dish towel and allow dough balls to rest for 15 minutes.
While the dough is proofing, heat about a ½ inch of oil in a frying pan.
You will often hear the term “proofing dough”. It’s a fancy term discribing the time you allow the dough to rest and rise. You can easily impress your family and friends with your “proofing” knowledge.
Once the oil is hot, shape the dough balls into 6-8 inch circles. Stretch dough so that the centers are very thin. You want to almost be able to see through the dough.
Gently lay the formed Lángos in the hot oil and fry on the first side until golden brown. This will only take about 30-60 seconds.
When edges turn golden brown, use tongs to gently flip Lángos and fry on the other side until golden brown, about 1 minute.
Lángos are ready when golden brown in color along the edges but there are still a few white spots in the center.
Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt.
To serve, brush with garlic water and top with sour cream and shredded cheese.
To make garlic water:
In a glass jar combine 1/2 cup water with 3-4 cloves of minced garlic. Screw on lid and shake vigorously to combine.
Lángos served with sour cream and shredded cheese is the most popular version in Hungary but you can serve them with sweet toppings as well.
Variations:
- Dust with vanilla powder, cinnamon & sugar.
- Top with freshly sliced strawberries and dust with powdered sugar.
- Top with raspberries, chocolate chips and freshly whipped cream.
- Top with your favorite fresh berries and drizzle with either honey or maple syrup.
- Spread with a layer of your favorite jam.
- Top with peanut butter and jelly or slices of banana.
No matter how you top your Lángos you are going to love this fried dough delicacy from Hungary.
Once you give these a try you will see why they are one of Hungary’s most popular street foods.
ENJOY!
Hungarian Lángos
Ingredients
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups lukewarm milk
- ½ cup lukewarm water
- 1 pkt. yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus more for frying
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and stir ingredients together with a wooden spoon. Dough will be very sticky.
- Once ingredients are well combined, remove spoon. Flour hands and turn dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface.
- Knead the dough for 10 minutes and continue to knead the dough until it is smooth. The dough will be soft and sticky.
- Form the dough into a ball and place it back into the mixing bowl.
- Cover bowl with a dish towel and place the bowl in a cold oven. Turn on oven light (not the heat) and allow dough to rise for an hour. Dough will double in size.
- Get out a cookie sheet and oil it generously. Oil your hands and remove dough from the bowl and place it onto your work surface.
- Using a dough scraper, divide the dough into 8-10 equal sized pieces. Form each piece of dough into a ball and place on the oiled cookie sheet
- Cover cookie sheet with a dish towel and allow dough balls to rest for 15 minutes.
- While the dough is proofing, heat about a ½ inch of oil in a frying pan.
- Once the oil is hot, shape the dough balls into 6-8 inch circles. Stretch dough so that the centers are very thin.
- Gently lay the formed Lángos in the hot oil and fry on the first side until golden brown. This will only take about 30-60 seconds.
- Using tongs, gently flip Lángos and fry on the other side until golden brown, about 1 minute.
- Lángos are ready when golden brown in color along the edges but there are still a few white spots in the center.
- Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt.
- To serve, brush with garlic water and top with sour cream and shredded cheese.
Garlic water:
- In a glass jar combine 1/2 cup water with 3-4 cloves of minced garlic. Screw on lid and shake vigorously to combine.
Notes
Did You Make This?
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