Hanukkah Muffin Tin Doughnuts (Duffins)

Remember a few years ago there was a new bakery item called a duffin?

It’s a cross between a doughnut and a muffin. It became world famous but began in the U.K. at a famous tea room called Bea’s. Then Starbucks sold a version of it and it was a hot item for a while.

I remember duffins because I made them at home and everyone loved them. Unlike classic doughnuts, they are incredibly easy to prepare and taste absolutely wonderful, so for me, these are the best choice when you want a homemade Hanukkah doughnut but don’t want the fry-mess and the fried-food-kitchen-odor.

My version (the recipe first appeared in The Jewish Week) is also dairy-free but you can substitute dairy milk or cream for the coconut milk, and you can brush the surface of the baked muffin with melted butter, then roll it in sugar and stuff it with jam (that’s the way it was done at Bea’s). Also, you can cut them (or use a pastry tube) and fill them with whipped cream or sweetened mascarpone cheese. Or jam.

Btw, I don’t call them duffins because I don’t want to get into legal or social media trouble. So for me, these are simply Hanukkah Muffin Tin Doughnuts.

Hanukkah Muffin Tin Doughnuts (Duffins)

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 large egg

• 3/4 cup coconut milk (or use dairy milk or cream or other nondairy milk)

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 10 muffin tin wells. Place the sugar and egg in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until light, thick and smooth. Add the coconut milk, vegetable oil and vanilla and mix for 1-2 minutes or until they are thoroughly blended. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat at medium speed for a minute or until well blended. Fill the muffin wells about 3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes. While the doughnuts are baking, mix the confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon together. After the doughnuts are baked, but still warm, sprinkle the tops with the cinnamon sugar.

Makes 10 

Cake doughnuts

Some easy doughnuts for Hanukkah or whenever — not as time consuming as the raised-yeast kind.
 

Cake doughnuts

• 4 cups all-purpose flour, approximately
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 1 cup sugar 
• 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1 cup milk 
• vegetable oil for deep fat frying
• cinnamon sugar, confectioner’s sugar, etc., optional

Sift 4 cups of the flour together with the cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir in the lemon peel and set aside. Beat the sugar and shortening together using an electric mixer set at medium speed. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until well blended. Set aside. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, beating after each addition until a soft smooth dough has formed. Use more flour if the mixture seems too sticky. Roll the dough to a 1/2-inch thickness on a floured surface. Cut out doughnut shapes with a doughnut cutter. Place the cutouts on a cake rack for 20-30 minutes to air dry. Heat 2-1/2-inches of vegetable oil in a deep saute pan over medium-high heat to about 365 degrees (a crumb will sizzle gently). Immerse 2-3 doughnuts at a time and cook them for about 2-3 minutes, turning them occasionally, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or confectioner’s sugar.

Makes about 2-1/2 dozen

Lemony Doughnut Holes

When I lost my mother’s famous doughnut recipe I knew things were not going to be happy in our household. She made those doughnuts every year and they were the most fabulous, light, un-greasy puffy pastries you ever ate. Which is why I took the  recipe from her collection one day when I was about 15 in order to make them on my own.

I guess I threw the recipe out when I was cleaning up because we never saw it again. I have no idea whether my doughnuts were good or not because the recipe thing took over that day (with reminders every year at Hanukkah time) and the fact that I was careless and so on and so on.

I tried mightily to find a new recipe, but never found “THE” one and, you know, memories of food have a life of their own. No recipe would ever measure up.

So, life went on. My mother never made doughnuts again but I did, always trying to reconstruct that perfect one. 

I haven’t made raised doughnuts in years though. