The Easiest Recipe for Channukah Jelly Donuts with Filling Variations to Die For

There’s an Israeli folktale that says that when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden for their sins, God tried to cheer them up by giving them jelly donuts. It sounds a bit ridiculous and all the scholars agree there is absolutely no basis in the scripture. Yet the story reflects the idea that the sweet confection we call donuts brings happiness.

It’s not just in Israel or among Jews that there is a custom to eat donuts as part of a special time of year. During Fasching, Germany’s carnival season, costumed and non-costumed alike consume Krapfen (jam-filled donuts). They also eat these treats on New Year’s Eve in Germany for good luck.

The Pennsylvania Dutch eat fassnachts on Fat Tuesday to use up all of the fat in the house before Lent. In Spain and Latin America people eat buñuelos, fritters drizzled with syrup or dusted with cinnamon and sugar on Christmas.

Sufganiyot

The Israeli version of the donut eaten on Channukah, are a custom because they are fried in oil. The holiday commemorates the miracle when there was only oil enough to light the Menorah in the Temple for one night yet it lasted for eight nights, long enough to process more oil. Traditional sufganiyot are jelly filled donuts dusted with powdered sugar. For those who like to decorate, they can also be frosted and topped with whatever strikes your fancy.

If you don’t love the idea of jelly however, don’t worry. There are countless fillings that you can use to make the perfect donut that will make you smile. This simple recipe will even let you focus on your fillings instead of on the dough, usually the hardest part of any kind of pastry like delicacies.

Simplest Recipe for Sufganiyot Ever

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients:

• One roll of store-bought biscuit dough

• Sunflower oil, for frying

• A small bowl of powdered sugar

• About 1/2 cup of jam, jelly or preserve (or other filling)

• Traditionally Raspberry or Strawberry are used but there are so many other wonderful flavors to try why limit yourself?

• Some basic spreads you can use are apricot, Grape, blackberry, blueberry, peach, plum, marmalade, fig, date, pear, or pineapple

• For something a bit more unusual try one of these: apple pie, banana, honeysuckle, rosehip, hot pepper, watermelon, violet, corncob (yes, you heard right), lemon saffron, rosemary grapefruit, or hot rhubarb ginger.

• Or if you’re throwing a happy hour Channukah party, try these alcoholic jams (you may need to go online to find them): pina colada, chocolate-stout, blackberry- vanilla-bourbon, honey-rum-strawberry, or cherry amaretto

Directions:

1. Let dough sit at room temperature for 20 minutes so that it's easy to roll out.

2. Sprinkle flour on a flat surface and roll out dough until it’s ½ inch thick

3. Cut out circles that are about 2 ½ or 3 inches round with a cookie cutter or a jar lid if you don’t have cookie cutters.

4. Fill a large Dutch oven or heavy pot with 2 inches of oil and heat over medium heat to 350°F.

5. Drop the circles carefully into the oil, and fry until they are deep brown on each side.

6. Remove them from the oil and place them on a paper towel-lined plate, dabbing off extra oil on the top.

7. Roll them in the sugar until they are fully coated.

8. When the donuts are cool enough to handle, use a blunt knife to puncture the side of each and form a small pocket in the center.

9. Microwave jam for about 20-30 seconds to make it thinner and easier to work with.

10. Use a piping bag with a plain piping tip to fill. Place the tip of the piping bag into the donut and squeeze in around 1 teaspoon of filling inside. Serve warm or at room temperature.

11. Alternately for jam or other thinner types of fillings you can use a squeeze bottle with a pointed tip (like you see restaurants use for ketchup) to fill each donut with jam. If you are still having difficulty working with the jam after warming it, you can cut a small amount off of the tip to make the opening a bit wider opening. (Remember you want the jam just warm not hot since you are working with a plastic bottle).

Buttercream Fillings

These are best applied with a piping bag and round tip .

Pumpkin Spice Buttercream

Ingredients

• ½ stick (4 tablespoons), softened at room temperature

• ¼ cup pumpkin purée (do not use pie filling – there’s a difference)

• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ¼ teaspoon ginger

• ¼ teaspoon allspice

• ¼ teaspoon clove

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Directions:

Place the butter, pumpkin, and spices in a medium bowl and whisk until fully combined. Add the powdered sugar a half a cup at a time and whisk until completely smooth and combined.

Lemon Matcha Buttercream

Ingredients:

• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

• 1 cup powdered sugar sifted

• 1 teaspoon matcha powder

• ½ teaspoon almond extract

• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Directions: Place butter, matcha powder, almond extract and lemon zest in medium bowl and whisk until well combined. Add powdered sugar a half a cup at a time and whisk until combines and smooth without any lumps.

Maple Bourbon Buttercream

Ingredients:

• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

• 1 tablespoon maple extract

• 1 ½ teaspoons bourbon extract

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 tablespoons milk

• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Directions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together butter, extracts and milk until well combined. Add powdered sugar a half cup at a time and whisk until completely smooth.

Other Easy Fillings

Nutella

For this one you simply fill a pastry bag with Nutella and pipe it into your sufganiyot! What could be easier?

Cinnamon – Marshmallow - Cream Cheese

Ingredients:

• 9 oz cream cheese at room temperature

• ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature

• ½ a jar (6 ½ oz) marshmallow full

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 2 cups confectioners sugar

Directions:

This is best made with a mixing bowl since there are several ingredients that need to be creamed together.

1. Place the butter and cream cheese into a medium mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed until smooth.

2. Add the marshmallow fluff and beat on medium until creamy and there are no lumps.

3. Add in the vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt. Mix on medium until fully combined.

4. Add the confectioners’ sugar a half a cup at a time and mix on medium until it is completely mixed and fluffy.

5. Put the mixture in the fridge for 20-30 minutes for it be become a bit firmer before filling donuts.

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Directions: These are filled before frying so make sure not to overfill. Once you cut out your rounds from the dough, place a half teaspoon each of peanut butter and jelly in the center of half of the circles. Brush the edges with egg white, then place remaining dough circles on top. Press the edges together tightly to form a seal. Fry about a minute or two on each side until lightly brown. These are best served warm.

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I hope you enjoy these yummy Chanukah delicacies. You don’t have to be Jewish to try them and they don’t have to just be eaten during Chanukah. Make some for breakfast whenever you’re in a festive mood or as a snack when you need a pick me up. You’ll be amazed at how they lift your spirits! For all those out there celebrating the holiday, may you have a wonderful and inspiring eight days, filled friends, family, love and laughter.

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