Sufganiyot (Hanukkah Doughnuts)

Last week, I shared with you Sufganiyah Challah, a guest post from the awesome Leigh Ann.  Well, you're in luck today, haverim, because I'm just going to give you my sufganiyah recipe.

Now, in the interest of full journalistic integrity, this is my first Hanukkah making sufganiyot... and I love it!  Well, I don't love the smell of oil lingering in my hair.  But I love making them!  They're such fun little pockets of sugary, oily deliciousness.

I did a little research (both in person and online) about brachot for sufganiyot.  Apparently, there is some argument in the Talmud that any thick dough (not runny) should have hamotzi even if it is fried rather than baked.  It is a bit weird to my rational side to say mezonot on a yeasty sufganiyah when the dough was actually really, really close to challah dough.  I'd love anyone's thoughts on this :)  Anyway, here's the recipe already; I've yacked enough...

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast or .6 ounces (1/3 cake) fresh yeast (I used fresh)
1/4 c warm water
2 eggs
1 1/2 c orange juice (take out of the fridge a little early, like while the yeast is proofing)
3/4 c sugar plus more for dusting
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp margarine (softened in the microwave)
5 c all-purpose flour
oil for frying (I used canola because it's what I had)
jam/jelly

Mix together the water and the yeast with a pinch of sugar.  Let proof until foamy, about 10 minutes.  Add the eggs.  Add a little of the flour and the orange juice and margarine (I add the flour to prevent any curdling and buy some time).  Add the rest of the flour, salt, and sugar.  Mix by hand or with a stand mixer until a ball forms.  It will be a little tackier than challah but should not be sticky.

Let rest until doubled close to bulk (I didn't let mine completely double) in an oiled bowl covered in plastic wrap.

Roll out the dough to a little less than a 1/2 inch thick.  Using a cookie cutter, biscuit cutter, or (if you're like me) a sturdy edged disposable cup you filched from your synagogue somewhere, cut into circles.  Place on wax or parchment paper and let rest about 1/2 hour.  Yield should be about 3 or 3 1/2 dozen. (YIKES!)

Heat 2-3 inches of oil in stock pot.  This is the hardest part for me, and maybe you should read some other instructions before listening to me.  I ALWAYS put the little buggers in too early.  Be patient.  Take your ugliest circle first to test the oil.  When the oil is truly hot but not spitting, fry until golden brown on both sides.

After dropping in your next batch, sugar those puppies with a bit more sugar (some people use powdered).

I've read that you can actually fill sufganiyot before frying, but I didn't try that.  I used a hair coloring solution bottle (a new one!) to fill mine, but a (new!) medicine syringe or special pastry tool would probably work better.  I was being resourceful.

A happy, healthy, and bright Hanukkah to you from our bayit to yours!

Guest Post: Sufganiyah Challah

This is a guest post from Leigh Ann, one of my favorite ladies and an awesome rabbi, author, blogger, mom of almost 4, and overall great woman (in no particular order).  You can find her over at The Naptime Novelist or reader her other guest post here, Blueberry Challah.


Thanks for letting me guest-post, Amanda! Delighted to be here.

I love filled challah because I can call it "breakfast" on Shabbos morning, when the last thing I want to do is trudge into the kitchen to get cereal or bagels or muffins for my apparently STARVING children.

On Friday night, I just throw one of these suckers on the coffee table in the living room, so that immediately upon waking, my littles can fall upon this breakfast like the vultures zombies Shabbos sweeties they are.

Ahem.

It occurred to me that I should probably start thinking about Chanukah-themed challah, because, well, that's how I roll. I spied a can of raspberry pastry filling in my cupboard leftover from Hamantaschen-making, and sufganiyah-style challah was born.

Use your regular challah dough recipe. You might want to make it a tad sweeter, so you can add more sugar...I came across this odd little bottle of flavoring, added 2 tsp to a regular batch of dough, and it was just a little butterier and sweeter.  (Note from The Mrs.: I used a similar buttery sweet dough enhancer from King Arthur Flour in my Caramel Chocolate Challah.)


When you're ready to braid, flatten your strands as much as possible. The challah dough is surprisingly tough and elastic, so I've found that rolling strands as usual and then just taking a rolling pin to those suckers


Brush the whole strand with beaten egg white. Just enough to act as "glue."


Drag a thin-ish line of filling down the middle - you don't have as much room as you think in there. Trust me.

Pull up the sides and pinch them together. Don't try to fold one side over the other like you would swaddle a baby - this filling is too liquid for that.

(Yes, I did get some schmutzies on my fingers. So what? It's going in the oven.)

As with any stuffed or filled challah, when you braid, try your best to keep the seam on the INSIDE. That way, when (not "if," WHEN) that filling leaks, it'll just leak onto more challah and you won't lose it to the pan. Also it's WAY less ugly with the seam on the inside.


Now, snug your challot up together in a well-greased, walled pan - I used a 9" square for  two medium-sized challot. Same principle as braiding with seams in - You don't want to lose any of that filling. Better sticky on the outside than crusty-burned onto a pan.

It's okay if there's a gap in the middle - between the second rise and the baking, they'll end up touching.

(See? They always leak.)

Let it do a second proof and bake it as usual - mine took the same temp and time as a typical challah.

Aaaand.....Here it is!


Okay, okay, I know. Not so impressive looking, huh? At this rate, you might end up feeding it to the dog (or the squirrels, I understand, if you live in Virginia) at the end of your Chanukah party. Let's pretty it up a little, huh?

Go ahead and brush it with a syrupy-thin mixture of confectioner's sugar and water....


Dust it with confectioner's sugar, and.....ooooh! Now, THERE's a sufganiyah-style challah.



Chag Urim Sameach, you guys - and don't forget! When someone compliments you on this challah, it was VERY DIFFICULT to make, and you're completely exhausted, and probably someone else should clean up the kitchen while you take a load off.

PB&J Challah - DON'T DO IT!

So, I'm going to preface this whole post with three words.  DON'T DO IT!  No, well, that's not very nice.  Give it a shot.  Try it out.  Really, maybe you won't be as uber-disappointed as I was in the end result.  Because PB&J Challah was such an "eh..." I've put off the post.  I wasn't excited about the post because I was so unexcited about the end result of the bread.

In theory, it should be great, right?  We've done stuffed challah for Nutella, and the whole peanut butter-in-the-dough challah is tasty but really dry.  So, I combined the two ideas.  Three-stranded braid.  One peanut butter filled, one jelly filled, one just bread.

First of all, jelly = epic fail.  Maaaaaybe jam would work?  Maybe just fruit filled?  I don't know, but I ended up yelling to The Hazz in the living, "Help!" and having a goopy messy of fruity blob (descriptive, no?).   The peanut butter went in well.  But the baking result was so aaaaaaverage.  The peanut butter sort of turned into hard crusty... peanut butter crust?  The jelly disappeared almost entirely (I have no idea where it went) and the overall dough flavor was just off as a result.

It looks pretty but it was soooo blah!

I'm pretty sure PB&J Challah can be done.  I've seen mention of it on other websites, but never a method.  So, just DON'T DO IT!  (If you by some stroke of magic figure it out, by all means email me and you'll get a guest post FOR SURE!)

Shavua Tov, Chaverim!