Easy Hawaiian style malasadas are deep fried and rolled in sugar creating a light and fluffy donut. Perfect for Malasada day here in Hawai’i or anytime of year.
Whether you call it Malasada Day, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, or something else, one thing’s for sure, delicious food will be a part of your day.
Here in Hawai’i it’s most often called Malasada Day or Fat Tuesday. This is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the season of lent.
A popular treat made for enjoyment on Fat Tuesday is malasadas. Malasada is a Portuguese dessert that was brought to the islands by immigrants that traveled to Hawai’i to work on the plantations.
Malasadas have quickly become the favorite Hawaiian island donuts. Malasadas are small yeast balls of dough, deep fried, and coated in granulated sugar. Traditional malasadas are not not filled, however in Hawai’i you can find both traditional malasadas as well as stuffed ones.
Popular filings used to stuff malasadas include:
- Haupia
- Guava
- Lilikoi
- Custard
- Chocolate
If you’re looking for other popular desserts here in Hawai’i, try kulolo, sweet potato haupia bars, or haole brownies.
Home Maid Bakery on Maui and Leonard’s Bakery on O’ahu are popular for their yummy version of the malasada.
What do I need to make malasadas:
- Active dry yeast
- Granulated sugar
- Water
- Eggs
- Milk
- Evaporated milk
- Unsalted butter
- Salt
- Bread flour
What’s the difference between bread flour and all purpose flour?
Bread flour contains a higher protein content than that of all purpose flour. Proteins create gluten. Gluten creates stringy strands that allow bread to have its characteristic elasticity and stretch.
Do I have to let the malasadas rise?
Letting the dough rise allows the yeast time to use up the sugars and break down the starches. This allows air to form within the dough creating light and fluffy dough. I would not recommend skipping this step. It’ll be well worth your wait.
What other toppings can you use on malasadas?
The classic topping is granulated sugar. You can also use cinnamon sugar, plain, or with a side of ice cream. Drizzle on some chocolate or strawberry sauce. The possibilities are endless.
How to store malasadas?
Hawai’i malasadas are best eaten fresh. If you somehow have leftovers you can store these in an airtight container at room temperature for a day or two. You can reheat the malasadas in a microwave when ready to eat.
Can you freeze malasada dough?
You sure can. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container. This will keep for a few months. Allow to defrost at room temperature or in the refrigerator overnight.
How to make malasadas?
In a small mixing bowl add yeast, warm water heated to 115F, and 1 teaspoon sugar. Set aside and allow to sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add eggs. Mix until light and fluffy.
Add milk, evaporated milk, butter, sugar, and yeast mixture. Mix until well combined.
With the motor running slowly add flour mixture and salt. Mix dough until well combined and smooth.
Transfer to a lightly greased mixing bowl and cover with a towel. Place in a warm, dark area and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Remove dough on to a floured surface. Roll dough to about 1 inch thickness. Using a cookie cutter, cup, or any round shape to cut dough. Place dough rounds on to a greased cookie sheet. Cover with a towel and allow to rest.
Place sugar in a large bowl and set aside. Heat oil of choice in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat until oil is heated to 375F. Place malasadas on oil to fry. Do not crowd the malasadas. Fry until golden brown or about 3-5 minutes on each side.
Remove malasada from oil and place on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet. Once malasada has slightly cooled, place in the bowl with sugar. Toss to coat.
ENJOY!
Easy Hawaiian Style Malasada Recipe
Easy Hawaiian style malasadas are deep fried and rolled in sugar creating a light and fluffy donut. Perfect for Malasada day here in Hawai’i or anytime of year.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon water
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups bread flour
- oil for frying
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl add yeast, warm water heated to 115F, and 1 teaspoon sugar. Set aside and allow to sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add eggs. Mix until light and fluffy.
- Add milk, evaporated milk, butter, sugar, and yeast mixture. Mix until well combined.
- With the motor running slowly add flour mixture and salt. Mix dough until well combined and smooth.
- Transfer to a lightly greased mixing bowl and cover with a towel. Place in a warm, dark area and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Remove dough on to a floured surface. Roll dough to about 1 inch thickness. Using a cookie cutter, cup, or any round shape to cut dough. Place dough rounds on to a greased cookie sheet. Cover with a towel and allow to rest.
- Place sugar in a large bowl and set aside. Heat oil of choice in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat until oil is heated to 375F. Place malasadas on oil to fry. Do not crowd the malasadas. Fry until golden brown or about 3-5 minutes on each side.
