Loukoumades: Greek Honey Doughnuts
Loukoumades are Greek honey doughnuts: a loose yeasted batter, dropped by the spoonful into hot oil, fried into golden, airy-centred spheres and dressed straight from the pan with warmed honey, cinnamon and walnuts or toasted sesame. They are eaten hot, by the plateful, the moment the honey goes on. This recipe makes a plateful for six.
Plate I · IllustrationRecord
How old are loukoumades?
Old enough to have an ancestor in the ancient record. Athenaeus, in book 14 of The Deipnosophists, describes cakes called enkrides — “boiled in oil, and after that seasoned with honey” — quoting lines from Stesichorus and noting mentions in Aristophanes and other poets. No yeast appears in that account, so an enkris is not quite a loukoumas, but the idea is already complete: dough, hot oil, honey poured over. By the Byzantine period the fritters were made from flour, yeast and water, sweetened only with honey, and eaten especially during Lent.
The modern name took a longer road. It goes back to the Arabic luqma — a morsel, mouthful or bite — and the dish travelled with the Arab and Ottoman empires as lokma, from the Middle East to the Balkans; a near-identical recipe, luqmat al-qadi, the judge’s morsels — yeast-leavened dough fried in oil and drenched in honey — is attested in thirteenth-century Abbasid cookbooks. In Greece today loukoumades are a popular street food, dressed, as here, with honey, cinnamon and walnuts; in Cyprus they are the star of every fair.
Plate II · PaintingRecord
What makes the batter right?
Looseness. A loukoumades batter sits between a batter and a dough: plain flour, fast-action yeast, a little sugar and salt, and enough lukewarm water that the whisked result drops reluctantly from a spoon rather than pouring. It cannot be rolled or shaped, and that is the point — a batter this wet, proved until it bubbles, flashes into steam in hot oil and sets as a thin, crisp shell around an open centre. Strong bread flour also works and gives a chewier doughnut; plain flour keeps the crumb more open. Do not rush the prove: the hour of bubbles is what separates loukoumades from dense fried dough.
Fig. I · The consistency bandDiagram
Smooth, thick, elastic, no dry pockets — and somewhere between two things it is not
Bread dough
Rolled and shaped
Loukoumades batter
Drops reluctantly from a spoon
Pancake batter
Pours in a stream
Looser than a dough
Thicker than a pancake batter
It cannot be rolled or shaped. A batter this wet is scooped or squeezed straight into the hot oil — two teaspoons dipped in water between scoops, or squeezed up through a wet fist.
A thin, crisp shell around an open, airy centre. The same looseness that rules out shaping by hand is what gives that centre.
Both bounds are behaviours, not measurements: the instrument this recipe names for the batter is a spoon.
Which honey should you use?
A runny, aromatic one, because the honey goes on at the end, over the hot crust, so its flavour sits right on the surface. The pour to reach for is Greek thyme honey — intensely aromatic, with the savoury, herbal edge that stops a plate of fried dough tipping into plain sweetness; our guide covers what makes it distinct. A set honey is not wrong, only solid: warmed gently, it runs thin again — the difference between the two is physical state, not quality, and our guide to set vs runny honey explains it. Warming it with a splash of water, as this recipe does, is what makes it pour in a ribbon over the whole plate.
How do you make them?
Whisk the flour, yeast, sugar and salt together in a large bowl, pour in the lukewarm water, and whisk to a smooth, thick, elastic batter with no dry pockets. Cover the bowl and leave it somewhere warm for about an hour, until the batter has roughly doubled and the surface is full of bubbles.
Pour the oil into a deep, wide saucepan to a depth of about 5cm and bring it to about 170–180°C. A thermometer is the reliable check; failing that, a scrap of batter should sizzle at once and colour steadily, not instantly. Never leave hot oil unattended. Stir the proved batter down. Working in small batches, drop in walnut-sized rounds — two teaspoons dipped in water between scoops, or squeeze the batter up through a wet fist — and fry for 3 to 4 minutes, turning them so they colour evenly, until deep golden all over. They puff and roll themselves as they cook. Lift each batch out onto kitchen paper and keep going.
Fig. II · The frying window, read twiceDiagram
One window — about 170–180°C — and two ways to read it, only one of them a number
A deep, wide saucepan — oil to a depth of about 5cm
No deep-fat fryer is needed: a deep, wide saucepan with about 5cm of oil does the job. Bring it to about 170–180°C.
- Read it on the instrument
A thermometer — 170–180°C
A thermometer is the reliable check.
- Read it on the batter
A scrap of batter, dropped in
It should sizzle at once and colour steadily, not instantly.
This is the reading you have without a thermometer, of the same window.
Drop a batch in and the reading goes down — fry in small batches so the temperature holds. That makes small batches a temperature instruction, not a matter of patience. How far the reading falls is not stated here, so the arrow carries a direction and no distance.
Fry for 3 to 4 minutes, turning them so they colour evenly, until deep golden all over. Then out onto kitchen paper, and the next batch in.
