I think I’ve done about 10 “easy entertaining” recipes- and I think its high time I try sharing a quick dessert. These “nun’s farts” are inspired by a recipe from Canal House- one of my favorite seasonal cookbooks. (and they were inspired by the NY restaurant Daniel, who were in turn inspired by German street food) They are essentially a donut hole crossed with the eggy dough of a popover. Oh, and then I rolled them in cinnamon sugar. Tell me that you have a guest that would turn away this warm homemade goodness at the end of the night. In fact, I think it would be a crime to say you don’t like them. Pair them with a Ciderhouse Whiskey and we’ll really have something you can’t refuse.

Now, I always thought donuts were on a pedestal in the culinary world- up there with macarons as one of the most difficult things to make EVER. Well I certainly was WRONG. I made  these once and have already memorized the recipe, they took me about 20 min to whip up from start to finish and are quite easy- and quick to clean up! The other plus is that you most likely have all of these ingredients lying around the house already- so no extra trips to the store when you are rushing to get ready for guests

“Nun’s Farts”

What you need:

• 3 Tbs butter
• 1 cup water
• pinch salt
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour, sifted
• 2 eggs
• 1tsp vanilla or bourbon (optional)
• Canola oil
• 2 cups sugar + cinnamon to taste

Add the butter water and salt to a saucepan on the stove on medium heat. When the butter is melted and the water is boiling, take off the heat and add all of the flour at once. Stir until the flour is completely incorporated and return to the heat for another minute or so- the dough will start to ball up. Remove from the heat again and beat in the eggs one at a time. If you want a slight flavor- add the vanilla or alcohol now. Stir until the dough balls up again.

Now is the fun part. Fill a deep pot with 2″ canola oil heated to 275 degrees. Drop about a tablespoon of the dough into the oil (I used a small ice cream scoop- it was very effective). Don’t worry about them being perfectly round.  The dough will sink to the bottom in an amazing bubbling sound- then will rise and grow to twice their size. Don’t overcrowd the pot. Keep turning the dough until it browns on all sides- it takes about 5-10 minutes. Next take them out of the oil using a slotted spoon and rest them on a wire rack set over some paper towels. Once they are “dry” drop them in the cinnamon sugar and roll them around.

Serve warm. Try to hold back from eating all of them yourself.