Sopapillas

In a large mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder and salt. Stir with a fork to combine.

Add oil and water and stir to combine until a dough forms.

Transfer the dough onto a well-floured work surface and knead for about 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. If the dough becomes too sticky to work with during the kneading process, add in a little more flour. The final dough should be tacky, but not so much that it completely sticks to your fingers and hands.

Roll the dough into a ball, cover it with a clean kitchen towel and let it rest for 20 minutes.

While the dough is resting, line a large baking sheet with paper towels and set aside.

5 minutes before the dough is finished resting, heat the frying oil in a medium pot or Dutch oven to 375°F. (If you don't have a thermometer, you'll know it's ready when a small piece of dough sizzles and bubbles in the frying oil.)

Cut the dough ball in half. Roll out each half into a square about 1/4-inch thick, then cut the dough into 9 pieces (I used a pizza cutter for this). Each piece should roughly be a 3-inch square. You should have 18 pieces total. (Some pieces may be rectangular or triangular in shape – that's okay.)

Working in batches, carefully add 2 sopapilla squares into the hot oil. Using a metal slotted spoon, lightly push down each square so that it is fully submerged in the oil. The dough will immediately begin to puff up quickly and should have a big air pocket in the middle.

Once the air pocket has formed, remove the spoon and let the dough fry like normal. Flip the sopapillas over after 45 seconds, and let the other side fry.