Infinite Light Cooking / Sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts)
MALIA NERY, PASTRY CHEF @donut_go_bacon_my_heart
As a chef, I love making doughnuts, and having fresh sufganiyot at home is a wonderful way to personalize Hannukah! Plus, nothing beats fresh doughnuts. This recipe makes 8, and they’ll be ready in 2 hours and 20 minutes.
1 ¼ tsp active dry yeast (or 1 tsp instant yeast)
2 tsp + ⅛ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup warm milk (nondairy is fine)
Yolk from 1 egg
1 additional whole egg
½ tsp citrus zest
1 tbsp citrus juice
1 tbsp extract of choice
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp kosher salt
3 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature, cut in pieces
4 cups vegetable oil
1 cup (or more) jelly of choice
¼–½ cup powdered sugar
Place yeast, 2 teaspoons of sugar, and warm (not hot!) milk into a mixing bowl. Leave alone until foamy/frothy—about 5 minutes.
Add yolk, egg, zest, juice, extract, salt, the remaining ⅛ cup of sugar, and 1 cup of flour. Mix on low with a dough hook until just combined—about 2 minutes.
Add butter 1 piece at a time, letting it incorporate fully before adding more.
Add the remaining flour and knead with a dough hook until it’s soft, smooth, and shiny and comes together in a ball off the sides of the bowl—about 5 minutes.
Place the dough ball into a greased bowl, cover with a tea towel, and let sit in a warm place for about 1 hour to rise.
Dump out the dough on a floured surface and roll it out to an even ¾-inch thickness. Cut with a round cutter and transfer to a sheet pan, keeping the doughnuts at least an inch apart. The dough scraps can be re-rolled once to get the last couple of doughnuts out of it. Cover the doughnuts with the tea towel again and let rise in a warm place for 40 more minutes.
Heat up vegetable oil to 350°. The oil should cover a minimum of 2 inches at the bottom of the pan.
Working with only 1 to 2 doughnuts at a time, fry them for 1 minute per side. Transfer the fried doughnuts to a sheet pan lined with paper towels and/or a cooling rack to let them dry.
Once cool, fill the doughnuts with jelly using a piping bag and top with powdered sugar.
TIPS
Zest and juice can be from any citrus fruit—lemon, lime, orange, or grapefruit.
Jelly can be whatever flavor you like—I used a low-sugar cherry jelly.
Extract can be any flavor—vanilla, almond, lemon, even brandy! L’chaim!
If you don’t have a stand mixer, the initial mixing can be done in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. The kneading can be done by hand on a floured surface.
If the dough is still very sticky after kneading or the majority of the dough has not come off the sides of the bowl, a small sprinkling of flour can be added and the dough can be kneaded slightly longer. But be careful of adding too much flour, or the doughnuts will come out dry.
To achieve a good rise with the dough, place your bowl on top of a warm oven. If it is especially cold in your house, you can heat the oven to 250°, turn it off for about 20 minutes, then place the covered bowl with the dough inside.
Using a candy/oil thermometer is suggested but not required. Just make sure the oil isn't smoking—that's a sign that it’s too hot. There should be small sizzling bubbles that appear around the frying food. If the oil is too cold, the doughnuts will appear to just float and will soak up the oil instead of creating a crispy outer dough shell.
The doughnuts can be filled through the sides or through the top, depending on your personal preference.
If you don't have a piping bag, use a gallon ziplock bag with a hole cut in the corner to mimic the same result. Make sure you seal the bag well.
