New Mexican Sopapillas

These delicious fried pastries are a must have if you visit New Mexico, and are well worth all of the effort if you feel daring enough to make them yourself.

Ingredients

-1 package of active dry yeast
-¼ cup warm water (not boiling)
-1 ½ cups milk
-3.5 cups all-purpose flour, unsifted
-1 cup whole wheat flour
-3 Tablespoons shortening (lard is traditional)
-2 Tablespoons sugar
-1 ½ teaspoon salt
-light oil (vegetable, canola, corn, peanut)

Directions

1. In large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.
2. Combine milk,shortening, sugar and salt in a pan. Heat mixture to 110 °.
3. Add dissolved yeast and beat in 3 cups of all-purpose flour as well as the cup of whole wheat flour. Stir in around a ½ cup or so of flour, just enough until dough is sticky.
4. On a floured surface, knead the dough and sprinkle with flour as necessary to produce a smooth texture. In a greased bowl, turn the dough until fully covered. Let the dough stand under cover at room temperature for an hour, then punch it down (my favorite part).
5. If you don't plan to make them right away, you can chill the dough in the fridge for 12 hours or so. Knead the dough again to get rid of any air bubbles. Roll the dough in to the thickness of about 2 nickels.
6. Cut the dough into rectangles - you can make smaller sopapillas for dessert or a snack, or make them plate sized for an entree.
7. Make sure to work on a floured pan and keep everything covered when not in use.
8. Heat up to two inches of oil to 350° in a large, deep pan, and fry two or three sopapillas at once. Be sure to push the bubbles down into the oil as they form with a spoon, to keep them spread out evenly.
9. Fry sopapillas for a minute or two, until golden on both sides. Be sure to turn them several times.
10. Place on paper towels to soak up excess oil,and serve! To save some for later, cover the sopapillas up and freeze or chill. When you are ready to reheat them, just bake them for five minutes or so in a 300° oven. Make sure not to overheat, though, as they will become too hard!