Delicious Halloween Pestiños Recipe

The month of October is right around the corner, which means one thing: it’s time to start looking for Halloween dessert ideas. 

You will probably find hundreds of sweet snack recipes to prepare during this season, but we can assure you that we have the best here.

We are talking about nothing more and nothing less than the famous Pestiños, a dish from the south of Spain that will quickly become your new favorite Spanish dessert, and the good news is that it is super easy to make.

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Keep reading this article to learn more about pestiños, how you can make it yourself step by step, as well as extra tips on how to store and serve it, which will be useful when you get down to work.

Background of the Dish

Like all famous Spanish desserts, there is a very interesting story behind pestiños, which serves to show why today it is one of the best Spanish desserts.

Pestiños have existed for centuries, although the first written record of their existence is from the 1500s when they are mentioned in the famous book “La Lozana Andaluza”.

Although there is no way of knowing exactly who created it, it is believed that it arose from a mix between the inhabitants of southern Spain and the Muslim community of the region, who ended up creating this dish.

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Things You’ll Need for Pestiños

To make these Halloween treats you only need a couple of basic ingredients, which you probably already have at home or somewhere in your pantry. 

We recommend that you try other famous Andalusian recipes such as the dulce de membrillo, the Spanish Flan Recipe, or Spanish tortas.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (250 gr) flour
• 1/3 cup (70 ml) sherry wine
• 1/3 cup (70 ml) olive oil 
• 1 3/4 cups (400 ml) of sunflower oil for frying
• 1 lemon peel
• 1 orange peel
• 1/2 cup (200 gr) of honey
• 3 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds

How to Make Pestiños – Step by Step Guide

1. To start with this pestiños recipe, peel the lemon and orange to get the peel out. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the peels, and turn the heat to a minimum to prevent them from burning.

2. After a minute, turn off the heat. Stir to release the flavors while the mixture emulsifies.

3. In the meantime, add the sifted flour to a bowl and add sesame seeds. Stir to mix and the seeds are spread throughout the flour.

4. Strain the emulsion from the citrus peels with a metal sieve and put it into the flour in the bowl.

5. Then, add the Sherry wine and stir until it forms a dough that separates from the container. Take out and knead for a few minutes. It should not stick to any surface.

6. After kneading for a while, cover with a cloth in a container and let it rest for 30 minutes. Then, remove the dough to work it on a large surface.

7. Flatten the dough using a kitchen rolling pin. Leave it very thin so that when frying they do not thicken. You can make the cuts with a round or square mold, but if you don’t have one, you can cut with a knife and make rectangles.

8. Then, bring the tips of each end together and press in the center so they don’t stick together and split apart.

9. Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the pestiños in small batches to prevent them from deforming or losing heat from the oil.

10. Prepare a tray or fountain with absorbent paper to remove excess oil when the pestiños with honey are ready.

11. Fry them for about 2 minutes on each side, and do it over medium heat so they don’t burn.

12. When they are cooked, heat honey and a couple of tablespoons of water. Allow to heat while the honey dissolves and forms a syrup.

13. For the final step, you can glaze the pestiños, which is basically bathing them in this syrup, and serve them.

Substitution of Ingredients

The pestiños stand out from other easy Spanish desserts to make since you can make several changes to them, but the spirit of the pastry will remain the same.

For example, you can remove citrus peels and use other types of flavorings. Some people choose to add a shot of liquor (do it directly to the batter, as it doesn’t mix well with oil and is dangerous on fire). You can also use cinnamon or vanilla.

You can completely remove the seeds, or use others that you like better. You can also replace the flour with any type of gluten-free flour, so everyone can eat it.

Although here we give you a recipe for honey glaze for pastries, you can replace the honey with sugar, as you would in the recipes for the Spanish cookie.

Tips on Serving Pestiños

To serve these pastries, the best thing you can do is get inspired by other easy Halloween treats and find a way to give these pastries a spooky vibe. 

For example, you can use strawberry or berry jam to give it a blood-splattered effect.

The pestiños are perfect to imitate the shape of the mummies. So you can buy googly eyes that are digestible, and use white chocolate strips to make them look like mummies.

If it’s for breakfast, dessert, or snack but you don’t want to decorate them for Halloween, you can make a bar of popular Spanish desserts. 

You should only serve it with other Spanish cookies, Huesos de Santo or Saint’s Bones, or following the famous Spanish buñuelos recipe.

How to Store Pestiños

The best part of making this Halloween dessert is that you can store it without any problem, both before cooking and after.

You can freeze the raw dough whole or in buns of different portions, and there it can last up to 60 days frozen.

Then you should let it cool down the night before in the fridge and cook it regularly.

Unlike what happens with other Spanish desserts, if it is only for one day you can store it at room temperature. 

Just cover the Pestiños with some kind of plastic bag or clean cloth, to make sure no insects get close.

If it is for more days, then it is recommended not to make the glaze and store them in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. 

Then you just have to heat them and put the glaze on top. The glaze should only be put on the pestiños when they are hot and you are ready to eat them.

Recipe Card: Pestiños Recipe for Halloween

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