Pre-Order Paczki At Fleckenstein's Bakery Through Thursday

MOKENA, IL — Fat Tuesday is right around the corner, and that means time for paczki from Fleckenstein's Bakery. But time is running out to place pre-orders for the puffy Polish sweet treat: the cutoff for pre-orders is 5 p.m. Thursday to get the tasty pastries for Fat Tuesday, which is March 1.

Paczkis are a perennial favorite for residents in the Lincoln-Way area, and Fleckenstein's Bakery has been popping them out since 1977. One key to the paczkis popularity: Fleckenstein's uses a special dough that they make only for this occasion, said Fleckenstein's Bakery owner Bob Fleckenstein.

"It's a very enriched dough that we use, and we only use it on paczkis," Fleckenstein said. "We don't use it any other time of the year."

Fleckenstein, who is a certified master baker, said that the bakery has sold as many as 25,000 paczkis in a single day, though the pandemic over the past two years has made predicting how many they'll sell this year anyone's guess.

For the uninitiated, paczki are rich donuts that are deep fried and filled with fruit or cream filling, and then covered with powdered sugar or icing, according to the Michigan State University 4-H Club.

Paczki became popular in Polish communities in the U.S. during the 20th century, according to MSU. They were, and continue to be, sold almost exclusively in the weeks leading up to Ash Wednesday, the traditional start of Lent for Catholics.

But one does not need to be Catholic to enjoy paczki; one only needs to have a hankering for the sweety goodness of deep-fried deliciousness.

Fleckenstein's Bakery has locations in Mokena, at 19225 S. La Grange Road, and New Lenox, 352 West Maple St. Suite E. To place an order online, visit the Fleckenstein's Bakery website.