How to Make Homemade Malasadas

If you grew up in Hawaii, you know what a Malasada is. It’s a wonderful deep fried, rolled in sugar,  warm round and fluffy Portuguese doughnut *sigh*. Lucky for me, we used to live just down the street in Moi’ili’ili and would go to Leonard’s Bakery at least once a month. Ooohhh, the joy it would bring. Now that I’m here in California, I sure do miss those little round bundles of joy. Actually, I think I’ve pushed those memories out of my mind because I have no idea where to get them in California and it’s just agony! Ugh, to even think about it and not be able to eat any Malasadas kind of makes me depressed. I would’ve been fine with my selective memory loss, but it all came flooding back when I started searching the web for local Hawaii recipes. Then, those memories came back and my search for a decent substitute recipe began.

Now, keep in mind that I honestly don’t think I’ll ever find a recipe that will stack up to Leonard’s Bakery, but I can try to come pretty close. I mean, they’ve had years to perfect this golden standard of THE  Malasada recipe. Plus, I’ve tried many other copycat Leonard’s Bakery Malasada recipes and nothing came close. However, I think I may have found one that is pretty good from Cooking Hawaiian Style.

Before you start, I want to warn you that making Malasadas is a long and tedious process. So, I would highly recommend choosing a free day to do this or enlist some little helpers. If you’ve never made these before, I also recommend watching How to Make Portuguese Doughnuts  on Youtube so you can see the consistency of the dough. **I did not follow this recipe, but this video gives you a good idea of the dough consistency only**

Malasada Tips

Pull the dough out towards the edges, leaving an indentation in the middle.

If you don’t do this, the inside of the doughnut  will not cook and you’ll have raw insides.

Shape into flat 1.5 to 2 inch circles.

When you start cooking the doughnuts, the middle will start to puff up and fill in the center.

You can see how this happens in the picture…starting to look like a round doughnut.

After allowing the doughnuts to drain, roll them around in sugar.

Now all you have to do is watch these disappear.

***These are best eaten fresh and warm. These do not keep well and should be eaten in the same day you make them. On the plus side, I actually placed some of the dough in the refrigerator and was able to keep it for two days before the integrity of the recipe began to decline. Sorry, can’t tell you how many doughnuts this yields because my kids ate these faster than I was making them***

Malasada Recipe

Adapted from Cooking Hawaiian Style

• 1 Pkg. Active Dry Yeast
• 1 Tbs Sugar
• 1/3 Cup Water
• 8 Cup Flour
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 2 Cups Scalded Milk (I may try evaporated milk the next time)
• 1/2 Cup Butter, melted
• 8 Eggs, beaten
• Oil for frying

Cooking Process: 

Dissolve yeast and the 1 tablespoon of sugar in warm water.  In large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt and make a well in the center.  Add milk, butter, eggs and yeast mixture. Beat thoroughly to form a soft, smooth dough.  Cover and let rise until doubled.  Heat oil to 350 degrees.  While the oil is heating up, shape dough into flat round discs, pulling the dough outwards and leaving a small indentation in the center (see pictures above).  Place these into the oil and fry until browned.  Drain on absorbent paper towels, then shake in a bag with sugar.

Update 10/23/2013 I’ve made this recipe a few more times and tweaked it a bit. First, I adjusted the original recipe from 2 cups scalded milk to 1 cup scalded milk and 1 cup evaporated milk because I like the flavor evaporated milk gives the doughnuts. I have also added 1 tsp. of vanilla, but it doesn’t really seem to make a huge difference in taste. Second, I have allowed the dough to rise a second time after shaping it into the round flat doughnuts. This incorporates air into the dough and makes for a fluffy inside. See pictures below.

Update 6/11/2017 If you want to save time, skip shaping the dough into balls. You can punch down the dough after the first rise and let it rise again for another hour. Then just scoop out by large spoonful and drop directly into hot oil. These will be more a free-form looking doughnut, but will taste just as good.

  Comparison: Newly shaped  doughnut circle to one that has had a second rise after shaping.

This is what the inside of the doughnut looks like using the second rise.

 So should you wait for a second rise or not? Well, here are my thoughts. If you’re in a rush, following the original recipe is fine. The dough will still puff up in the hot oil and make a nice round doughnut. A second rise will not change the flavor of the doughnut. However, it does make a softer and fluffier inside, which is closer to the Leonard’s malasada. Either way, you’re going to get a great tasting treat.

Have fun making these. If anyone has made additional changes to this recipe, I would love to have feedback.

More good eats…

• Manapua
• Hawaii Pork Hash
• Easy Cream Cheese Stuffed Green Peppers via Domestically Creative

Good Eats Cooking Helpers…

• Silcone Baking Mat
• Pyrex Smart Essentials Mixing Bowls with Smart Locking Lids
• Dry Fry/Candy Themometer

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