South African Koeksisters Recipe

South African koeksisters are a from-scratch braided donut that's cooked crisp then soaked in sweet spiced syrup. A favorite sweet treat that you can commonly buy in South Africa, and a special taste of home for ex-pats around the world.

Prep time: PT150M

Cook time: PT30M

Total time: PT180M

Rating

5 stars (5 reviews)

Keywords

Doughnut

Ingredients

4 cups white sugar (800 g )
17.9 fl. oz water (530 ml or 2¼ cup)
1 TBSP lemon juice
2½ tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp ginger (Grated or as a knob about that size)
1 cinnamon stick
Pinch fine sea salt (1/8 tsp)
4 cups self-raising flour (500 g)
¼ cup white sugar (50 g)
3½ TBSP unsalted butter (50 g)
5½ tsp baking powder (20 g)
6.75 fl. oz milk (200 ml or ¾+⅛ cup)
1.7 fl. oz cream (50 ml or ¼ cup)
2 eggs
Pinch fine sea salt (1/8 tsp)

Cuisine

South African

Steps

The day before, make the syrup. Heat the water until warm and then add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for ten minutes, stirring to make sure that all the ingredients dissolve. After ten minutes, take the syrup off the heat and allow it to cool to room temperature before placing the syrup in the fridge. Leave the cinnamon stick and ginger floating in the syrup.
The next day, make the dough. Place the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Then add the butter and either rub it into the dough with your fingers or cut it in with a pastry knife or two knives crisscrossed together.
Next add the milk, cream, and eggs and mix well. Roll the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for at least thirty minutes.
Roll the dough out to between a 1/2-1 cm in thickness and then cut into strips about 1cm in width and 6cm in length. Take three of them and press the ends together on one end before plaiting it. When the plait is finished, press the other ends together.
Heat a pan with about an inch of vegetable oil on low until it starts sizzling when you place a tiny piece of dough in the oil. In the meantime, place your pan of syrup into another pan filled with ice water so as to keep it cold. The syrup needs to be kept very cold from this point on.
Fry the Koeksisters until golden brown on both sides. Scoop them out of the hot oil with a slotted spoon and transfer them immediately to the syrup. Let them sit there for a minute, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
The Koeksisters should be oozing with syrup, inside and out. Once all your donuts are made, eat them immediately or store them in an airtight container and keep them at room temperature, and eat within two days.

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 50 g
Calories: 114 kcal
Carbohydrates: 27 g
Sodium: 33 mg
Sugar: 22 g

Reviews

Jimmy on 2026-06-19 (5 stars):
This recipe is spot on..... reminded me of my childhood with Afrikaans aunties selling these
Barb on 2019-02-15 (5 stars):
I made the syrup last night! This afternoon I will complete the recipe and take them to book club. The book we are reading is an autobiography about a South African, so this recipe is perfect. Thank you
BONNIE on 2018-10-12 (5 stars):
Thank you so much for posting this recipe!!! I was blessed to have lived in South Africa when I was in primary school. I had been talking to my husband about things I remembered and missed...this was one of them. It has been over forty years since I was there. Thank you again. I can not wait to make these for my family.