Authentic Mexican Buñuelos (Crispy Fritters)

Make traditional authentic Mexican buñuelos for the holidays! Crispy, golden-fried dough dusted with cinnamon sugar. A festive must-have!

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A stack of flat, crispy Mexican Bunuelos dusted with cinnamon-sugar sits on a wooden cutting board next to a rolling pin and a small bowl of cinnamon sugar on a light countertop.

Authentic Mexican buñuelos are the ultimate holiday comfort food—crispy, sweet, golden-brown disks of fried dough generously dusted with cinnamon and sugar. Stacks of these traditional fritters, alongside warm pork tamales and champurrado, are a staple in Mexican households throughout the Christmas season, posadas, and New Year’s Eve.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe ❤️

The Ultimate Tradition: Made from scratch with a slightly sweet dough, these taste infinitely better than store-bought or shortcut versions.
Old-School Authenticity: Passed down through generations, this is the genuine way buñuelos are made in Durango, Mexico.
Holiday Magic: They bring warmth, nostalgia, and an incredible aroma to your kitchen that instantly feels like the holidays.
Perfect Texture: Light, shatteringly crisp, and coated in just the right amount of cinnamon sugar while still warm.

-Maggie

📖 Family Story

First published here back in 2017, my mom came to visit me in San Diego. Like many traditional Mexican women, she isn’t usually one to easily hand over her recipe secrets. But to my complete surprise, she agreed to cook with me, let me take pictures, and even allowed me to record videos. Yes, that is my mom and her hands making Mexican buñuelos in the media for this post.

Now, my mom is ill and can barely stand upright. Looking at these old images is hard. But seeing her hands here reminds me of the amazing gift she left me with this recipe. This is the exact way we make buñuelos in Durango, Mexico. I hope it brings as much warmth to your family table as it does to mine.

Ingredients

Four images show elderly hands mixing dough in a metal bowl, gradually combining flour and water to form a sticky dough mixture. A measuring cup is visible in one photo.

🥣 Instructions

Making the Dough

Add salt, sugar, and baking powder to a large mixing bowl.
Mix to combine the dry ingredients.
Add the wet ingredients – including enough water to make a dough.

The Secret to the Perfect Dough

🌟 My mother used to do all the mixing by hand because she’s old school. Use a mixer or food processor to make it easier. The flour mixture will be slightly crumbly.

🌟 Have you ever seen a Dutch Apple Pie or a cobbler with the crumbles on top? That’s exactly the consistency you are looking for. Then add the water.

🌟 Eyeball it. If you add too much water and the dough is too wet, add more flour until you get the right consistency. It’s flour power!

🌟 There is some kneading involved to make a smooth dough. This is where a good mixer comes in handy.

A person with wrinkled hands shapes dough with a wooden rolling pin on a floured surface.

Rolling out the Dough

Take a piece of the dough and form small dough balls.
Place on a lightly floured surface.
Each one should be about the size of a golf ball.
Roll it out using a rolling pin.

I’m rollin’… They hatin’ … Turn the dough as needed to roll it like a thin tortilla. Thin it to win it!

You want them to be the size of a flour tortilla. Think fajita-size flour tortillas.

Hands folding a piece of rolled dough on a wooden surface next to a floured rolling pin, with a metal bowl in the background.

See how my mom stretches the dough?
If a small hole forms, it’s ok. Just press it or pinch it back together.
They don’t have to be perfect circles. I’ve eaten plenty of them with holes. Ohhhh holy night… Lol.

Eleven pieces of round, rolled-out dough are laid out on a cloth-covered wooden surface, ready for baking or cooking.

Once you’re done rolling out the dough, lay them on a kitchen towel.
Cover them with another kitchen towel while they rest and await their turn to jump in the hot oil.
Heat the oil.

I recommend either canola oil or vegetable oil. Olive oil and coconut oil are not good for frying. You could use avocado oil which has a higher heat point, but you’re also going to pay a higher price.

Four photos show dough frying in a pan, being checked with a fork, then topped with cinnamon sugar, becoming a golden, crispy fried pastry on a paper towel.

Frying Bunuelos

See how much vegetable oil I used? I used only about an inch of oil.
No joke. You gotta poke. Use a fork, and poke it several times while it’s frying.
Be very careful. The oil is very hot.
After you finish frying, place the buñuelo on a paper towel to drain slightly.
Mix cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle the top of the bunuelo.
Flip it and sprinkle the back with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Oily to bed, oily to rise. I refilled the frying pan twice to get through all of the frying.

👩🏼‍🍳 Pro Tips

If you don’t poke the dough, the center will inflate and not cook.
You don’t want to drain all the excess oil. The oil will help the cinnamon and sugar mixture stick to the fried tortilla.
Sprinkle while the fried dough is still warm. If you sprinkle when it’s cold, the cinnamon and sugar will not stick to the fritter as easily.
If you burn the buñuelo while frying, you need to start all over again. Dump the oil. Wash the pan. Or, all the other buñuelos will taste like burnt oil.

✂️ Short Cuts

In Mexico, there are tortillerías (or stores where they sell tortillas) that sell the dough for buñuelos. You just have to go home and fry the dough.
In the US, you can use regular flour tortillas or uncooked flour tortillas and fry them. However, the dough in this bunuelos recipe is sweeter than regular flour tortillas.

🙋🏻‍♀️ Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a sopapilla and a buñuelo?

Buñuelos and Sopapillas differ in texture, origin, and how they’re served. Buñuelos are thin, crispy, and often sugar-coated, originating from Mexico, while Sopapillas are puffy, have a hollow center, and come from the Southwestern U.S., commonly filled with sweet or savory ingredients.

Are buñuelos like churros?

While both are popular fried dough desserts in Mexican cuisine, they differ in shape and texture. Churros are piped through a star-shaped nozzle and often have a ridged surface, while buñuelos are usually flat and thin. Both are deliciously crispy and often served with a dusting of sugar or a sweet dipping sauce.

What are the different types of buñuelos?

In Mexico, you’ll find two popular types of buñuelos. First, there are the ‘buñuelos de rodilla’ which is what you find here. These are made with dough, have a flat and circular shape, and are usually soaked in a syrup made of piloncillo. Then, we have the ‘buñuelos de viento’, which are made using a batter and an iron rosette mold.

A stack of round, golden-brown fried apple pies coated in cinnamon sugar sits on a wooden surface next to a small rolling pin, reminiscent of the classic Mexican Bunuelos with their crisp texture and sweet, spiced finish.

🎄More Mexican Christmas recipes

These traditional Mexican buñuelos are more than just a sweet holiday treat—they are a piece of family history, heritage, and love passed down through generations. Whether you’re making them for a cozy December night or a festive posada gathering, biting into one warm, crispy, cinnamon-sugar-coated piece is pure magic.

¡Buen provecho!

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Authentic Mexican Buñuelos (Crispy Fritters)

Why You’ll Love This Recipe ❤️

📖 Family Story

Ingredients