Ricotta Doughnuts Recipe | Pasquale Sciarappa Recipes (2024)

Ricotta Doughnuts Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole milk ricotta
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 egg
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. white rum, optional
• powdered sugar, for topping
• peanut oil for frying

In a mixing bowl, add the egg and sugar and begin to whisk until the egg is scrambled.

Next, add in the rum and continue to whisk. If you do not want to add rum, you can add vanilla extract instead. This is needed to add moisture, texture and flavor to the ricotta doughnuts.

Scoop the ricotta into the bowl. Add in the lemon zest of about half a lemon and whisk until fully mixed. The lemon adds a subtle taste of freshness and keeps the flavor light in each bite.

Next, whisk in the baking powder. The baking powder makes these doughnuts more spongier and puff up more.

Slowly start adding in the flour to the mix. You don’t want the dough to be to thick. Continue to mix to check the thickness of the dough before adding in more flour. I ended up only needing to use about 3/4 cup of flour. The amount can vary depending on how much water the ricotta has. Once you reached the desired thickness, use a spatula to fold the dough into itself.

Fill a deep skillet or wok half way with peanut oil. Make sure the oil is hot before frying. I dip an end of a toothpick to check for bubbles. If bubbling around the toothpick, then I know it is time to fry.

Using an ice cream scoop or a spoon, scoop up a small amount of the dough into the oil to fry. I coat my scoop and spoon with some oil that I have in a small bowl to keep the dough from sticking to it.

Continuously flip the ricotta doughnuts around so that they cook evenly. Fry for about 6 to 7 minutes or until brown. Remove from the frying pan and place on a dish lined with a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.

Sprinkle some powdered sugar on top to add some sweetness or add any of your preferred toppings and serve while warm. Enjoy with a side of tasty homemade limoncello! Salute! Cin cin!