Everything You Need to Make Jelly Doughnuts for Hanukkah
We've rounded up all the products to make delicious sufganiyot this year!
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Culinary expertise provided by Amanda Neal
If you’re celebrating Hanukkah with lots of delicious fried foods, we think there is no better way to honor the miracle of a small amount of holy oil lasting eight days than with sweet, pillowy sufganiyot, or jelly donuts. But, before you get started, it’s important to make sure you have all the equipment you need for every step from the prep work and frying to filling the donuts with raspberry, strawberry or apricot jam. Following Food Network Kitchen’s recipe for sufganiyot, we’ve rounded up all the products necessary to pull off these delicious treats without a hitch.
First, you’re going to want to start with making the dough, and a classic stand mixer fitted with a dough hook is essential for the required eight minutes of kneading. Once the dough has come together, the mixing bowl acts as a great vessel to let your dough rise.
This might seem like a kitchen staple, but there is nothing worse than realizing you’re missing an essential tool when you’re mid-bake. Whether you’re letting your dough rise for a couple hours or waiting for your rolled-out dough rounds to puff up, having enough plastic wrap to keep them covered is a must-have. If you don’t have any plastic wrap, a kitchen towel works well, too.
You probably have a rolling pin at home, but it never hurts to make sure — after all, improvising with a wine bottle isn’t as great of a substitute as you might think. In testing, we found these thin, tapered French rolling pins to offer great control and were easy on hands and wrists.
To make a filled donut the correct shape, all you need is a round cutter at your desired circumference (we recommend a 3-inch cutter in the recipe).
Products for Preparing the Dough:
You don’t need a dedicated deep fryer to make your donuts, just a large heavy-bottomed pot filled with vegetable oil. We love using our Dutch ovens for just about everything, including frying.
When frying your donuts, you want to make sure the oil stays between 345 and 350 degrees F, so having a deep-fry thermometer is essential. If your oil gets hotter than that 350 degrees F, you’ll end up burning the outside of your donuts before the insides have a chance to cook through.
Having either a spider strainer or slotted spoon is essential while frying, since you’ll need to flip the donuts halfway through to make sure you get an even cook on both sides. But, the slotted spoon or spider strainer comes especially in handy when transferring the donuts from the pot to your paper-towel-lined baking sheet, making sure you’re draining a lot of that oil off.
Everything You Need to Deep-Fry:
Fill your pastry bag fitted with a small round tip with jam and fill the donuts on each side until you start to see jam peek out from the hole on top of your donut.
For Filling the Donuts:
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