- Remove malasada from oil and place on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet. Once malasada has slightly cooled, place in the bowl with sugar. Toss to combine.
- ENJOY!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 234Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 55mgSodium: 80mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 9g
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Aloha Relle,
Is it okay to let the Malasadas rise overnight and then fry them fresh in the morning?
Mahalo, Keoni in WA
Hi John. You can, but you don’t want to let it over proof as well. You can slow down this process by placing it in the fridge to rise overnight. Be sure to cover with a wet cloth if doing so, so the dough does not dry out. Thanks for stopping by.
Hello, can I use instant yeast and skip the blooming process? That’s what the store had in stock. Thanks!
I prefer to use active dry for the flavor and consistency. Sometimes the instant yeast makes it rise too quickly and you loose that flavor. But if that is all you have it can work. I know yeast is hard to come by right now. Let me know how it goes.
Yes since instant yeast is 25% more potent than active yeast you minus an active yeast measurement in any given recipe by 25%. So in this case you would just add 1 1/2 tsp + 1/4 tsp of instant yeast in the recipe above.
My 11 year old son & I made Malasadas together following your recipe and they turned out fantastic! We had fun making them & it tasted great the next morning as well – we microwaved them for 15 seconds & they were delicious. 1/3 of the batch is in the fridge for tomorrow, and other 1/3 is in the freezer for later use. Thank you Relle, for the wonderful recipe! The video instructions were very helpful, too.
Hi Summer. Aw that’s so great to hear. Thanks so much for sharing. I happy your family loves it. Have a wonderful day!
Aloha Relle. Do you think this recipes could be turned into POI donuts with taro powder. Or do you have a recipe for Poi donuts?
Mahalos and thank you for great recipes and cooking ideas.
Mahalo Nui,
Scottymac
I’ve never tried it that way, but I’m working on a poi donut recipe. Hoping to get it out at some point.
Hi! Does it matter what type of milk you use? I typically have coconut milk at home, but didn’t know if whole milk or 2% was better. Thanks! Looking forward to trying to make these on my own!
Hi Macy. Any milk will do.
This looks AMAZING! What kind of oil do you normally use for frying?
Aloha Stephanie, I usually use either vegetable or canola, but you can use any oil suitable for frying.
can do in air fryer
Aloha Charles. I have never tried it in the air fryer. Most things that you can bake can be made in the air fryer. This might be one. Let me know if you try it.
Did you try them in an air fryer? Curious before I try it.
I have not. Might be something I try, although it’ll be hard to beat good old deep fried ones.
Thanks for your malasadas recipe. I just came back from a 1 month vacation on Big Island and Oahu and look for a malasada recipe.
Your recipe is delicious Can’t stop eating them …
Denis from Montéal, Canada
Aloha Denis. So happy to hear. Thanks for sharing. Happy Holidays.
Mahalo for this recipe! Just tried to make it tonight and the dough didn’t rise… not sure what I did wrong, but gonna try again. Only thing I can think of is the water I used on the first step was maybe too hot? I just used hot water from the tap… wasn’t scalding or anything, just… hot.
Any suggestions?
Yeast and rising dough can be finicky. Things to think about: water temp (too hot/cold), did you knead it enough, enough time to rise, warm enough environment to rise, and type of flour.
Was your yeast expired?
Hiii I tried to do these today and the dough wasn’t dense and to much flour what do you think I did wrong?
Hi Ana. The dough wasn’t dense? Or it was? Making sure your measurements are correct is the key. Things like humidity can affect the dough. Adjust slightly as needed. If too wet add a little more flour. If too dry add a little milk or water.
Hello. Do these have the slightly thicker, chewy outer crust texture? I had some once that had this texture so different than a regular donut. It was amazing.
Aloha Tyler. Definitely a different texture than a regular donut. The crust is a little more crispy. It’s so yummy. You have to try it. Have a great day.
Aloha,
Do you have the recipe measurements in grams?
Mahalo 🤙🏽
I don’t sorry. But there are many conversion apps and websites online that may help you out. Have a great day.
What size cutter did you use to cut out the dough? The smallest one I had was 3.5 inches and that was WAY too big. I ended up cutting each circle in half and reshaping them by hand.
They came out fantastic though!! I made coconut custard to fill them with and they were a huge hit!
Aloha. So awesome to hear. A 2 or 3in cookie cutter works well. Have a great day.
I’m vegan so I subbed plant milk for the cow, made mybown evaporated milk, and for the egg subbed 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp of Just Egg. It turned out fantastic! My non-vegan family eaters loved them too!
So awesome to hear. Thank you for sharing?