With the holidays in full swing, I’m logging some serious kitchen hours. If I haven’t replied to your e-mail or comment, trust that it’s because every surface in my apartment is coated in a thick layer of powdered sugar, and I’m knee-deep in containers of fudge, swearing profusely at my candy thermometer and desperately trying to avoid getting buried beneath an avalanche of dirty dishes. As if all the candy and cookies weren’t enough, I’ve also been deep frying. My partner’s family eats jelly doughnuts — or sufganiyot — every Hanukkah, and last weekend we brought along vegan ones for everyone to share. What can I say? I’m a sucker for any celebration that involves doughnuts.
Actually, I used to hate jelly doughnuts. The soft, yeasted bread and the powdered sugar I was into, but that filling? Not a chance. Even as a kid with a sweet tooth the size of my arm, I was repulsed by the gummy, gelatinous red stuff seeping out of doughnuts from America’s most spelling-challenged doughnut chain. What is that “jelly” supposed to taste like, anyway? The color red? It definitely didn’t taste like cherries or raspberries or strawberries or anything I’d ever remotely want to put in my body.
Thankfully, with adulthood (and a little knack in the kitchen) comes great opportunity. I am not a huge jelly fan today — don’t even talk to me about grape jelly — but swap out that cloying, sticky red stuff for some tart, textured raspberry jam and we’re in business.
This recipe is involved and does take some time, though most of it is spent waiting for the dough to rise. The frying goes quickly, and don’t fret if you don’t have a deep fryer! Deep frying in a deep, heavy-bottomed pot with a candy thermometer really isn’t that scary, so long as you’re careful to not introduce any water to the hot oil.
- 2 Tbsp active dry yeast
- ½ c plus 3 Tbsp warm water, separated
- ¼ c plus 1 teaspoon sugar, separated
- 1 Tbsp ground flax seeds
- 2.5 c flour
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp pumpkin puree or applesauce
- 2 Tbsp vegan margarine, softened and broken into pieces
- 3 c flavorless cooking oil
- 1 c raspberry jam
- In a small bowl, stir together yeast, ½ c warm water, and 1 tsp sugar. Set in a warm, draft-free place for 5-10 minutes or until very foamy.
- In another small bowl, beat together flax and 3 Tbsp warm water. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift together remaining ¼ c sugar, flour, nutmeg and salt.
- Create a well in flour mixture. Add pumpkin or applesauce, margarine, flax mixture, and yeast mixture.
- Stir until mixture begins to come together into a ball.
- Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for 8-10 minutes, or until it's smooth and bounces back when poked gently.
- Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic. Place in a warm, draft-free spot for 1 to 1.5 hours, or until doubled.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough until it's about ½" thick.
- Using a 2.5-3" floured cookie cutter or glass, cut out circles until no dough remains.
- Cover circles with a towel and let rise for another 15-20 minutes.
- In the meantime, heat oil -- in a deep-fryer or deep, heavy-bottomed pot -- to 370 degrees F.*
- Fry doughnuts in small batches (2-3 at a time), cooking each side for 40 seconds (or until golden).
- With a slotted spoon, place cooked doughnuts on a paper towel, paper bag, or metal rack to drain any excess oil while they cool.
- Repeat until all doughnuts have been fried.
- Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large tip with jam.**
- Set aside to cool. While still slightly warm, poke the tip of the pastry bag into the side (or bottom) of the doughnut. (If your pastry tip isn't particularly pointy, you can use a sharp knife or a toothpick to make a small opening instead.)
- Squeezing pastry bag slowly but firmly, fill doughnut with desired amount of jam.
- Roll filled doughnuts in powdered sugar. If you aren't patient enough to let them cool most of the way, the powdered sugar will melt and make them less picture perfect, but don't worry -- you can just roll them in sugar again once they're fully cooled.
- Best eaten the day they are made.
**If you don't have a pastry bag, you can cut off the corner of a non-flimsy ziplock bag (be careful not to cut too much off).
21 comments
Tera says:
Dec 18, 2012
Would I be able to bake these at a high heat for a short time instead?
MA says:
Dec 11, 2017
You might want to find another dish to bake instead of fry. Channukah is all about the oil (the eight nights, and the food) and oil is the essential ingredient that makes this a Channukah dish!
