Struffoli

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Make these delicious Italian Struffoli honey balls to bring good luck and make holiday season feel special!

Prep Time40

Resting Time1

Total Time1 40

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Calories: 452kcal

Author: Svi

Mix all ingredients for the dough in a food processor or with a stand mixer until a dough ball forms. Knead it by hand for a few minutes. The dough should be soft but not sticky.
Wrap in a plastic wrap and let rest for 1 hour at room temperature.

Once the dough is rested cut off a piece of dough and roll it with your hands into ⅓ inch (1 cm) thick rope. Then cut the rope again into ⅓ inch (1 cm) pieces.
NOTE: You should not need any flour for dusting the worksurface as the dough won’t stick. But in case it does stick a little, slightly dust the worksurface with a flour.
Roll each piece quickly between the palm of your hands (or against the work surface) giving it a round shape.
Arrange on 6"x6" *(5x15 cm) piece of parchement paper. This will help transfer the balls into hot oil quickly and without burning yourself.
Roll the rest of the dough.

Preheat vegetable oil for frying in a deep pan to 350F (175C) - perfect temperature for frying.
Make sure to heat the oil on medium heat and use enough of it so that the dough balls float freely in the pan.
Let dough balls slide from parchment paper into hot oil. Fry in small batches to avoid overcrowding the pan. Toss and flip the dough balls from time to time until lightly golden brown.
Once ready transfer fried struffoli on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.

Warm up honey on very low heat until fluid. Add struffoli and stir gently to cover them all.

Cut both cherries and orange peels into small cubes. You can mix some into honey-covered struffoli or use them only for decoration at the next step.
Mound struffoli on a serving plate forming a mountain shape or a ring shape. To make a ring shape, brush the sides of a glass or a small ball with a litttle oil or cooking spray and place it in the center of a plate. Arrange honey balls around it. Allow struffoli to set to about 2 hours then remove the glass.
Decorate with candied fruit and sugar sprinkles.
Have a serving spoon and cupcake cups ready for serving.

See the Step By Step Pictures for a visual walk-through of the recipe.

Use a kitchen scale to measure all ingredients in grams for the best result!

Use a kitchen thermometer to make sure the oil is at 350F (175C) when frying.

Extra Tips:

Don't use extra flour for rolling. When you start rolling struffoli no need to dust the work surface with flour as the dough won’t stick. In case it does stick a little, slightly dust the work surface with as little flour as possible.
Arrange struffoli in small batches on square pieces of parchment paper to prevent them from sticking and avoid using flour for coating.
Floured stuffoli will make oil foam when frying and you obviously want to avoid that.
Make sure to heat the oil on medium heat and use plenty of it so that the dough balls float freely in the pan. It's also important for oil to be 350F (175C) during frying. If oil is colder than that struffoli will absorb excess oil and hotter than that you'll risk burning them.