It’s great to have options. And that’s exactly what prolific San Jose baker and OMG! Yummy blogger Beth Lee offers with this versatile dough for making sufganiyot, or Hanukkah jelly doughnuts.
The recipe, featured in Lee’s cookbook, “The Essential Jewish Baking Cookbook: 50 Traditional Recipes for Every Occasion” (Rockridge Press, $17), includes oil in the dough to honor the Hanukkah story. So you can honor the ancient tale without frying the doughnuts. Lee has evaluated the results side by side and says she can hardly taste a difference.
No matter which method you choose — baking or frying — just be sure to choose a jam or jelly that is thin enough to flow through the decorating tip, Lee says.
Baked or Fried Sufganiyot
Makes 14 to 16 doughnuts
INGREDIENTS
2¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading and dusting
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2¼ teaspoons active dry or instant yeast
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2/3 cup warm milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more to oil the bowl
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon or orange zest (optional)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (if baking)
Vegetable oil (if frying)
TO FINISH
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup seedless jam
DIRECTIONS
For the dough: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, yeast and salt.
Add the milk, oil, egg, vanilla and lemon zest (if using), and mix with a wooden spoon until a rough, wet dough forms.
Place the dough on a well-floured surface, dust the top of the dough with flour and knead for about 2 minutes. If it remains sticky while kneading, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time. It should be tacky but not too sticky to knead.
Oil the bowl you just used and place the dough back inside. Cover with a towel and let it rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
On a floured surface, roll out the dough 1/2-inch thick. Using a 2½-inch round cookie cutter or the rim of a glass, cut out as many rounds as you can and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Re-roll the remaining scraps and repeat. You should have 14 to 16 rounds total.
Cover the dough rounds with a kitchen towel and let the doughnuts rise until they puff up slightly, about 30 minutes, depending on the temperature of the kitchen.
To bake the doughnuts: While the doughnuts rise, heat the oven to 375 degrees. After the doughnuts have risen, bake them for about 10 minutes, until golden. Brush the doughnuts with melted butter. Proceed immediately to the directions to finish the doughnuts.
To deep-fry the doughnuts: If you prefer frying, add 2 inches of vegetable oil to a medium pot and heat the oil to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with paper towels to drain any excess oil. Transfer a few doughnuts at a time to the hot oil, avoiding overcrowding. Fry for 1 minute on one side, then flip and fry on the second side for 1 minute, until golden brown. This is a fast process, so watch carefully. Transfer the doughnuts to the prepared baking sheet to drain briefly.
To finish the doughnuts: Place the sugar in a gallon-sized resealable plastic bag. Working with one doughnut at a time, place a doughnut in the bag of sugar, seal shut and shake to coat the doughnuts. Return the doughnuts to the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining doughnuts.
Fit a piping bag (or a plastic bag) with a decorating tip with a ¼-inch-wide opening. Fill the bag with the jam of your choice. Using a paring knife, cut a 1-inch horizontal slit in the side of each doughnut, slicing through to the center. Place the decorating tip in the hole and squeeze until the jam starts to ooze out of the doughnuts (some spillage is okay). Repeat with the remaining doughnuts.
The doughnuts taste best if served immediately, but they will maintain their freshness for several hours.
— From Beth Lee’s “The Essential Jewish Baking Cookbook” (Rockridge Press, $17)