Above the window and below it the axis runs dashed and unlettered. This page gives the window and both ways of reading it, and names nothing on either side of it — so nothing is lettered there.
Never leave hot oil unattended.
While the last batch fries, warm the honey gently with the water in a small pan until it runs thin. Do not let it boil.
How do you serve them?
Immediately. Pile the hot loukoumades onto one plate, pour the warmed honey over in a slow ribbon, dust with the cinnamon and scatter over the walnuts or sesame. They are at their peak in the first few minutes, while the shell is still crisp under the honey — which is why they are fried to order rather than ahead. Walnuts are the finish here; toasted sesame is the other classic — the loukoumades recipe published by Greece’s national tourism organisation finishes with honey, cinnamon and sesame seeds. Any honey left warm in the pan is easily spent: spoon it over Greek yoghurt.
One factual note: honey is not suitable for infants under 12 months. Occasionally honey contains bacteria that can produce toxins in a baby’s intestines, leading to infant botulism, and NHS guidance is not to give a child honey until they are over one year old.
Plate III · Generated imageRecord
Where THYMELIA stands
THYMELIA is a UK house of Greek foods working two harvests — raw thyme honey from Chania in western Crete, and early-harvest olive oil from the hills above Kalamata, where the wild thyme flowers from May to July and the honey is drawn once, as the bloom closes. There is no shop yet, and we name no date for one. How we source is at sourcing, what we will test and publish is at testing, and the research we have read on bee products is written up at evidence.
Recipe · Loukoumades: Greek Honey DoughnutsCard
- Prep
- 1 hr 20 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 1 hr 45 min
- Makes
- Serves 6
Ingredients
- 250g plain flour
- 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- ½ tsp fine salt
- 275ml lukewarm water
- About 1 litre sunflower oil, for deep-frying
- 150g runny honey, thyme honey if you have it
- 2 tbsp water, for thinning the honey
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 50g walnuts, roughly chopped, or 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Method
- Make the batter
Whisk the flour, yeast, sugar and salt together in a large bowl. Pour in the lukewarm water and whisk to a smooth, thick, elastic batter with no dry pockets — looser than a dough, thicker than a pancake batter.
- Prove
Cover the bowl and leave it somewhere warm for about 1 hour, until the batter has roughly doubled and the surface is full of bubbles.
- Heat the oil
Pour the oil into a deep, wide saucepan to a depth of about 5cm and bring it to about 170–180°C. A scrap of batter should sizzle at once and colour steadily, not instantly. Never leave hot oil unattended.
- Fry in batches
Stir the proved batter down. Working in small batches, drop in walnut-sized rounds — two teaspoons dipped in water between scoops, or squeeze the batter up through a wet fist — and fry for 3 to 4 minutes, turning, until deep golden all over. Lift out onto kitchen paper.
- Warm the honey
While the last batch fries, warm the honey gently with the water in a small pan until it runs thin. Do not let it boil.
- Dress and serve
Pile the hot loukoumades onto one plate, pour the warmed honey over in a slow ribbon, dust with the cinnamon and scatter over the walnuts or sesame. Serve immediately, while the shell is still crisp.
Asked, answered.
What consistency should loukoumades batter be?
Looser than a bread dough, thicker than a pancake batter. It should be smooth and elastic, dropping reluctantly from a spoon rather than pouring in a stream. A batter this wet cannot be shaped by hand before frying — it is scooped or squeezed straight into the hot oil, and that wetness is what gives loukoumades their thin crust and open, airy centre.
Can you make loukoumades without a deep-fat fryer?
Yes. A deep, wide saucepan with about 5cm of oil does the job. Bring it to about 170–180°C — a sugar thermometer is the reliable check; without one, a scrap of batter should sizzle at once and colour steadily rather than instantly. Fry in small batches so the temperature holds, and never leave hot oil unattended.
Which honey is best for loukoumades?
A runny, strongly aromatic one, because the honey goes on at the end, over the hot crust, so its flavour sits right on the surface. Greek thyme honey is the one to reach for — its herbal, savoury edge sits against the sweet fried dough rather than adding more sweetness. A set honey works too once it is warmed gently until it runs thin.
Can loukoumades be made in advance?
No. They are at their peak within minutes of frying, while the shell is still crisp and the honey has only just gone on, and they soften as they stand. What can be done ahead is the batter: mix it, let it prove, and hold it briefly while the oil heats. Fry and dress only when everyone is ready to eat.
Are loukoumades the same as lokma?
They belong to the same family of fried, honey-dressed doughs eaten across the eastern Mediterranean. The name goes back to the Arabic luqma — a morsel, mouthful or bite — and the dish travelled with the Arab and Ottoman empires as lokma, from the Middle East to the Balkans. A near-identical recipe, luqmat al-qadi, the judge's morsels, is attested in thirteenth-century Abbasid cookbooks. Fried dough dressed with honey appears earlier still, in ancient Greek texts.