If you have memories of eating your bubbe’s teiglach, I hope this recipe will excite you. If you’re not yet familiar with the Rosh Hashanah classic, allow me to introduce you: Teiglach are treats made from small pieces of dough, doused in a sticky, sweet honey syrup, mixed with nuts and dried fruits and formed into little mounds.


Some of you might be scratching your heads about this recipe, because of the nuts. There is a strong custom to avoid nuts on Rosh Hashanah. You can read more about that here. If you do not eat nuts on Rosh Hashanah, you can make these as a pre–Rosh Hashanah treat, or you can just leave out the nuts and add some extra dried fruit.

I wouldn’t call this recipe difficult, just a bit messy and possibly time-consuming. The sticky syrup can leave you with quite a cleanup job, so keep in mind from the get-go that you want to keep it contained as much as possible.

Traditionally the dough is shaped into balls, but I used squares to make it quicker. This way you can just roll the dough out and cut with a knife. If you want to stick with the round shape, you can roll the dough into ropes and then cut the ropes into pieces.



There are three ways to cook the dough: fried, baked, or actually cooked in the honey syrup. I found it easiest to bake and then mix the pieces into the syrup.


You can mix in the nuts and dried fruit of your choice. That part is up to you. You can see I used quite a variety. Also, do not skip the lemon zest or ginger in this recipe.


The syrup is tooth-tinglingly sweet, and the lemon and ginger help cut through that, providing fresh undertones and making it more palatable.


Just look at that oozy stickiness!

Ingredients:

  • 3 eggs
  • 3 tbsp. oil
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 2 cups dried fruit and nuts (I used almonds, walnuts, coconut, and dried cranberries, raisins and apricots)
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 1½ cups honey
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • ½ tsp. ginger
  • ¼ tsp. kosher salt

Directions:

  1. Gently beat the eggs with the oil and salt. Mix in 1 cup of flour and the baking powder. Add the remaining flour slowly, until the dough is soft but workable. (You may need slightly less or slightly more than the 2 cups, depending on a number of factors.)
  2. Knead the dough for a few minutes, until smooth, then cover and set aside for 10–15 minutes.
  3. Roll the dough out and cut into small pieces. If you prefer rounder pieces, you can roll the dough into ropes and then cut into pieces.
  4. You can either fry or bake the dough. To fry, drop the pieces into hot oil until they puff up and turn golden. To bake, spread the pieces over a greased cookie sheet and bake at 375° F for 15–20 minutes until pieces are golden brown.
  5. Place the honey, sugar, ginger and lemon zest into a pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes. Add in the pieces of dough, dried fruit, nuts and salt, and stir so the syrup coats all the pieces. Cook for another 10 minutes.
  6. Let the mixture cool for 4–5 minutes, then gently spoon into cupcake wrappers. Sprinkle with coconut if desired, and let cool. Store an in airtight container at room temperature.

Did you eat teiglach as a child? Share your memories below!