STUFFED WITH SUFGANIYOT! OU PRESENTS DELICIOUS RECIPES FROM EILEEN GOLTZ
Eileen Goltz is a freelance kosher food writer who was born and raised in the Chicago area. She graduated from Indiana University and the Cordon Bleu Cooking School in Paris. She lectures on various food-related topics across the U.S. and Canada and writes weekly columns for the Chicago Jewish News, kosher.com and the OU Shabbat Shalom Website. She is the author of the Perfectly Pareve Cookbook (Feldheim) and is a contributing writer for the Chicken Soup for the Soul Book Group, Chicago Sun Times, Detroit Free Press and Woman’s World Magazine.
Sufganiyot, the fried in oil jelly doughnuts without the hole served as a Chanukah treat, are usually created from sweet yeast dough. Lumps of the dough are dropped into hot oil without being shaped and come out in odd, funny shapes, then covered in powdered sugar and/or cinnamon. While I’m not in the habit of deep frying much of anything these days, I always make an exception for these holiday treats. Some of these recipes are more child friendly than others but, as always, use extreme caution to avoid burns when frying any foods.
The following recipes are ones that I’ve collected over the years. Some are easier and others take a little more work but all are fabulous for Chanukah.
SUFGANIYOT
My friend Laurie sent me this recipe a couple of years ago (not really sure where she got it) and it’s absolutely delicious. These delicious jelly doughnuts are always a hit.
In Israel, butterscotch has become a popular substitute for the jelly filling; use store-bought Dulce de Leche, sold as an ice-cream topping at most supermarkets. Like most fried foods, these doughnuts are best served fresh.
Makes two dozen doughnuts
3/4 cup milk
6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 packets active dry yeast
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
2-1/2 cups flour, plus additional flour for dusting and rolling
Vegetable oil for frying
Confectioners’ sugar or regular sugar
1 cup jelly or other Dulce de Leche filling
• In a small saucepan, gently heat milk, butter, and sugar over medium-low heat until butter melts. Let cool about ten minutes, until just warm to the touch.
• Stir in yeast; let sit five to ten minutes. Stir in eggs, vanilla, nutmeg, and salt.
• Stir in two cups flour until mixture is well incorporated, adding more flour until dough becomes smooth, soft, and pliable. Cover dough; let rise approximately 1-1/2 hours or until doubled in volume.
• Punch down dough with closed fist and knead gently in bowl. Let dough rest approximately 15 minutes.
• Using lightly floured hands, transfer dough to floured work surface and gently press down to 1/4-inch thickness.
• Using a cookie press or floured jar, cut out three- to-four-inch circles. Collect scraps, re-form dough, and repeat cutting. Discard excess dough.
• Let dough circles rest on a floured, dusted surface about 30 minutes, or until doubled in size. Meanwhile, heat oil in a shallow-bottomed saucepan to approximately 350 °F.
• Gently slide four doughnuts at a time into oil, leaving space for expansion and even browning. Fry doughnuts until puffed and golden brown, about 1-1/2 to two minutes per side.
• Transfer to paper towels. Let cool 15 to 20 minutes.
• Pipe jelly or other filling into doughnuts with a pastry bag. Dust liberally with sugar.
SUFGANIYOT
With permission from Presto® Deep Fryer
3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup margarine
1/4 cup sugar
2 packages dry yeast
3 1/2 cups flour 2 eggs, beaten
Dash of salt
Vegetable oil for frying
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
• In small saucepan, combine juice, margarine and sugar.
• Heat until margarine melts and ingredients are blended. Cool the mixture until it is lukewarm.
• Add yeast to mixture in saucepan and stir until dissolved.
• In large bowl, combine flour, eggs and salt. Add to juice-yeast mixture. Mix well.
• Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Place dough in greased bowl, cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place for 1-1 1/2 hours.
• Punch down. On lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/2-inch thickness and cut doughnuts using a two-inch cutter.
• Place doughnuts on waxed paper about one inch apart and let rise for another 30 to 45 minutes.
• Preheat oil in Presto® electric deep fryer. Fry in hot oil, a few at a time, until golden. Drain well on paper towels.
• Combine one cup sugar and one tablespoon cinnamon in a plastic bag and shake well.
• Then add fried doughnuts, a few at a time, and shake until each is coated with the mixture
BUTTER BAKED DOUGHNUTS
(Sort of like Elephant Ears)
Makes 5 or 6
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Sugar for sprinkling
• Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a bowl combine the three tablespoons sugar and cinnamon together and set it aside. Grease a cookie sheet with non stick spray.
• In large bowl combine the flour, two tablespoons of sugar, the baking powder and salt. Mix to combine.
• Stir in the milk and three tablespoons of the melted butter and mix until a dough forms.
• Sprinkle a work surface lightly with flour and place the dough on to it. Knead the dough eight to ten times, then roll or pat it into a 9×5 rectangle.
• Brush the top of the dough with the remaining melted butter and then sprinkle the top with the sugar and cinnamon mixture.
• Roll the dough up, jelly roll style, tightly starting with the five inch side. Cut the dough into five or six equal pieces (use a really sharp knife).
• Place the slices on the prepared cookie sheet and pat it down into a five to six inch circle. Sprinkle the top with more sugar.
• Bake until golden brown, eight to ten minutes. Immediately remove from the cookie sheet and cool for two or three minutes on wire rack and serve warm.
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