Hanukkah Recipe Collection

On Hanukkah, it is a tradition to enjoy foods that are fried in oil. This practice celebrates the miracle of Hanukkah, which revolved around a small amount of oil that lasted for eight days. Latkes, or fried potato pancakes, are a favorite, often served with applesauce or sour cream. However, there are many innovative takes on both the pancakes and their toppings. Other popular fried treats during Hanukkah include sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) and various types of fritters.

Chocolate Babka Donuts
When babka meets a donut, you know it’s doubly delicious.
BY CHAYA RAPPOPORT

Babka is something I find myself making nearly every week, and I can’t think of many things that rival it. This sentiment is shared widely, as babka is gaining popularity across the nation, appearing in artisanal bakeries, Jewish delis, and upscale restaurants.

My version of babka is rich, buttery, and egg-laden, leaning more towards brioche than the traditional formula, which I aimed for in these babka-donut hybrids. I increased the flour and egg quantities, creating a sturdier dough, while slightly decreasing the butter content for better frying stability. To add a bit of crunch and balance the filling’s sweetness, I included cacao nibs, adding a subtle bitterness and satisfying texture. Cacao nibs are bits of dried, fermented cocoa beans that offer an intense chocolaty flavor and can be found at health food stores, Whole Foods, or on Amazon.

These donuts provide the pillowy softness of babka with the moisture that deep-frying captures in the dough. The dark chocolate pastry cream would work beautifully in tarts, cream puffs, or on cakes, but in this recipe, paired with the cacao nib sugar, it elevates the entire treat beyond just chocolate babka. Both donuts and babka require significant time and effort in the kitchen—typically, you would pick one or the other, making the choice quite challenging. However, with these donuts, you get both. If that isn’t a Hanukkah miracle, I don’t know what is.

Please note: Make the dough the night before you plan to fry, so plan accordingly.

Ingredients

For the donut dough:

• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 stick unsalted butter, cubed and at room temperature
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
• 1 tsp kosher salt

For the chocolate pastry cream:

• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 4 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, cubed

For the cacao nib sugar + frying:

• 6 cups vegetable oil for frying
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 Tbsp cacao nibs

Directions

1. To prepare the cacao nib sugar: Use a food processor to grind cacao nibs to a fine consistency. Mix the ground cacao nibs with sugar and store in an airtight container until needed.
2. Next, make the pastry cream, as it needs to chill before filling the donuts. Whisk together the yolks, vanilla, sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder, and salt.
3. In a heavy saucepan, heat the milk until just boiling, then gradually add a 1/4 cup to the egg mixture, whisking until smooth.
4. Transfer this milk-and-egg mixture back to the saucepan with the remaining milk and bring to a boil while whisking (it may look curdled at first but will smooth out).
5. Whisk vigorously for a minute while the mixture boils, then remove from heat. Stir in chocolate and butter until fully melted and incorporated. Chill in a heatproof bowl, covered with plastic wrap, overnight or until ready to fill the donuts.
6. For the donut dough: Warm the milk to about 110°F, then mix in the eggs gently.
7. Butter a medium bowl and set aside. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Add the milk mixture and stir until just combined. Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed for about 3 minutes; the dough will be sticky, which is normal.
8. Increase the mixer speed to medium and gradually add the butter, mixing until the dough is smooth and elastic. To test readiness, stretch a piece of dough; it should stretch easily but not tear.
9. Place the dough in the buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, or overnight.
10. The next day, prepare two lined baking sheets with parchment paper, dusting them with flour. Roll the cold dough into a rectangle measuring approximately 9 1/2 by 12 1/2 inches and 1/2 inch thick.
11. Cut out 12 rounds with a 3-inch cookie cutter and place them on the prepared sheets. Lightly cover with plastic wrap and proof in a warm area for about 1 1/2 hours. The dough should look puffy and slowly spring back when gently pressed.
12. When ready to fry, line a rimmed baking sheet with paper towels and set up the cacao nib sugar in a nearby bowl. Fill a pastry bag with the chilled pastry cream fitted with a small round tip.
13. Heat the oil in a deep fryer or a medium heavy-bottomed pot to between 350°F and 365°F.
14. Carefully place 2 to 3 donuts in the hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the donuts to the paper towels. After about a minute, when they are cool enough to handle, roll them in the cacao nib sugar. Repeat for the remaining donuts.
15. To fill the donuts, insert a pastry bag with the cream into a hole poked into one side of each donut, being cautious not to poke through the opposite side, and gently squeeze to fill.

About Chaya Rappoport
Chaya Rappoport is a food stylist, baker, and recipe developer with a passion for challah, halva, and savory foods. Based in NYC, she shares seasonal recipes on retrolillies.com and daily cooking and baking updates on Instagram @retrolillies. Her work has been featured in publications including The Feed Feed, Delish.com, Food and Wine, and Conde Nast Traveler.

Sweet Potato Latkes
The ever-popular potato latke leads the list of traditional Hanukkah foods cooked in oil. Here’s a fresh twist on your classic potato pancakes.
BY MY JEWISH LEARNING

Ingredients

• 2 lbs sweet potatoes or yams
• 2 Tablespoons matzah meal or flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon (to taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• Peanut oil
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves

Directions
Peel and grate the sweet potatoes, then remove any excess moisture by squeezing them in a dish towel or cheesecloth. Beat the eggs and mix them in one at a time. Add the matzah meal or flour and baking powder, mix in spices thoroughly. Heat the oil until hot, then drop large spoonfuls of the mixture into the pan. Cook until browned, then flip.

Note: For fluffier pancakes, separate the eggs. Add the yolks when directed, and beat the whites until stiff before folding them into the batter after mixing all other ingredients.

Recipe reprinted from Jewish Family & Life
Find even more Hanukkah recipes here.

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