Sufganiyot – Hanukkah Jelly Donuts
Thanksgivukkah is nigh! The first time since the dinosaurs that Thanksgiving and Hanukkah coincide! Perhaps not quite that long, but for sure the once and only time it will happen in our lifetimes, so it might as well be Jurassic times.
Sufganiyot (or sufganiyah, singular or סופגנייה in Hebrew) are the original jelly donuts, I’d guess. In keeping with the Hanukkah tradition of eating fried foods every day — I completely respect a tradition that sanctions donuts and hashbrowns — I give you sufganiyot, or Hanukkah donuts!
You can fill them with whatever you like, but if you are making these for a Thanksgivukkah celebration, try filling with homemade cranberry sauce that’s been pureed smooth. Pastry cream can also be used, or just buy some of your favorite jam and blitz it until smooth. The filling needs to be very smooth so that it can easily pipe through a 1/4″ piping bag tip (which I recommend getting for this. I tried the old Ziploc-bag-with-corner-cut-off trick and it didn’t work so well to get the filling all the way inside the donuts).
PrintSufganiyot – Hanukkah Jelly Donuts
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 16 1x
Ingredients
- 1 package active dry yeast (1/4 ounce)
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons warm water
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 whole egg
- 1/2 cup warm whole milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon brandy (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3–4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 6 tablespoons room-temperature butter, cut into 1/4 tablespoon bits
- 4 cups oil for frying (peanut, canola)
- To fill:
- 1 1/2 cups smooth strawberry or apricot jam, or pureed cranberry sauce for Thanksgivukkah!
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Combine the yeast, 1 tablespoon of the sugar and the warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer if you have one, and in a large bowl if you don’t. Whisk to combine and let sit 5 minutes until a little foamy.
- Whisk in egg, milk, flavorings and 2 cups of the flour. Mix with the dough hook or a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms.
- Add the butter bit by bit, mixing after each addition. The butter bits need not be completely incorporated at this time.
- Gradually add in another cup (or more) of flour until the dough pulls away from the bowl.
- Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead 5 minutes by hand until a smooth ball can be formed. Place into a buttered bowl and cover with a cloth. Let rise 1 hour.
- Roll dough to a thickness of 3/4″ and cut out rounds 2-3″ diameter. Place rounds on a parchment-covered sheet and cover with a cloth. Let rise 40 minutes. (Dough rounds can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated at this point for up to 3 hours before continuing.)
- Heat 4 inches of oil to 350ºF.
- Fry rounds a few at a time for about 1 minute on each side until golden.
- Drain and cool on paper towels or a rack for a few minutes before filling.
- Fill a piping bag with a 1/4″ round tip with jam and poke into top of sufganiyot. Squeeze gently to fill with jam or cream, stopping as soon as the filling begins to poke out.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
4 Comments
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Beautiful Sufganiyots ya got there, Hilah. All I can say is… great minds 😉
Happy Thanksgivukkah!
Yay! Happy T-day, Sara!
Happy Thanksgivukkah, friend! These look totally professional. Jew nailed it!
Yay! Gracias, amiga! Happy Thanksgivukkah!