Colombian Buñuelos

A bowl of buñuelos with a black and red towel.

Colombian Buñuelos are fried cheese fritters that have a wonderful crisp outside and a soft inside. Their perfectly round shape makes them very enticing. Buñuelos are most often served during Christmas time in Colombia as a craveable treat.

Prep Time15

Cook Time6

Total Time21

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: South American

Servings:

Calories: 115kcal

Author: Tristin - Home Cooked Harvest

Ingredients

3-4 cups vegetable oil
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup cassava flour
1/2 cup feta cheese finely grated
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk

Instructions

Add oil to a heavy bottomed large pot (I use a 3.5 quart dutch oven). Put over medium low heat, add a candy thermometer or deep fry thermometer to the edge and bring to 330 - 350 deg f. If the oil stops rising in temperature, turn the heat up a little.
In a large bowl, whisk together cornstarch, cassava flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
Add in softened butter, milk, eggs, and cheese. Mix this with your finger tips until a soft playdough-like dough forms. Add a tiny bit more milk if it is not coming together. Form into a ball.
Divide the dough ball into 4 equal pieces. Roll each of those pieces into balls.
Divide each of the four balls into 8 pieces. Roll each one into a ball. You will have 32 balls.
Fry 3-4 buñuelos at a time for 5-6 minutes until golden brown. Repeat for all of the dough balls.
Place on a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess oil. Serve when the balls have cooled.

Notes

Make bigger buñuelos. This recipe makes 1-inch small balls, if you want bigger buñuelos just double the ingredients and follow the directions as they are written. Or split the four balls into fourths instead of eighths. The larger buñuelos will have to cook longer, so keep that in mind.

Estimate dough. The dough does not have to be split into equal parts. If you like instead grab dough and roll into about 1 - 1 1/2 inch balls.

Very fine cheese. Make sure the cheese is finely grated or shredded otherwise the cheese balls can explode while frying.

Flour alternative. If you can't find cassava flour, you can use tapioca starch instead.
Buñuelos will last 1-2 days at room temp in an airtight container.

* Please note that all nutrition information are just estimates. Values will vary among brands, so we encourage you to calculate these on your own for most accurate results.

Nutrition