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Authentic-tasting gluten free sopapillas, the New Mexican or South American fried dough, are fried to perfection and drizzled with honey.
Table of Contents
There are so many ways to enjoy these gluten free sopapillas, but my favorite is with a light drizzle of honey. In fact, I actually prefer to bite off a corner, and drizzle some extra honey right inside.
I spoke to someone recently who said that she likes to eat sopapillas stuffed with meat and cheese. Just split one open, and pile in the fixings. What a treat!
It's truly amazing how the dough puffs up into these little hollow pillows so quickly during frying. To achieve a uniform “puff” of your sopapillas, just be sure to roll the dough into a single, even layer.
Then, cut the edges sharply, leaving very clean edges. You can use a sharp knife, but a pastry or pizza wheel is easiest.
I am bound and determined to give you back allllll the foods you thought you'd never have again now that you're gluten free. Or your son is gluten free, like mine. Or your partner. Or your best friend. Or your mom. You get the idea.
If you follow these recipe instructions, and use these ingredients, you can have it all back. If you can't use all of the ingredients, I hope you'll find success using as many as you can.
Oh, and fear not deep frying! For plenty of frying tips, see the directions in this post. When you see those triangles of dough “pop” in the first few seconds of frying, you won't regret it one bit. So exciting!
Anyway, thank you. Thank you for reading. Thank you baking with these different, foreign-sounding ingredients. Thank you for trusting me enough to take a chance. I promise the rewards are great. And we've only just begun!
Gluten Free Sopapillas
Equipment
- Candy/deep fry thermometer
- Pizza wheel/pastry wheel
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups (245 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, (I used Better Batter; please click thru for full info on appropriate blends)
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum, (omit if your blend already contains it)
- ¼ cup (36 g) Expandex modified tapioca starch, (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) vegetable shortening, melted or neutral oil (like canola or vegetable oil)
- ¼ cup (2 fluid ounces) milk, at room temperature
- ½ cup (4 fluid ounces) lukewarm water, plus more by the teaspoon as necessary
- Oil, for frying
- Honey, for serving
Instructions
- In a large bowl, place the flour blend, xanthan gum, Expandex, salt, baking powder and sugar, and whisk to combine well.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the melted shortening or oil, milk and water and mix to combine until the dough comes together.
- With clean hands, squeeze the dough together into a ball. It should hold together well, and not be so stiff that it is hard to knead.
- If it is hard to knead, add more water by the teaspoonful, kneading it in after each addition, until the dough is pliable but still holds together very well.
- Transfer the dough to a large piece of plastic wrap, and wrap tightly. Allow to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.
- Unwrap the dough and divide it into 7 equal portions.
- On a large, flat surface, roll each piece of dough into a ball and, with a rolling pin, roll into a round about 6 inches in diameter and about 1/4-inch thick, and cut off the rough edges with a 6-inch cake cutter. The lid of a pot in the proper size should work, too. It is important to roll the dough out very evenly, and for each round to have very clean, well-defined edges. This helps the sopapillas to puff up during frying.
- Using a pizza or pastry wheel, or a very sharp knife, slice each round carefully into 4 quarters.
- While the dough is rising, place 2 inches of oil in a heavy-bottom saucepan or deep fryer.
- Clip a candy/deep fry thermometer to the side of the saucepan, and bring the oil to 375°F. Place the quarters of dough in the hot oil, taking care not to crowd them at all.
- Within the first few seconds, the should float to the top and expand as they fill with air.
- As soon as they “pop,” turn the over using tongs or chopsticks, and fry until lightly golden brown on both sides (30 to 45 seconds per side).
- Remove the dough from the oil, and place on paper towel-lined plates to drain.
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
We are enjoying an awesome plate of fresh made sopapillas! So exciting! We have several in the family with multiple food allergies so I had to make a few minor adjustments. I used your best all purpose flour recipe from the Bakes Bread book and swapped out the potato starch for half tapioca, half arrowroot starch and the potato flour for sweet potato flour. It worked! The rest was the same and the sopapillas were so good that my son-in-law who works at El Chico’s said these are every bit as good or maybe better than the ones they make there. Thanks so much for posting the recipe!
Wow, Linda. That’s awesome! So glad your subs worked out, and that sounds like quite the high compliment from your son-in-law!
I am firmly in the “I love Nicole” camp, too! I wish that people would stick with the “If you can’t say something nice” mantra too. My mom was a big proponent of that and I bite my tongue often. Especially on Facebook. Man, people write nasty things they would never say in person. Sorry that you have to deal with all that, but always remind yourself of the people who’s lives you have affected so positively.
I cringe every time I read a “do you know what is in nutella?” type comment on your Facebook page. Yes, I do know what is in nutella. That’s why I don’t eat a bowlful of it every day, but I do like to have a little bit sometimes and I’m pretty sure that’s okay!
Thank you for so many beautiful recipes. I never mastered the art of baking bread WITH gluten and now, with your help, I have mastered the art of baking without it. I get a kick out of bringing the fastest disappearing baked good to an event and then letting everyone know it was made without gluten. I do not have celiac disease, however, I have discovered that I am gluten intolerant and I feel so much better without it. And thanks to you, I don’t miss it. And my body thanks you!
Candice you are such a bread-baking rockstar! Clearly, you were meant to do this. Thank you for all the kind words—and for being frustrated with the crazy nasty comments right along with me. Somehow, that helps!!
Gee, I show up late to the party ONE day, and all kinds of stuff happens! Naturally, I am firmly in the “I love Nicole” camp!
