What are Bunuelos?

Cuban Bunuelos [pronounced boo-nyweh-lohs] are fried pastries, made from root vegetables like yuca, malanga, calabaza (Cuban pumpkin), and/or boniato (Cuban sweet potatoes which we also use to make boniatillo con coco). Que rico!

We boil the peeled root vegetables, make a dough, and then shaped them into figure 8s. We then serve with all coated in a homemade cinnamon-anise syrup. IT’S SO GOOD.

Let me show you how to make them!

Step-By-Step Instructions

• Make the cinnamon-anise syrup. In a saucepan, add sugar, water, cinnamon stick, star anise, lime juice, and lime zest. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat then remove the cinnamon stick and star anise. Let the syrup cool. Set aside.

Buñuelos should be pillowy soft and doughy on the inside and golden brown and well coated with cinnamon-anise syrup on the outside.

Recipe Tips & Tricks

• Mix and match tubers. Cuban buñuelos are typically made with yuca, boniato, malanga (or malanga amarilla), and/or calabaza. Feel free to mix and match which ones you’d like to use. For example, you can make this recipe with yuca and boniato (or sweet potato) instead of malanga. You can also use 2lbs of one of the above, like yuca by itself. You do you!

• Use frozen yuca. You can substitute frozen yuca for fresh yuca in a pinch. You can find frozen yuca in the freezer section of your grocery store. Any leftover frozen yuca can be used for my Cuban yuca con mojo!

• No mushy vegetables! When boiling the tubers, make sure they are fork-tender but not too soft or mushy. Some root vegetables will cook faster than others, be sure to keep an eye on them.

Storage Tips

• Buñuelos are best served warm right out of the fryer with the anise syrup. If you have any leftovers, you can transfer them to an airtight container for 3-4 days at room temperature.

• Freezer Instructions. You can make the dough up to step 4, sprinkle them with flour, place them in a freezer bag, and freeze them for up to 6 months.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Nostalgic, Cuban snack. These Cuban meringue cookies remind me so much of my childhood. Every time, I’d go grocery shopping with my mom, I’d place a bag of merenguitos in the shopping cart. I enjoy them now with Cuban coffee!

• Easy, super customizable. While these classic cookies are easy to make the traditional way, you can also make them your own by piping them into different shapes, adding food coloring or sprinkles, or even dipping them in melted chocolate after baking them.

• Only 4 ingredients. These Cuban merenguitos are made with 4 simple ingredients that I bet you’ll find in your kitchen right now.

• Perfect snack or dessert for any holiday. I can absolutely see you making these meringue kisses for Easter or Christmas.

Let me show you how to make them!

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Egg whites. Make sure they are room temperature so they whip up faster.

• Cream of tartar. This is a powdery acid that acts as the stabilizer for the meringue. Without this, you risk the meringue collapsing while whisking.

• Pinch of salt. Elevates the flavor of the cookies.

• Granulated sugar. Typically, meringue is made with superfine sugar, however, for these Cuban merenguitos, regular granulated sugar worked fine for me.

Trick For Separating Egg Whites From Egg Yolks

The trick to separating egg whites from egg yolks easily is by doing it with cold eggs.

Once you separate the two, place the egg whites in a small glass bowl and let them come to room temperature before starting this recipe.

Don’t throw away the 4 egg yolks! Use them to make my classic tiramisu, my key lime pie with a Maria cookie crust, or to start Crema de Vie (Cuban eggnog).

Step-By-Step Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 200ºF. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

• Make the meringue. In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or in a bowl using an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt, at low speed, for about 1-2 minutes until frothy. Slowly begin adding sugar, while whisking, until stiff peaks form, about 5-6 minutes total. You know you have stiff peaks when you flip over the bowl and the meringue stays in the bowl.

• Pipe the cookies. Transfer the meringue to a piping bag with a large star tip. Pipe 1 ½-inch in diameter meringue kisses onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

• Bake the cookies. Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour. After 1 hour, turn the oven off but leave them in there for 30 minutes with the oven off so they can firm up. DON’T OPEN THE OVEN DOOR.

