Air Fryer Paczkis/ Krofne Recipe - life thru my hazel eyes (2024)

All of these Fat Tuesday commercials got me salivating for some Paczkis and I can’t wait!

I grew up eating donuts but never heard of Fat Tuesday until I moved to the States. In the Balkans we call donuts “Krofne” but here, everyone refers to them as Paczkis.

__________________________________________________

But there is a difference between the two.

Paczkis/ Krofne, unlike the American donuts, are made from a very rich dough. The dough contains eggs, fats, sugar, yeast, milk and are typically topped with powdered sugar or filled with jam.

Today I wanted to try my favorite childhood recipe but instead of frying them in oil, I am using the Air Fryer. Come on, follow along.

DISCLAIMER: if you are expecting your traditional paczkis, this is not it. This is an air fryer version that is a bit easier but obviously not fried. You can use this recipe to fry them as well for that more traditional taste.

[THIS RECIPE HAS BEEN UPDATED IN 2O20]

Servings: 16-20
Time: 2 hours
Difficulty: medium
Print page

INGREDIENTS:

3-4 cups of AP flour* + 1/2 cup for later
1 TBSP of dry yeast
1 3/4 cups of Vitamin D milk
1 TBSP of white sugar [add 1 more tbsp if you don’t plan on filling them]
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
2 pinches of salt
2 eggs
powdered sugar for topping
jam, jelly or Nutella for filling

You will also need:

rolling pin, mixing paddle
medium bowl or stand mixer
circle cookie cutter or a medium size cup
Air Fryer
Parchment paper

DIRECTIONS:

Gather and measure out your ingredients.
Heat up your milk in the microwave just until warm. 30 seconds.
In a medium bowl or stand mixer add the warm milk along with your yeast and sugar. Mix until incorporated.
Add 3 cups of flour, oil, salt and eggs. Mix until combined.
The dough will be sticky at this stage.
Add 1/4 cup of flour at a time just until the dough comes together in a loose and semi sticky dough. You may use a full cup of flour here.
Sprinkle the dough with a few pinches of flour and cover the bowl with a dish towel or a plate and let the dough rise for about 1 hour.
After it has doubled in size, sprinkle your counter with a some flour and transfer your dough from the bowl onto the floured surface.
Knead it until it forms a nice smooth ball. No more than 10 times.
Roll it into a 1 inch thick pizza/ round shape.
Using your cookie cutter or a cup, cut out as many donuts as you can.
Let the donuts rise up for another 10-15 minutes. You can discard the leftover dough or use it to make donut holes.
Warm up your Air Fryer to 370 degrees for 3 minutes.
Line the bottom of the Air Fryer with parchment paper and place 4 donuts at a time. Do not line the air fryer with parchment paper and put it inside without the donuts. The paper will burn. It needs the donuts on top to hold it down and prevent a fire.
Bake for 6-8 minutes on one side, open – flip, and finish baking on the other side. But check at about 2 minutes left to make sure they are not burning. You want a nice golden color.
Remove from Air Fyer and place on a paper towel lined platter and sprinkle with powdered sugar. DO NOT PANIC: they come out fairly hard, more like a muffin, but after they rest and cool off they are light, airy, soft and delicious.
Let it cool off before you fill them with your favorites. I love jelly but Nutella is always a favorite around here.

*please note that your location as well as quality of flour can change the recipe. If you feel like your recipe is too sticky, add a little more flour at a time. If you feel like it needs more milk, add a splash of milk at a time. It may take a few tries before you make your first PERFECT batch. But that is all part of the fun.