Our cooking club theme this month was “Recipes from your Grandmother”.  I decided to tackle a brand new recipe, my grandmother’s fried dough.  This is not your typically local fair fried dough which is often flat, and perhaps even topped with tomato sauce.  These are sticks of slightly sweetened bread dough, which you must dip in cinnamon and sugar.

It’s never easy to work with yeast, but I was happy that the dough rose fairly well.  The dough was a little sticky as I tried to shape it, but I did my best, and dropped them into a pan filled with about 1″ of oil.  Because I wasn’t using a true deep fryer, they got flat on the bottom, but that’s OK.

These were great fresh out of the pan, but almost stale 12 hours later so you need to serve them right away.  If you’re having a party and decide to give them a try, this shouldn’t be a problem.

Pizza Frita

1 1/2 T oil, plus more for frying
1 T sugar
2 egg, beaten
3/4 c. milk
1 package yeast, dissolved in 2 T warm water
3-4 c. flour
1/2 c. raisins

Mix oil, sugar, eggs, and milk in a medium bowl.  Add yeast, and 1 cup flour, and beat until smooth.  Add another 2 c. flour and raisins, and mix and knead until smooth.  Add more flour as necessary if dough is too sticky.

Let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled.  Shape into sticks, and fry in deep oil.

• breads