• Make sure they cool at room temperature. Remove from the oven. The meringue kisses should be dry, firm, and crispy but not brown or sticky. Allow them to cool completely before serving. Enjoy!

Recipe Tips & Tricks

• Don’t add the sugar all at once. Slowly adding the sugar, a few tablespoons at a time as you’re whisking, will allow the egg whites to whip up quickly.

• No plastic bowls. Use a ceramic, glass, or metal bowl to make these meringue cookies. Plastic bowls or utensils tend to retain oils that can be detrimental to the cookies.

• Best piping tip for merenguitos? I recommend using a large star tip like the Wilton1M or the Wilton #32 tip.

• Flavoring & Color. Feel free to stir in a teaspoon of espresso powder, or 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract, peppermint extract, or almond extract. You can also add a few drops of food coloring of your choice or a small dollop of icing color.

• Decorations. You can add sugar sprinkles or rainbow nonpareils before baking, or dip the bottoms of the meringue kisses with melted chocolate after baking.

Step-By-Step Instructions

• Make the dough & let it rise. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the warm milk then stir in the brown sugar and instant dry yeast. Allow it to sit for 2-3 minutes until foamy. Mix in the eggs, butter, and salt until combined. Switch to the dough hook, add flour, 1 cup at a time, and mix until a dough forms. If you don’t have a stand mixer with a dough hook, you can mix and knead by hand until a dough forms. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let it rest in a warm place for 1 hour until the dough has doubled in size.

• Make the rum toffee pecan topping. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar and butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer for 4 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in rum. Pour the mixture into the baking dish and top with the chopped pecans. Set aside.

• Make the brown sugar cinnamon filling. In a bowl, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon until all is combined. Set aside.

• Roll out the dough. Lightly sprinkle your work surface with flour. Transfer the dough onto your work surface and evenly roll it out into a rectangle, making sure the long side is 18-inch long.

• Add the cinnamon-sugar filling. Brush melted butter over the rectangle. Sprinkle the cinnamon brown sugar mixture evenly over the melted butter.

• Cut the dough into buns. Carefully and tightly roll the dough into an 18-inch long log. Using a sharp knife, cut into 12 buns. Using a sharp knife, cut into 12 buns.

• Let the buns rise (again). Transfer each bun to the baking dish with the rum toffee pecan topping. Cover the buns with a kitchen towel and let them rise for 30 minutes.

• Bake the buns. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Bake the buns for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on top. At the 12-minute mark, cover the top of the rolls with aluminum foil to avoid them browning too much.

• Serve. Remove from oven and let them cool for 5 minutes. Carefully invert the buns onto a large serving dish. Serve warm.

Make Pecan Sticky Buns Ahead of Time

• Once you transfer the buns to the baking dish on top of the rum toffee pecan topping (step 6), brush the tops of the sticky buns with melted butter then cover the dish in plastic wrap. The butter will help the plastic wrap come off easily the next day.

• Place the dish in the fridge overnight for 8-12 hours. Once you’re ready to bake, bring the sticky buns to room temperature, about 30 minutes or so, before baking.

Freezing Instructions

First things first, you need to partially bake them first before freezing.

• When you get to step 6, bake the buns for 12-15 minutes instead of the full 25-30 minutes then cool completely. Cover the baking dish in plastic wrap before placing them in the freezer. You can freeze them for up to 1 month.

• Make sure to thaw them 24 hours before baking in the fridge and bake them the next day at 350ºF for the remaining time (10-15 minutes) until golden brown.

Storage Tips

Sticky buns may be kept at room temperature for 2 days and covered in aluminum foil to prevent them from drying out. You could also transfer them to an airtight container and place them in the refrigerator for 1 week or the freezer for up to 3 months. Just thaw and heat them up for 45 seconds in the microwave.