Italian Honey Balls
- COOK TIME
- 35 Min
A delectable dessert, these Italian Honey Balls are finger-lickin' good. Bake these for the holidays and you'll be the life of the party! These honey-drenched balls of dough are hard to keep away from!
What You'll Need
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
What to Do
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a medium-sized saucepan, bring water, oil, and salt to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and slowly stir in flour, beating with a wooden spoon until mixture forms a ball; remove from heat. Beat in eggs one at a time until well blended and smooth.
- Using a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon, form mixture into small balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden; set aside to cool.
- In a small saucepan, bring honey, sugar, and cinnamon to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue boiling until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly, then combine baked balls and honey mixture in a medium-sized bowl until balls are completely coated.
- Pile balls into a mound on a serving platter. Do not refrigerate.
Notes
You can make this really festive by garnishing it with candied cherries, almond or even multicolored Jordan almonds (candy-coated almonds, also called "wedding confetti").
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laurar322 1814902
Jan 11, 2015
Thanks for this! After my nonnie passed no one could find her recipe
adaugherty57 98005 40
Jan 01, 2015
I just made it. Luckily I used a lasagna pan instead of a cookie sheet, because like "freezedry" I probably would have had a fire! Are you sure it needs 12 cup of oil? They fried in the oven there was so much grease. I had to turn them over to brown the tops. When I bit into one the inside was like oily mush. Threw out the whole thing!
pprisock 8123510
Dec 18, 2013
Once these are done, are they sticky to the touch? I'm planning on making them for an office Christmas party, but want to be sure they are easy to eat.
Test Kitchen Team
Dec 18, 2013
Yes, these are sticky so we probably wouldn't recommend them for a Christmas party.
kissthecook05
Nov 19, 2012
Would anyone know of a recipe to make the kind of icing/glaze (what ever it would be called, lol) in place of the honey? The kind I am thinking of is almost a transparent kind of covering that these little balls could be placed in (like the little donut holes you can buy that have that type of clearish-white coating on them). I'm thinking it would probably have powdered sugar and milk in the recipe (but I'm just guessing here). I would greatly appreciate this if anyone can help me with this. Also... would it be alright to just deep-fry these little buggers instead of baking them? I'm sure 'baked' is 'healthier' than 'deep-fried', but IF (and WHEN) I'm going to eat 'these kinds of things' (mmm, yum, yum), then I'm going to 'have at it' ALL THE WAY!! lol Happy Baking everyone!!!
EmerilLaWannabe
Dec 05, 2012
When I make "the best donuts ever" with Grands southern style biscuits (deepfried) I mix a little orange juice with powdered sugar to make a wonderful orange glaze. Start with a little juice and add to desired consistency. The neighborhood loves it!!
whosyournana 96222 26
Jan 02, 2016
I use 1cup powdered sugar and 1/4 cup milk. this can be thinned down with a little splash of milk, maybe 1tsp at a time and you can add 1/2 tsp vanilla ex as preferred
freezedry12 485771 5
Dec 23, 2011
CAUGHT OVEN ON FIRE!OIL DRIPPED OUT OF HONEYBALLS ONTO THE COOKIE SHEET AND SPILLED ON THE BOTTOM OF OVEN!!DID ANYONE TEST THIS RECIPE BEFORE ??
grannyblu
Jul 30, 2012
IF This recipe caught your oven on Fire maybe best not to bake at all and STAY AFROM THE OVEN AND BURNERS ON TOP OF STOVE I made this recipe last Christmas and turned out fine
CanadianSheWolf
Dec 13, 2012
I am just taking a "stab in the dark" here BUT I am guessing that someone dipped thier balls in the honey mixture BEFORE they baked them......thereby having the honey "dripping outta their balls" all over the oven! Yes?
Decoderpf
Dec 19, 2011
Finally! Now I can make my own golden nuggets since Stella Doro doesn't make them anymore after Nestle took over the company. It used to be so easy to just buy the nuggets and mix my own honey, lemon and sugar. Plus I use walnuts or almonds instead of that other stuff to make it more elegant and healthier and then I would sprinkle colored sprinkles on top.
Mench
Dec 17, 2011
This recipe sounds almost like my grandmothers tegleha . Except in that recipe you boil the dough in a mixture of honey and sugar and water. I will try this to compare the recipes.
Ginadigi
Dec 17, 2011
It's not christms without Grandma's Honey Balls! This sounds a bit healthier than my family reciepe! We always did them in hot oil weeks ahead and then when ready to serve or give as gifts we added the honey. Will make try this today.
krs1942 1172554
Dec 14, 2011
love the recipie, can the balls be made ahead of time( 3-4 days) & add the honey added shortly before you want to use them??
WintryKiss
Dec 13, 2011
basically its a cream puff batter that you are making .. would be easier to "pipe" the little balls from a piping bag its much easier - my mother always made these at christmas time and if i tell you she piped THOUSANDSSSSS of them i am not kidding you ... she gave plates to everyone .. everyone loved them .. my paternal grandmother fried them which was the original old italian version .. ill have to make a batch and surprise my family . my mother can't bake or do anything like that any longer happy holidays everyone
cubsgirl21 4181537
Dec 08, 2011
For anyone trying to cut back on sugar, try using agave nectar in place of the honey and granulated agave for the sugar. Both are really easy to find at stores like Whole Foods.
cutie44 1892426
Dec 07, 2011
i KNOW THE ORIGINAL VERSION IS TO FRY, BUT THIS SOULD BE A TREAT FOR THE DIABETIC PATIENTS....
MrsMo
Dec 02, 2011
mspiegel224, i boil water and oil together all the time when i make a pasta dish. you'll only have splattering if you have oil in a very hot pan (like a frying pan) then add water or visa-versa. the water/oil combo used in this recipe shouldn't be a problem at all. i hope this helps.
laylamohammed13 66 98673
Nov 20, 2011
first the real struffoli are fried in oil not baked and its supposed to be a family thing to make together( it should be a large batch to give a plate to family and friends to take home) and u roll the dough out to snakes and then cut them in to small pillows. fry them in hot oil and then pour the honey over them and sprinkle with non-perils.
Member 16532
Jan 03, 2011
If everyone wants a taste it serves many more, however, if everyone wants only this for after dinner, then it only serves 3. Why post a correction to the recipe? If you need it for 30, multiply everything by 10. It's simple math...
GrammaS20
Sep 20, 2010
Are you serious that this only serves 3 or is that a misprint. My family totals 35 - 40 people at my house on the holidays! I would have to make twenty batches of this if it only serves 3. Please correct this or make the recipe MUCH, MUCH larger.
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