I discovered Sufganiyot when one of my neighbors made it for a houseguest of hers who was celebrating Hanukkah. Sufganiyot is a traditional Israeli jelly donut. It is one of the many foods fried in oil Jewish people eat at Hanukkah to celebrate the oil in the menorah lasting eight days. This donut is also eaten at other times, just because it tastes good.

I was curious, so I tried this recipe. It is easy to follow, and the instructions are thorough enough to know what you need to do, even if you don’t bake often. The only time-consuming parts of this recipe are the yeast rising and the physical frying. All the other steps only take a total of five to ten minutes. I do have one warning for this recipe: do not use any filling that has any sort of chunks in it. I used strawberry rhubarb jelly, with half-inch chunks throughout. This did not work out well when it came to piping the jelly into the donuts, as the chunks blocked the opening. To remedy this, I ended up putting the jam in a blender to get rid of the chunks. Don’t make my mistake. 

I brought a batch into school for the wonderful SHS Today news staff, and according to them, Sufganiyot are “so good,” “phenomenal,” and “surprising.” Some more in-depth reviews: “a little bit chewy, but airy at the same time…doesn’t taste like straight fryer” and “very good with a morning coffee.” 

All in all, this was a great recipe with a delicious result. It is my most highly recommended recipe at the moment. I attached a link at the bottom, so go try it yourself!

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https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/sufganiyot-israeli-donuts.html