Katy says:
Dec 19, 2012
OH. MY. God. i absolutely LOVE donuts!!!!!!! i havent had one since i went vegan(about a year ago). i have made my own before but i used a donut maker so they were more like a cake donut, which are good but, not “real”. lol im headed off to the kitchen to start on these now!!
i have loved every recipe’ i’ve made that you posted. your awesome:)
On birth and death and jelly donuts | the vegan sprout says:
Jun 9, 2013
[…] These jelly-filled treasures made the whole house smell like a bakery. He got this cool looking instrument that injects the jelly right into the centre of the hot, doughy pastry, one plunger-full of strawberry per pop, three bites to finish just one. He rolled them in sugar when they were still warm and we ate them with tea on the front lawn, thinking about our newly fallen friend. What’s so sad about someone dying is that you’re left behind to grieve and though these donuts are certainly of comfort, there is no antidote but time, and patience is not my strong suit. […]
NicoleK says:
Nov 4, 2013
These sound great! You should add “Berliner” as a keyword, though, I was searching for vegan berliners but gave up and did “jelly donut”. I bet lots of vegans search for Berliner and come up sad and jelly donut-less.
Julie says:
Nov 27, 2013
Thank you so much for the recipe! We made these for Chanukah tonight, and they came out totally AWESOME and perfect! We had to guess at the temp, b/c we didn’t have a thermometer, but that worked out. I love how fluffy and tasty these doughnuts are! We stuffed them with raspberry jam — mmmmmm! Needless to say, these have replaced our previous sufganiot recipes, so THANK YOU for the best sufganiot recipe yet! Chag sameach!
claryn says:
Nov 27, 2013
Awesome!! I’m glad to hear it, Julie. Happy Hanukkah to you and yours!
Kathryn says:
Nov 28, 2013
There are a couple of vegan donut options in NYC now and it’s so awesome!! I’m way too lazy to fry anything myself 🙂
claryn says:
Nov 30, 2013
Yes! I am totally jealous of everyone that can just go down the street to get their vegan doughnut fix. I do find it super satisfying to know I can make my own, though.
Galit says:
Nov 30, 2013
Hi, I am planning on making this recipe for a dinner party but the only problem is that I can’t get a hold of vegan margarine where I live. Can I use coconut oil instead? I don’t know much of vegan cooking when it comes to improvising and substituting. 🙁
Thank you so much for the recipe it looks delicious!!
Fiona Matthews says:
Mar 22, 2014
oh my lord..! The picture is making me salivate..
We all love donuts in the house.. drool..
Alex @ Oh My God it's a Talking Muffin says:
Nov 13, 2014
Yay yay yay! I can’t wait to try this recipe out! I decided to throw a Chanukah party this year, but latkes for a crowd is a pain, and donuts are tastier anyway! I can’t wait 🙂
Alex says:
Dec 6, 2014
I just tried this recipe, and these are perfect! They’re incredibly light, and they’re just the right sweetness, so that the powdered sugar doesn’t seem like too much. I used TJ’s cherry jam, which I blended a bit before filling the doughnuts.
Jill says:
Dec 5, 2015
Where is the 1/4 cup sugar in this recipe? Screwed me up.
claryn says:
Dec 5, 2015
Sorry about that, Jill! It gets mixed in with the dry ingredients. I’ve updated the directions accordingly. (Though actually, I bet it would be fine to omit it, too!)
Andrea E. says:
Dec 6, 2015
These are my new go-to sufganiyot, much better than the ones I’ve made the last few years. My Israeli nephew said they were just right. Big success, thanks!
Abbey says:
Dec 13, 2015
Made these for hanukkah last night, i replaced the flax seeds with more applesauce and they turned out just fine. These were so delicious they lasted less than 24 hours in my house
Maya says:
Dec 14, 2015
These were AMAZING. It was my first time making doughnuts, and I was surprised at how easy it was! I subbed mashed banana for the applesauce/pumpkin. Fan-freakingtastic. My vegan boyfriend (I’m veggie) and I made them for a Hanukkah party, and everyone loved them, not knowing they were vegan. When my bf grabbed one to eat everyone said you can eat those?? Yup, he sure could, and he was very happy!
claryn says:
Dec 14, 2015
Ah, nothing brings people together quite like sweet, fried dough. 😉 Glad to hear you and yours enjoyed them, Maya!
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Nechama says:
Dec 1, 2016
This looks like a great recipe. Does anyone know if it can be made gluten-free? I’m guessing it’d need baking powder, because gluten helps the dough rise…