Colombian Hojuelas (Fried Dough)
Hojuelas or hojaldras are another Christmas treat that is made in Colombia during the month of December. In Medellín, the city where I was born, we always call them hojuelas, but it wasn’t until I met my husband that I learned that he called them hojaldras because that’s the name they use in the region where he is from, Valle del Cauca. But it really doesn’t matter what you call them, they’re delicious, easy to make and very popular, especially with children.
The confession that I have to make is that I never ate them during the holidays for some reason. I had lots of natilla, buñuelos, empanadas and tamales but never hojuelas. I did eat them at school though and I remember them being gigantically delicious! My mother used to give me enough money for bus fare and lunch but if I had money left over I would save it for a snack. My dilemma as an 11 year-old girl was “Do I spend it buying a giant size hojuela? Or do I buy an ice pop after school?” I’m not a big fan of ice cream but the man who used to sell them outside of our school had the coolest sales pitch to get kids to buy them. He had all kinds goodies, including the “Michael Jackson popsicle” and how can you say no a to Michael Jackson popsicle? Which by the way, I never saw what it looked like. But like I said, since I’m not a big fan of ice cream, I always opted for my beloved hojuela… and never regretted it.
¡Buen Provecho!
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Hojuelas Or Hojaldras (Colombian Fried Pastry)
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 1½ cup (210 g) all purpose flour, plus more for kneading
- 1 tbsp white sugar, plus more for decorating
- Pinch of salt
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup (120 ml), orange juice
- 1 tsp unsalted butter, softened
- Oil for frying (vegetable, canola, sunflower)
Instructions
- Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a small bowl.
- Place the flour mixture on a flat surface and make a well in the center. Add the egg and mix well with a fork. Now, add the orange juice and the butter and mix until most of the flour is well combined. Then, knead with your hands for a few minutes until you get a soft dough.
- Shape the dough into a small ball, place it in a small bowl and cover. Let it rest for about 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it very thinly with a rolling pin, about 1/8 inch (2 mm) or less, the thinner, the better.
- Cut the dough with a sharp knife into desired shapes such as strips or diamonds. Peel them off, stretch them out with your hands, if needed, and fry them in hot oil that has been pre-heated at 350ºF (180ºC) until both sides are golden brown, about 2½ minutes per side.
- Drain them on paper towels and generously cover them with white or powdered sugar.
Notes
The dough will be very sticky so keep adding a little bit of flour until you get a soft dough.
Thanks for the hojuelas recipe. It seems easy and I hope I’ll have luck this time as I’m going to do them for foreign people. I’ve tried some different recipes, but never with a good result, except for those ready to fry that I used to buy at some supermarkets in Colombia, which unfortunately couldn’t find them last Christmas season. Last week I made out a recipe from Comfenalco, which I wrongly thought it was going to be right because the name of the site, but it was a disaster. I even wrote to them, complaining abt the amount of butter, which I realized too late that it was too much (for only 250 gr of flour the gay asked for 50 gr of butter, 70 mil orange juice and 50 mil of watering no egg at all). I don’t know what I was thinking when I did such of undesirable mix. It came so sticky, that I had to add a lot of flour in order to came out with something. You can imagine they didn’t came even close to the well known hojuelas in our country.
Hi Fanny, the dough will be sticky but just keep kneading until it’s more manageable.
You forgot the baking soda?
Interesting, I never use baking soda and they always come out amazing. ?
When external pressure increases, the internal motivation should be enhanced
Can I make them
Without the orange juice?
The orange juice adds sweetness and flavor, but you could do it without or make it with a different flavor.
Tried this recipe but the vegan version, I used an egg replacement and they came out awesome, I tried the regular recipe with the egg and this dough was so sticky and unmanageable I couldn’t do anything with it, I had to throw it out, I tried again mixed all the ingredients and again, dough too sticky couldn’t do anything with it, I even added more flour and oiled my hands. What am I doing wrong?
I have found that it all depends on the size of the egg. Even if it’s a large egg, it may be bigger than needed. So I would suggest you start kneading the dough and slowly add the orange juice until you get the right consitency.