Presenting the easiest made-from-scratch Hanukkah doughnuts ever—no special equipment needed, no yeast and you don’t even have to deep fry! Suspicious? Let me explain.

I love the process of making sufganiyot (doughnuts)—activating the yeast, kneading, waiting, shaping, frying, filling. It’s a process, but the result is always worth it. But sometimes, we want doughnuts now—quick and easy but, of course, still delicious. These are those doughnuts. This is a cake doughnut, so no yeast is needed. And they are mini, so you can fry them on each side in an inch of oil instead of deep-frying, which uses less oil and makes less of a mess (and, frankly, is less scary). And then instead of filling these doughnuts, you can dip them in your favorite sauces, like a warm jelly sauce or melted chocolate. In 30 minutes, you, too, can be noshing on these easy sufganiyot dippers!

Easy Sufganiyot Dippers_5831
(Photo: Amy Kritzer Becker)

Easy Sufganiyot Dippers

Prep time: 15 minutes. Cook time: 15 minutes. Makes: 16-18 mini doughnuts.

Ingredients

  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • Oil for frying (such as grapeseed or canola)
  • Powdered sugar for garnish
  • ½ cup jelly (or other dips of your choice)

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon and salt.
  2. Then add vanilla, egg and milk and mix until thick and uniform. You should have a thick but runny pancake-esque batter.
  3. Heat one inch of oil in a heavy-bottomed pan to 350 degrees. Spoon heaping tablespoons of batter into the oil, careful not to overcrowd the pan.
  4. Fry on each side for 2-3 minutes until golden. Repeat with remaining batter, adding oil and adjusting the temperature as needed.
  5. Cool doughnuts slightly on cooling rack and dust with powdered sugar.
  6. To make the jelly dipping sauce, heat ½ cup jelly in a small saucepan while whisking until smooth. Serve warm.

Amy Kritzer Becker is the founder of the modern Jewish cooking blog What Jew Wanna Eat, co-owner of the cool Jewish gifts website ModernTribe and author of the cookbook “Sweet Noshings.”