Sufganiyot—jelly doughnuts—are synonymous with Chanukah. Try filling them with this easy, homemade cranberry jam for a seasonal twist.


Don’t let the jelly doughnut intimidate you! I’ve broken down the process step-by-step to help you along.

To start with, we’ll make the dough. Place the yeast, warm water and 1 teaspoon of sugar in a bowl. Let it sit for 10–15 minutes until the mixture bubbles up like this:


Now, take the yeast mixture and combine it with the sugar, margarine, eggs, salt, sugar and soy/almond milk, with 2 cups of flour. Mix on a low speed.

Slowly add in the rest of the flour until dough is no longer sticky. It should feel somewhat like a bread dough.

Knead the dough for 5 minutes. This is the time to let out any anger or aggression you’ve been holding in! Pound that dough. (Or, if you’re the always-calm-my-life-is-perfect-what-is-anger type, let the dough hook on your mixer do the mixing for you. )

Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let rise approximately 1 hour, until dough has doubled in size. As you can see, mine rose right to the brim of the bowl!


Tip the dough out of the bowl and let it rest for a couple of minutes. Roll it out approximately ½ inch thick, and cut circles with a round cookie cutter or with the mouth of a glass.


Let the circles rise for about 30 minutes.


Heat oil in a deep fryer, a pot or a deep frying pan. Aim for low-medium heat. If the oil is too hot, the outside of your doughnuts will start to burn before the centers are properly cooked through.

Drop in a few doughnuts at a time. Flip each doughnut so both sides can brown. With a slotted spatula, remove each doughnut and place them on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.


Let the doughnuts cool before you fill them with the cranberry jelly.

To make the cranberry jelly, you'll need fresh or frozen cranberries, sugar and water.


Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer 20–30 minutes until slightly thickened. Blend slightly, but make sure to still leave some pieces for texture. Pour into a glass jar to cool.


To assemble the doughnuts, you’ll need a sharp knife or pointed spatula, a Ziploc bag and a fine-mesh strainer.


Use the sharp knife or pointed spatula to poke a small hole in the side of each doughnut. Fill the bag with ½ cup of the jam, and cut a small hole at the corner. Stick the Ziploc corner into the hole and give a quick squirt. Using a fine-mesh strainer, sprinkle confectioners’ sugar over the top of each doughnut.


Dough ingredients:

  • 4½ tsp. dry yeast
  • ¼ cup warm water
  • 1½ cups soy or almond milk
  • ¾ cup sugar + 1 tsp. sugar
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 6 tbsp. oil (or melted margarine)
  • 6+ cups flour
  • Oil for frying
  • Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Cranberry jam ingredients:

  • 6 oz. fresh or frozen cranberries
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • 1 cup water

Directions:

  1. Place yeast, warm water and 1 tsp. sugar in bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes until bubbled.
  2. Mix yeast mixture, ¾ sugar sugar, oil (or margarine), eggs, salt, and soy/almond milk with 2 cups of flour on a low speed.
  3. Slowly add in the rest of the flour until dough is no longer sticky. It should feel somewhat like a bread dough.
  4. Knead for 5 minutes, then cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let rise approximately 1 hour, until dough has doubled in size.
  5. Roll out the dough approximately ½ inch thick, cut circles (use the mouth of a glass, or a round cookie cutter), and let rise 30 minutes.
  6. Heat oil in a frying pan or pot. Drop in a few doughnuts at a time. Flip each doughnut so each side can brown.
  7. Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel.
  8. To make the cranberry jam, combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer 20–30 minutes until slightly thickened. Blend slightly, but make sure to still leave some pieces for texture. Pour into a glass jar to cool.

To assemble the doughnuts, use a sharp knife or pointed spatula to poke a small hole in the side of each doughnut. Fill a Ziploc bag with ½ cup of the jam, and cut a small hole at the corner. Stick the Ziploc corner into the hole and squirt out approximately 1 tsp. jam into each doughnut. Using a fine-mesh strainer, sprinkle confectioners’ sugar over the top of each doughnut. Eat and enjoy!

This recipe yields about 30 doughnuts.


See? That wasn’t at hard as you thought it would be! (Or maybe it was . . .) Leave a comment and let me know.