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Oponki - Polish Cheese Donuts

Balanced, flavorful, and enjoyable—this recipe has it all.

Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
30 mins
Servings: 17 donuts
Calories: 186 kcal
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Polish

Ingredients

for the donuts:
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
  • 2 cups (250g) flour spooned and leveled, not scooped
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 package (250g) Polish twaróg cheese the recipe will also work with cream cheese if you can't find it
  • 1/2 cup (110g) sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tablespoon vodka or brandy, or omit it
additionally:
  • 6-8 cups Frying oil such as canola oil
  • powdered sugar to sprinkle over the donuts

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Make the dough:
  2. To a mixing bowl, add the egg yolks and sugar. Whisk for a minute until well combined and light yellow in color.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the egg yolk-sugar mixture.
  4. Add the remaining ingredients (cheese, sour cream, vanilla, and vodka).
  5. Mix the ingredients using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (speed 2) or by hand.
  6. The dough will be sticky, try not to add any more flour.
  7. If using cream cheese and not Polish twaróg cheese: the dough will be more sticky - cream cheese is completely smooth and twarog cheese is a crumbly curd cheese. Add two additional tablespoons of flour to the dough and then generously sprinkle the dough with flour while rolling it out.
  8. Warm up the oil: In a wide pot, warm 6-8 cups of frying oil until it reaches 350°F (175°C). You should have at least 2 inches (5 cm) of oil in the pot.
  9. Cut out donuts:
  10. Place the dough on a floured counter or a silicone rolling mat (highly recommended for rolling out any type of dough). Sprinkle some flour on top of the dough.
  11. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 5/8 of an inch (1 1/2 cm) - a little bit thicker than 1/2 of an inch.
  12. Cut out rounds with a donut/biscuit cutter (I used a 2 3/4 inch (7cm) cutter which is the perfect size for these donuts). You can cut the inner circles with a piping tip (see step-by-step photos in the body of the post).
  13. Combine the scraps, re-roll, and repeat with the remaining dough. Place the cut-out donuts on a floured surface.
  14. Fry 4-6 oponki at a time (depending on how wide your pot is). Place the dough in the hot oil using a lightly floured bench scraper. Fry until golden on the bottom side then turn over and fry until golden on the other side. The donuts will get slightly darker while cooling.
  15. Take the oponki out of the oil with a spider strainer and place on a cooling rack lined with paper towels.
  16. Leave to cool then sprinkle generously with powdered sugar.
  17. Enjoy!

Notes

  • Frying oil - make sure to use a high-smoking point vegetable oil that is suitable for deep frying. You can use refined canola oil, sunflower oil, coconut, or lard.
  • How to measure flour: I’m using the “spoon and level method” so 1 cup of flour in my recipes weighs 125g. Fluff the flour by stirring it in the bag/flour container with a spoon. Spoon the flour and sprinkle it into your measuring cup. Sweep off the excess flour with the back of a knife.
  • Oponki donuts don't store well, they are best freshly prepared. If you want to eat them the next day, warm them up in the oven at 325°F (160°C) with a convection setting (if you have it).
  • Calories = 1 donut (1/17 of the recipe). This is only an estimate!

Nutrition Information

Calories 186kcal (9%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 17donuts

Amount Per Serving

Calories 186

% Daily Value*

Calories 186kcal 9%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.