Sufganiyot otherwise known as Jelly Donuts

Sufganiyot, otherwise known as Jelly Donuts, filled with Cranberry Jam

By Irvin Lin

A Sufganiyot (and Israeli jelly donut) is one of the traditional desserts for Hanukkah. Adding cranberry jam or sauce instead of a regular red jam gives it a holiday twist, but feel free to use any jam or jelly you want to fill these treats. You can even use caramel or dulce de leche for an extra sweet special version of them.

Ingredients
For donut dough
3/4 cup whole milk (or water if you keep kosher and are serving meat)
2 1/4 teaspoon (1 package) active dry yeast
4 tablespoons (50 g) white granulated sugar, divided
2 1/2 cups (350 g) all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted (or vegan buttery stick if you keep kosher and are serving meat)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

oil for frying

For dusting
1 cup (200 g) white granulated sugar
1 cup (115 g) powdered sugar

For filling
1 cup homemade cranberry sauce (you can use my homemade cranberry sauce made with white wine recipe or one of your own) or jelly of your choice

Directions
1. Proof the yeast by first warming the milk up in a small saucepan until lukewarm. Since there’s only a little milk, this should only take about 20 seconds or so. It should be warm to the touch but not hot. Pour the warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add the yeast and 1 tablespoon of the sugar and stir to dissolve. Let sit for 5 minutes or until bubbles start to form at the surface of the liquid.

2. Add flour, salt, egg yolks, butter and vanilla extract to the liquid. Add the remaining sugar. Turn the mixer on with the dough hook and stir on low speed until the ingredients are all incorporated together. Turn the speed up to medium and “knead” the dough for 3 minutes, or until the dough has pulled away from the side of the bowl and is elastic. Gather the dough into a ball and remove from the bowl, spray the inside of the bowl with cooking oil, and place the dough back in bowl. Spray the top of the dough lightly with cooking oil and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 or until the dough has doubled.

3. Once the dough has doubled, invert the bowl onto a clean surface dusted with flour letting the dough fall out. Roll the dough out to about 1/2 inch thickness and cut 12 rounds of dough, using a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter or the rim of a water glass. Move the dough rounds to a baking sheet, cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise until puffy and about double in size, about 45 minutes.

4. Line a rimmed baking pan with a double layer of paper towels and then place a metal cooling rack over the baking pan. Place both sugars for dusting in a large deep bowl and stir together with a fork (don’t worry if the powdered sugar is still a little clumpy). Pour enough oil in a large Dutch oven or sauté pan to about 2 inches deep. Heat the oil to 350˚F. Fry the dough, two or three at a time, until the sufganiyot are golden brown on both sides. Remove and place on the metal cooling rack for a minute or two until the donuts are cool enough to handle, but still warm. Toss in the sugar to coat. Repeat with the remaining dough.

5. Once the sufganiyot are done and coated with sugar, take a chopstick (<– see what I did there. Asian + Jewish = BFF) and poke a donut in the side all the way to the center and wiggle it around a bit. Take a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip and fill it with the cranberry sauce (if the cranberry sauce is particular chunky, you might want to puree it first in a food processor or blender). Stick the tip into the donut and fill it with cranberry sauce. Serve the same day.

Makes 12 sufganiyot or jelly donuts