Happy Chanukah! After learning you can easily make doughnuts at home by frying up some canned biscuits, I decided to try my hand at sufganiyot (aka jelly doughnuts) to celebrate the first night of Chanukah last night. Truthfully, this holiday snuck up on me. It’s the earliest it’s been in years and I just wasn’t prepared. Since the gifts didn’t arrive in time, I wanted to do something special to commemorate the holiday and this was the perfect activity.
Start by setting up a prep station: ziplock baggies filled with jam so you can pipe your fillings + any toppings. Also get a rack or paper towel-lined plate ready for when the doughnuts come out of the oil.
Once you’re all set up, the process is simple. Get canola oil (about 1/2 inch) hot in a cast iron pan or Dutch oven. You’ll know it’s ready when the surface starts starts rippling (about 5 minutes). I would flatten the biscuits a little bit so they cook evenly – don’t worry, they’ll puff up in the oil. Now drop in your biscuits. I used Pillsbury Grands, but any refrigerated biscuits should work. After about a minute, take a peek. If they’re golden, flip and cook for the same amount of time on the other side. Drain the doughnuts on the rack or paper toweled plate and start filling as soon as they’re cool enough to handle. Using a knife, burrow a little tunnel about 3/4 of the way through the doughnut. Use your piping bags to fill with jam of choice (I used pumpkin butter, apple cider jam, and a fig raspberry jam) and toppings. For toppings, I used cinnamon sugar, a glaze made from powdered sugar/water/vanilla, and sprinkles. melted chocolate or dulce de leche would be great options too.
The fun here is getting to mix and match. That also makes this a great dessert to make with kiddos. You can handle the hot oil part, let them go wild with decorating. There are so many options for fillings and toppings. This is your chance to get crazy. For the record, my favorite combo was pumpkin butter filling with cinnamon sugar topping.
Peaches to Apples 