Chef Margarida
Areias de Cascais
The sand cookies of Cascais, where three simple ingredients become something that melts on your tongue and sparkles like the beach at sunset. Butter, flour, sugar. That's all. That's enough.
Culinary Explorer
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Malassadas
Created by
Azorean fried dough that puffs into golden pillows, rolled in cinnamon sugar while still warm. The taste of Carnival, of celebration, of using every good thing in the kitchen before the fasting begins.
Pastries & Cookies
Portuguese
Celebration
Special Occasion
2 hr 30 min
Active Time
30 min cook•3 hr total
YieldAbout 24 malassadas
In the Azores, the day before Lent begins, kitchens fill with the smell of frying dough and cinnamon. Terça-feira Gorda, Fat Tuesday. The day you use up everything rich in the house: the butter, the eggs, the sugar. The day you feast before the fasting.
Malassadas are that feast made tangible. Soft yeasted dough, fried until golden and hollow inside, then rolled in sugar and cinnamon while still warm enough to make the coating stick. They're imperfect by design, stretched by hand into uneven shapes that puff and blister in the hot oil. No two look the same. That's how you know they're real.
I learned about malassadas not from Avó Leonor (she was Alentejana, not Açoriana) but from the grandmothers I documented on São Miguel and Terceira. They make them by feel, pinching off dough without weighing, testing oil temperature with a fingertip of batter. They've been doing this since they were children, standing on stools beside their own grandmothers. The recipe travels through hands, not books.
The Azorean diaspora carried malassadas to Hawaii, where they became Leonard's Bakery and local tradition. But the heart of the recipe remains on those green islands in the Atlantic, where Carnival still means dough rising on the counter and oil heating on the stove.
Malassadas arrived in the Azores from mainland Portugal, likely in the 15th or 16th century, though their exact origins are debated. The tradition of frying rich dough before Lent is common across Catholic Europe, but the Azorean version became distinct. When Portuguese workers emigrated to Hawaii's sugar plantations in the 1800s, they brought malassadas with them, and the doughnut became a Hawaiian institution, served year-round at bakeries and lunch wagons.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
all-purpose flour
Quantity
500g
plus more for dusting
instant yeast
Quantity
7g
granulated sugar
Quantity
100g
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
eggs
Quantity
4 large
at room temperature
unsalted butter
Quantity
60g
melted and cooled
whole milk
Quantity
180ml
warmed to lukewarm
lemon
Quantity
1
zested
vegetable oil or light olive oil
Quantity
about 1.5 liters
for frying
granulated sugar
Quantity
200g
mixed with cinnamon for coating
ground cinnamon
Quantity
2 tablespoons
mixed with sugar for coating
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| all-purpose flourplus more for dusting | 500g |
| instant yeast | 7g |
| granulated sugar | 100g |
| fine sea salt | 1/2 teaspoon |
| eggsat room temperature | 4 large |
| unsalted buttermelted and cooled | 60g |
| whole milkwarmed to lukewarm | 180ml |
| lemonzested | 1 |
| vegetable oil or light olive oilfor frying | about 1.5 liters |
| granulated sugarmixed with cinnamon for coating | 200g |
| ground cinnamonmixed with sugar for coating | 2 tablespoons |
Equipment Needed
- •Large mixing bowl
- •Heavy pot or Dutch oven for frying
- •Kitchen thermometer
- •Slotted spoon or spider
- •Bench scraper
Instructions
- 1
Make the dough
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs lightly, then add the melted butter, warm milk, and lemon zest. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms. This dough is meant to be soft and sticky. Don't be tempted to add more flour. The stickiness is what makes malassadas light.
- 2
Knead until smooth
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes. It will start sticky and difficult, then gradually become smooth and elastic. Use a bench scraper to help you manage it at first. When it's ready, it should bounce back when you poke it and feel alive in your hands. Alternatively, use a stand mixer with the dough hook on medium-low for 6 to 7 minutes.
Resist adding extra flour. A wetter dough means lighter malassadas. Trust the process. The stickiness will resolve itself as you knead. - 3
First rise
Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Let it rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1.5 to 2 hours. Avó Leonor always put hers near the stove, where the pilot light kept things warm. The dough should be puffy and soft when you press it.
- 4
Shape the malassadas
Punch down the risen dough gently. Oil your hands lightly and pinch off pieces about the size of a golf ball, roughly 50 grams each. Shape each piece into a rough ball, then stretch it slightly into an oval or irregular disk. Don't worry about perfection. Malassadas should look handmade, a little uneven, a little rustic. Place them on oiled parchment paper, leaving space between each. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes while you heat the oil.
- 5
Heat the oil
Pour the oil into a heavy pot or Dutch oven to a depth of about 8 cm. Heat to 170°C (340°F). Use a thermometer. Too hot and they'll brown before cooking through. Too cool and they'll absorb oil and turn greasy. The temperature matters more than almost anything else here.
Test the oil with a small piece of dough. It should sink, then rise immediately and bubble steadily. If it browns in seconds, your oil is too hot. - 6
Fry until golden
Working in batches of 3 or 4, carefully lower the shaped dough into the hot oil. Fry until deep golden brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes, then flip and fry another 2 minutes. They should puff up beautifully, hollow in the center like a pillow. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and drain briefly on paper towels. Keep the oil temperature steady between batches.
- 7
Coat in cinnamon sugar
While still warm, toss each malassada in the cinnamon sugar mixture, turning to coat completely. The warmth helps the sugar stick. Serve immediately. Malassadas wait for no one. They're best eaten within minutes of frying, while the outside is still slightly crisp and the inside is soft as a cloud.
Chef Tips
- •The dough should be sticky. Every instinct will tell you to add more flour, but don't. Wetter dough means lighter, airier malassadas. Oil your hands instead of flouring them when shaping.
- •Temperature control is everything. Keep a thermometer in the oil and adjust your heat constantly. The oil drops when you add dough and climbs when you don't. Stay vigilant.
- •Some Azorean families add a splash of aguardente (Portuguese brandy) to the dough. Others use orange zest instead of lemon. Both are traditional. Ask five grandmothers, get five answers.
- •Eat them immediately. I mean it. A malassada that's been sitting for an hour is a different, sadder thing than one straight from the oil. Make these for a crowd that's standing in the kitchen waiting.
Advance Preparation
- •The dough can be made and refrigerated overnight after the first rise. Punch it down, cover tightly, and refrigerate. The next day, let it come to room temperature for 1 hour before shaping. The flavor actually improves with a slow, cold rise.
- •Malassadas cannot be made ahead. They must be fried and eaten immediately. Do not attempt to reheat them. Plan your frying for when your guests are ready to eat.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 55g)
Calories
195 calories
Total Fat
9 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
6 g
Cholesterol
37 mg
Sodium
52 mg
Total Carbohydrates
26 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
9 g
Protein
3 g
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