On Sunday I had a lovely visit from my sister, niece, and nephew! We haven’t seen them for 4.5 years and it was really nice to catch up in person a little.
Sufganiyot (filled doughnuts) are a Chanukah classic (along with latkes) in our home (and probably for most other families, too!). Since we were planning to make doughnuts to serve later that evening when grandparents came by for menorah lighting and then dinner, dd14 made the doughnuts with her cousins and siblings. It was a nice activity for them all and the doughnuts tasted amazing! We adapted a recipe from A Taste of Challah to make it healthier. This makes about 40 doughnuts.
Michal’s Sufganiyot
- 7 c. whole wheat flour
- 3/4 c. sucanat
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 c. coconut oil
- 1 t. vanilla
- 2 T. yeast
- 3 – 4 T. orange juice
- 1 c. warm water
Mix the dry ingredients. Melt the coconut oil. Add to the dry ingredients the eggs, melted (slightly cooled) coconut oil, and vanilla and knead for a couple of minutes. Make a well in the center of this mixture and sprinkle in the yeast, juice, and warm water. Cover bowl and let it sit for about ten minutes.
Knead until dough is soft and pliable. If the dough is too hard, add a very small amount of water and oil until you get it smooth. If it’s too wet, add a little more flour. Smear your hands with oil and pat the dough all over with your hands, over the bowl and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.
Punch dough down, then roll out a section of dough so that it’s thin but not transparent. Using a round cookie cutter or a round glass/jar, press down on the dough enough to make an indentation but not enough to cut through; do this on half of the dough until there’s no room left. In the center of each circle outline, place the filling of your choice. (We used homemade cherry filling.)
Now, fold the other half of the dough over the filling and circles. Take the glass or cookie cutter you used before and press it down firmly around each bump, and twist it while cutting it out. This seals the filling into the center of each doughnut. Repeat until all dough is used up. Let doughnuts rise about 30 minutes on a piece of parchment paper.
Heat up the coconut oil for frying (saturated fats like coconut are the best for frying because they are stable at high heats), and add a piece of carrot into the oil. This keeps the oil clear as you fry the doughnuts.
Fry the doughnuts in the hot oil for 3 – 5 minuts until they’re golden brown. Then flip them over and fry until the second side is also golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and put on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb extra oil.
This is definitely a labor intensive project – most filled cakes and cookies are – but it’s just once a year and they were so good that they were worth the effort. And as I said, the kids had fun making them!
Happy Chanukah!
Avivah
