Easy Buñuelos {Tree Ornaments}
I have never made cookie ornaments, but I have always wanted to try. I just never found a recipe that sang to me until I found this very clever idea on Chef Marcela’s blog. Marcela Valladolid is my hero and these ornaments are genius! They are fun and easy to make! My daughter and I had a very nice time making these together over the weekend.
We added some red velvet ribbon and they now hang beautifully on our Christmas tree!
For a traditional round buñuelo recipe check out our mother’s recipe here.
Buñuelo Ornaments
Ingredients
- 10 uncooked flour tortillas, also works with regular flour tortillas although results are not as crispy
- vegetable oil, for frying
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Oil 1 large baking sheet. Using cookie cutters or scissors, cut any shape from the tortillas.
- Make small hole in each shape so you can hang the ornament (I took the eraser out of a lead pencil and used that to punch out the little holes). Place ornaments on prepared baking sheet, spacing apart, and brush with additional oil (work in batches if they don’t all fit on one sheet).
- Top with second baking sheet. (Flour tortillas tend to puff while frying or cooking so I stack two baking sheets to get them to pre-bake, stay flat and hold their shape. That way, when you go to fry them, they only bubble slightly). Bake 10 minutes or until golden.
- Meanwhile, mix sugar and cinnamon on a large plate. Remove ornaments from oven and cool slightly.
- Heat enough oil to come halfway up a medium saucepan to 350F. Fry ornaments in batches until dark golden, about 4 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Transfer to cinnamon-sugar while still warm and toss to coat completely. Place hooks in ornaments and hang on tree.
Photography by Jeanine Thurston
5 Comments on “Easy Buñuelos {Tree Ornaments}”
This reminds me of Christmas Eve at my grandma’s house. My grandma used to make the grandkids eat them outside to keep the cinnamon sugar off her kitchen floor. So we would all be out there shivering and eating our bunuelos!!
They would look so cute next to the clove studded oranges I hang on the holiday tree. 🙂
This reminds me of the year my sister made cookie tree ornaments. While she was out, her German Shepard knocked down her tree and ate all the ornaments. Lesson: don’t leave your tree and dog in the same room unattended. 🙂
Lovely buñuelos,
Merry Christmas.
Kathleen
LOL Kathleen! Luckily we do not have any pets just hungry children 😉
They look beautiful! I am making some tonight. Can’t wait to see how mine turn out. I hope they look as pretty as yours.