Nicole, I have greatly enjoyed your first two books, the Bead book has been my downfall. I have all the ingredients and have tried one of the recipes various times and it NEVER works, have also tried a few others and they have also been major flops. Have yet to figure out the problem. The ingredients are correct and I’m following the recipes to the T; sadly we came to the conclusion a while back that prepping the bread and waiting 3-5 days to not end up with bread is just not worth it. Love you’re other books.
Jen, it’s a shame that you haven’t been successful with the recipe from the bread books, and that you just don’t find it to be worthwhile. I know that it can be frustrating when a recipe doesn’t work out, but these recipes have been rigorously tested and will work when made as instructed. I recommend you review the Bread FAQs on the blog, as you are likely doing something that is sabotaging your efforts without even realizing it.
Jen, lots of people recommend the English Muffin bread because it doesn’t have that long proof time. Maybe give that a try!
Sorry you’ve been feeling the brunt of some not so nice comments. My dear old mother always told me ” if you can’t say something good. don’t say anything” and I think generally that’s a pretty good rule. Personally, and I’m sure many others, haven’t got too many good words for you. You have totally changed my attitude towards Gluten Free baking. I’m still struggling with the breads a bit….but mostly that’s because old habits die hard. It is definitely harder to teach an old dog new tricks and all that! Something your objectors should probably take into consideration is the fact that given “normal” circumstances probably not many of us would choose modified ingredients……but when you have issues with gluten nothing is “Normal”. The second big consideration here is the amount used….you have to consider not only the amount used in that loaf of bread but what portion of the loaf is consumed by an individual. And another huge consideration is how greatly you have enhanced our “Quality of Life” for so many who are intolerant to Gluten. I say shoulders up girl and keep up the great work.. Great walks through life always encounter a few little stones to slip and slide over!
Your mother sounds like a very smart lady! Thanks for the kind words, Lorna. They are greatly appreciated!
Hey there Nicole — I have purchased Expandex and the Whey Protein Isolate. And the book. (I got them all on Amazon.) I’m so sorry to hear that people are giving you such a hard time about them!
Now I just have to build up courage to attempt the actual BREAD. The ingredients don’t worry me AT ALL. It’s the yeast. LOL I’m going to try the English Muffin bread soon. I promise!
Thanks, Lynn! I think the English Muffin Bread is a great place to start as you don’t shape it. And remember with yeast, just be patient. The rising times are guidelines, not absolutes, and they will vary depending upon the rising environment. You won’t overproof based upon the amount of time you allow dough to rise. You’ll only overproof if it rises too much! You’ll do great. Reading through the Bread FAQs might help, too?
HI there,
If i use regular tapioca, would that make a huge difference? I have Bob’s brand here in the US. And I think he also carries Xanthan Gum. Would those be ok?
Susy, I’m afraid you cannot use regular tapioca starch in place of Expandex. It is a completely different ingredient. In particular, Bob’s Red Mill brand tapioca starch/flour is one that I caution against even when a recipe does call for that ingredient. Their tapioca flour is of very poor quality.
I too am a little hesitant to bake from the Bakes Bread. Not sure why, I have the ingredients from Natures Market and I still haven’t made the effort. I sooo bad :(
Which recipe would you recommend to start with?
I bake for my daughter she only recently was diagnosed with CD a little over a year ago. I bake something and she always tells me it’s great… but I taste it and think this isn’t how its suppose to taste like… I think she is trying to make me feel good even when the recipe is a flop. I have found that all the recipes I have tried from here and from the GF on a Shoestring are excellent and always recommend friends and school teachers your books.
Now with the weather starting to warm up and planting the garden and fruit trees I have less time in the kitchen. I always have the best intentions but time slips by.
Thank you Nicole for your hard work! And always search for new ingredients because one day someone will say ” To bad for you! that you are not eating GF foods, you don’t know what you are missing!”
Love
Lucy
I recommend the ricotta bread – it’s wonderful!
Thanks :)
I agree with Jennifer. Such a fluffy bread! I like the oatmeal bread, too.
I have to say that I am such a sensitive person that I get very sad when anyone is not treated in a kind manner, and I want to go stop those bullies! I think, too, that they get frustrated because either they cannot afford the ingredients, or cannot have the ingredients, and they let it out on you. Not fair! I know, however, that you do your darnedest to develop substitutions that work, and that you encourage them to experiment to make it work for them.
That being said, I also have major food sensitivities and wasn’t sure about Expandex, but I went for it…and I am so happy I did! I love to bake gluten free bread with your recipes from the book, but I love it even more when I bite into what I have baked–and so does my family!
Aw, Mare, you’re just the best. Expandex seems foreign because it’s just not common yet. Same thing with whey protein isolate for baking. But there’s always a boundary. It’s for us to push it, right? ;)
I absolutely love your cookbooks, especially Bakes Bread! I don’t have the patience to experiment by trying to convert recipes and I am glad that you will do that for us. As far as the crazy items-I think these couple of things are better than what is in most manufactured food-but everyone has their preferences. I’ve been able to make amazing baked items so that we can have really good tasting baked items again. I promote your books to everyone I meet that if GF. Keep up the good work-we love you!
Thanks, Jean! I love hearing from you on Facebook. You’re always so helpful and positive. I understand what you mean about so-called “crazy items.” But I believe that they’re only considered “crazy” because they’re new. Just like xanthan gum once was. That has its detractors, but most people see it as essential, even if just in small quantities, to most gluten free baking. But when you’re first, you take the lumps!