How to Make Fried Dough

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: March 4, 2021 Tested

Fried dough is a typical fairground food that is tasty and tempting. When the fair is out of town, you can still make it at home and enjoy it for a cozy movie night or a stargazing evening outdoors.

Ingredients

Yield: 8 dough rounds

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons cold butter
3/4 cup warm (not hot) water
Confectioner's sugar/cinnamon sugar mix (optional)

Steps

1
Preheat a deep-fryer. Set it to 375ºF/190ºC.
2
Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and cool butter together. Mix using a pastry blender or an electric mixer.

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3
Add warm water in generous amounts to soften the dough.
4
Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
5
Pull apart the dough, so that it forms 8 pieces.
6
Roll these pieces, one at a time, until each piece is approximately 5" (12.5cm) round.
7
Drop the dough rounds carefully into the deep fryer.
8
Cook these dough rounds for 45-60 seconds.
9
Use a cooking utensil to flip the dough over, when you notice the other side start to turn brown.
10
Make sure both sides are brown.
11
Remove the fried dough rounds from fryer immediately after they begin to brown.
12
Allow the fried dough rounds to dry off on a paper towel and to cool somewhat to room temperature.
13
Reheat slightly to serve, using heat from a regular (unset) oven.
14
Top off the dough with some confectioner's sugar and/or cinnamon seasoning or topping of your choice.
15
Finish making the dough piece..

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Community Q&A

Question

Why do those look like cookies!?

Community Answer

Cookies are made of basically the same ingredients. These are essentially fried cookies.
Question

Do I have to use powdered sugar?

Community Answer

No, you do not have to. It is all up to your preference. Add a little, a lot or none.
Question

If I don't have butter, can I use coconut oil?

Community Answer

Yes, you can substitute butter with coconut oil.
Question

Why didn’t mine stay flat? They turned into fried rounds.

Community Answer

Maybe you added to much yeast. If the bread rises to a extremely large size, this means you added too much yeast. If the bread rose to a medium size, you added the right amount of yeast.
Question

Can I add eggs to the batter? I don’t have an electric mixer or deep fryer.

Community Answer

Yes, you can add eggs, but find a recipe that is specifically designed for eggs. It's harder when mixing by hand but doable. You can use a Dutch oven with 2-3 inches of oil in it. Get a very reliable thermometer to monitor the oil temperature. There is no need to use an insta-read thermometer.