Castagnole - Italian Sweet Dough Balls

Castagnole are an easy and delicious sweet treat that you can either bake in the oven or deep fry.

They are made without yeast, and they are very easy to prepare, with simple ingredients.

How to make castagnole?

Start with the dough

To a bowl, add 1⅔ cup (250 grams) of all-purpose flour, ⅔ cup (70 grams) of sugar, a pinch of salt, 1 teaspoon (4 grams) of baking powder, and the grated zest of an orange or lemon, preferably organic as we are eating the peel.

When grating the zest of citrus fruit, we only grate the external peel, as the white flesh under the peel can be quite bitter. 

Add the grated zest to the bowl and give it a quick stir to combine the ingredients.

Then add ¼ cup (60 grams) of any plant milk of your choice and 3 tablespoons (40 grams) of neutral vegetable oil, such as sunflower seed oil or canola oil.

Then in Italy, we like to add 2 tablespoons (30 grams) of anise liquor or any other liquor really, but if you’d like to make the donut holes alcohol-free, then just add some more plant milk.

As a next step, mix the ingredients with a spatula till you get a dough consistency, then transfer to a worktop. I actually like to use a large cutting board here and knead with your hands for about 5 minutes. 

Try not to add any flour at this stage, only do so if the dough really sticks to your hands.

By the end, you should get a soft and smooth dough, but that doesn’t stick to your hands. 

Shape the dough balls

We can now shape the donut holes, or the castagnole, which in Italian means little chestnuts because they do look like small chestnuts.

With our doses, you should get around 32 castagnole. To do that, cut the dough in half, then in half again, and again, and again, till you get 32 pieces.

If you want to be more precise, each doughnut hole should weigh between 12 and 14 grams.

Shape each piece of dough into a small ball. You can do so by rolling it between the palms of your hands.

Oven baked castagnole

To bake them, place them onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

Now you can bake them in a preheated oven at 360 degrees Fahrenheit or 180 degrees Celsius for 12 to 14 minutes max. 

Keep an eye on the castagnole while they are in the oven. You don’t want them to get brown on top. They should stay almost white, or just lightly colored on top.

This way they will stay soft and moist in the center and will be a pleasure to eat. 

Once cooked, let them cool down for a minute or two, then dip each doughnut hole first in plant milk, then roll it in sugar, or if you like, cinnamon sugar.

Repeat this step till you run out of donut holes, and you are done.

Deep-fried castagnole

Then If you want to deep fry the castagnole then you’ll need about ½ gallon or 2 liters of frying oil, like for instance peanut oil.

Frying oil has a high smoke point, usually well above 400F or 200C. Smoke point is the temperature at which oil smokes, or burns, and releases harmful compounds which you don’t want to eat or breath.

So keep the oil temperature well below your oil smoke point.

Deep frying requires your full attention so make sure you don’t do this if you have kids running around in the kitchen or if you are scrolling through your phone.

Now, add the oil to a pot with tall edges. The oil should only reach half of the pot. Warm up the oil till you reach a temperature of 340 degrees Fahrenheit or 170 degrees celsius. 

If the oil is too hot it will burn the castagnole. If the oil is not hot enough, the food will absorb too much oil. 

For best results keep the oil temperature between 330 and 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 165 and 175 degrees celsius.

When the oil is at the right temperature gently add in the doughnut holes, with the help of a spoon. You can add a few of them at a time, but start with one or two if you’ve never deep-fried before. 

Cook the donut holes for about 2 to 3 minutes max, until they get slightly puffy, crispy and golden.

Now take them out of the oil, let them drip, and place them onto a tray lined with kitchen paper to absorb excess oil. 

Repeat till you run out of sweet dough balls, then arrange them onto a serving platter and sprinkle with powdered sugar or if you prefer, roll them in white sugar.

And here you have it, a delicious batch of castagnole, deep-fried and oven-baked. 

I promise you that both versions are so delicious. The baked ones are light, soft, and just a little moist on the inside. They are irresistible! 

The deep-fried ones, well, they are deep-fried, so you can only imagine how good they taste.

If you liked this recipe, you might also like: