[Ms. Sassy]

Paczki Day is only a couple days away and I feel it's my Polish girl obligation to treat myself; if only with 1. Problem is, I can't find any nutritional information (even if only general) on any paczki anywhere. Anybody have any recipes that I can attempt to figure out or know of any restaurants or bakeries where I might be able to get some sort of information?

Please help! I'm counting on you guys! Thanks all!

[mauvaisroux]

What are paczi made of? Maybe if we could get the ingredients then a breakdown of points could be done.

[britomart]

I have no idea really what paczki is, but here's a recipe I randomly found for you. Maybe you can use this as a guideline for points calculations... as for making it... well, have fun!

1 yeast cake
1 cup milk, scalded and cooled
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup melted shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
Oil for deep-frying
Sugar for dredging

Link to full recipe:
http://www.emerils.com/recipes/by_na...on_paczki.html

[mauvaisroux]

These sound delicious - I might have a bash at making them myself.

Paczki

Makes 30 doughnuts

Per paczki - 125 calories; 4.3 g fat; 0.6 g dietary fibre = approx 3 pts each

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups of milk

2 packages (1/4 oz pkg) dry active yeast

½ cup sugar

½ cup butter, softened

3 egg yolks

1 whole egg

1tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

½ teaspoon mace or nutmeg (ground)

4 ½ cups flout

oil for frying (vegetable)

jam

confectioner’s sugar


Directions:

• Scald milk and allow to cool to lukewarm, add yeast and stir.
• Beat sugar and butter until fluffy, add eggs, salt, vanilla and mace.
• Add flour and yeast-milk gradually, beating well.
• Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk.
• Punch down and let rise again.
• Roll out dough, on a floured surface, 3/4 inch thick.
• Cut out 1 1/2 inch circles.
• Top half of the circles with 1 tsp jam, cover with the remaining circles and seal edges.
• Heat oil mixed with 1 tbls water to 375°F.
• Fry, turning once, to a medium golden brown.
• drain on paper towels and sprinkle with sugar.

[canadian*girl]

i'm polish and i've never heard of paczki. i feel left out though. they sound yummy thugh.

[Ms. Sassy]

Paczki is like a Polish donut. Paczki Day is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (Fat Tuesday here in the States). The Polish Roman Catholics celebrate it as the last day of excess before Lent starts. They are very yummy! Thanks for your help, friends. I will count it as 3 points as that recipe states. Y'all are fabulous! Go to a good bakery and treat yourself to one for your hard work! You deserve it!

[maegdaeien]

OMG I LOVE PACZKIS. Which is weird, because I'm not a big donut fan. Maybe it's the once-a-year aspect that makes them so special... or maybe it's that Polish food just rocks in general.

[Thinfor5Minutes]

which means "fast night." They would use up all the fat before Lent started by making doughnuts. I am going to skip the fastnachts this year. Being of Pa. German descent sure plays havoc with one's weight. Germans love all that yummy fatty fried stuff!

[britomart]

Wow, those yummy looking doughnut things are only 3pts each?? Wow! For something sweet and deep-fried, that lets you off pretty easy! *pulls out yellow pages to find Polish bakery*

[mauvaisroux]

Well the recipe I posted does - not sure what a store bought one would be, especially if it was made with cream and/or brandy like some of the recipes I saw !

Maybe if you give it the same points as a cinnamon sugar doughnut it would be close About 5 points?

[britomart]

You know, I've never looked up points for doughnuts. I just assumed they were not worth it, 6+ points/each, and never bothered. I guess it's better that way, because now if I think I can fit one in I will!

[Ms. Sassy]

Actually, paczki are a bit smaller than real donuts. The ones I've always had have been about 2.5-3 inches across. I'd guess they're a good inch or so smaller than donuts. According to the Food Companion, donuts seems to range 6-8 points, depending on the filling. That would make a difference in points. The paczki are definitely good, though. Also, most bakeries should make them. You don't have to go to a polish bakery. All the bakeries around here have them. Actually, I live in a very small town and we don't have a bakery so our coffee shop is selling some. Just call around if you're interested in trying them.