In Israel, where I live, sufganiyot, otherwise known as Hanukkah Donuts, have taken on a new art form. Every year all the bakeries try and one up each other touting the best, most interesting donuts around. With flavors like salted pretzel chocolate and truffle praline competing against traditional jelly and dulce de leche, you really can’t go wrong. Still every year they get crazier and prettier with more toppings/garnishes, a syringe of filling sticking out the top and various pastry creams to choose from. Still, I couldn’t help but make my own with a more American flavorful profile.
I love the flavor of gingerbread men, the spicy ginger of course, paired with the warm flavors of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and cloves is the perfect Winter treat. I took those flavors and infused the dough, filling and glaze of my sufganiyot and topped them with a little ginger dreidel. If you love gingerbread as much as I do, I hope you’ll give them a try.
You can use pumpkin spice mix or hawaij for coffee blend if you don’t want to make your own spice blend, but I like to control the amounts of each spice to my liking.
Make your own gingerbread spice blend more than enough for this recipe by combining
2 tablespoons each ground ginger and cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground allspice, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves. Adjust seasoning to your taste.
Food4Thought: Did you know in some Jewish mystical writings, olive oil is sometimes compared to the soul? Get more Jewish food thoughts here.
Ingredients
Gingerbread Donuts
- 3/4 cup lukewarm whole milk or soy milk
- 1 1/4-ounce packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons spice blend recipe above
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons butter or vegan butter at room temperature
Molasses Ganache Filling
- ½ cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate pieces
- ⅓ cup heavy cream or coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon molasses
Glaze
- 2 ½ tablespoons spice blend recipe above
- 2 ⅔ cups powdered sugar
- 5 tablespoons whole milk or soy milk
- Oil for frying
- Gingerbread men for garnish
Nutritional Facts
Instructions
- Place milk and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer and lightly whisk. Allow to stand until frothy and yeasty smelling, about 3 minutes.
- Place flour, sugar, spices and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Slowly mix flour mixture, using the hook attachment, into yeast mixture.
- Add yolks and mix until a rough dough forms, about 1-3 minutes. Add the butter, increase the speed, and mix until the dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic, about 5 minutes. It should be tacky, sticking to the bottom of the bowl but not to the sides or dough hook.
- Coat a large bowl with oil. Form the dough into a ball and place in the bowl, roll dough in bowl to lightly coat it in oil. Cover with a damp tea towel and let rise in a warm place (or cold oven) until doubled in size, about 1-1 1/2 hours.
- Lightly flour a large plate or sheet pan. Set aside. Punch down the dough, transfer to a lightly floured work surface and roll until about 1/4 inch thick. Using a 2-inch round cutter, cut out dough rounds and place on the floured pan 1/2 inch apart. Roll the scraps gently into a ball and roll out again, cut into rounds.
- Cover loosely with a damp towel. Let rise in a warm place/cold oven until doubled in thickness, about 30-45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the ganache. Place the chocolate in a small bowl. Heat the heavy cream over medium low heat until it just starts to boil. Pour the heated cream over chocolate and let stand for 5 minutes. Gently stir chocolate and cream together. Stir in the molasses. Cover with plastic wrap making sure it is touching the surface of the ganache. Let stand until ready to use.
- Get ready to fry. Pour about a quart and a half of canola oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot and heat until the temperature reaches 350℉. Meanwhile, line a second baking sheet with paper towels and place a wire rack over the paper towels. Set aside.
- Use a large, flat spatula to lift the doughnuts into the oil, taking care not to over crowd the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side.
- Drain on wire rack over paper towel-lined baking sheet. Repeat for remaining dough.
- Make the glaze. Mix together powdered sugar, spices and milk in a bowl. Stir well. If too thick add more milk, if too thin add more powdered sugar.
- Fill the donuts using a piping bag or plastic squeeze bottle. Cut a hole into the side of the donut with a small knife and pipe in ganache, not too much, a little goes a long way.
- Dip each doughnut into the glaze and set aside.
- Decorate with a Hanukkah shaped gingerbread cookie and enjoy!
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