Hanukkah is that time of the year where I enjoy eating and making homemade jelly doughnuts. Hanukkah is when I eat tons of fried food and I have no guilt about eating so many sweets.
Jelly doughnuts are also known as Sufganiyot are a must-have dessert during the holidays. I love the powdered sugar sweetness with a delightful surprise of fruity filing in these doughnuts. If you like to challenge your culinary skills and you want to have fun in the kitchen this is the perfect recipe for you. While it does take some time and patience to make these, they are so worth the wait! In Israel, during this time of year, you can see the markets filled with these jelly doughnuts. Hopefully, I can go back to Israel again to eat some of these jelly doughnuts. In the meantime, this is my version of Sufganiyot and they are so good! The dough will puff up in the fryer leaving this light air doughnut ready to be filled with a tasty jam. Enjoy making these!
Jelly Doughnuts
Serving size: 16 small doughnuts
Total Time: 1 hour and 30 mins
Source: Adapted from Smitten Kitchen.
2 1/2 teaspoons (1/4-ounce packet) active dry yeast
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
2 large egg yolks
Few gratings of orange or lemon zest, 1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons butter softened
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
1/2 to 2/3 cup jam or preserves of your choice
Powdered sugar
Step 1: To make the dough, in the bottom of a large mixing bowl, combine the yeast, sugar, and milk. Let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk in yolks, any zest or extracts you’d like to use, then butter. I prefer to use zests in my dough so I used orange zest. The butter won't fully combine in this step.
Step 2: By hand, add half of the flour and stir with a spoon until combined. Add the second half of flour and salt and stir with a spoon, then use your hands to knead the dough until it forms a smooth, elastic round, about 5 minutes. Try to not add extra flour, even if it’s sticky because extra flour always makes for tougher/dryer doughnuts. You can also use a stand mixer for this step with a dough hook. Once the dough ball has formed place it into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest at room temperature for 1 hour or overnight. The dough should double in size after resting for an hour.
Step 3: To make the doughnuts, on a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 1/2-inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch rounds for smaller sized doughnuts or 3-inch rounds for larger doughnuts. I don't have a round cutter so I used a cap to red pepper container, any round cup in the house should work for cutting the doughnuts into circles. Keep some dough scraps for testing the oil in a later step. Once you have cut out the doughnuts, let rise for another 30 minutes at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap and a towel. Don't skip this step! The doughnuts balls should puff up more from their original size.
Step 4: For frying the doughnuts, heat 2 inches of the oil in a frying pan or heavy pot. I prefer to use a deep pot to avoid using so much oil. Use the dough scraps to practice and get an idea of how quickly the doughnuts will cook. Then add doughnuts to the oil, cooking on the first side until golden brown underneath, about 1 to 2 minutes, this can happen really quickly so keep an eye on the frying process. Flip doughnuts and cook on the other side, until it, too, is golden brown underneath, about another minute. Drain doughnuts, then spread them on a paper towel-lined plate to absorb extra oil. Repeat with remaining doughnuts.
Step 5: When doughnuts are cool, place jelly or jam in a piping bag with a round tip with a 1/4- to 1/2-inch opening. I used strawberry jam for this step. If you don't have a piping bag you can take a ziplock bag and snip the corner to create a piping hole. This process may be a little messier however it still works! You can fill doughnuts from the tops or sides; I prefer to do the sides. Take a chopstick or straw or back of a utensil to poke a hole through the doughnut; make sure not to push all the way through the doughnut. Press the tip of the jam bag halfway into the doughnut, and squeeze in the jam until it dollops out a little from the hole. Repeat with remaining doughnuts.
Step 6: To finish the doughnuts, generously shower doughnuts with powdered sugar.
Eat right away! If eating these on the first day, leave any remaining doughnuts uncovered on a plate. These are best on the first day however will stay for a day in an airtight container. You most likely will have to add extra powdered sugar on the second day.
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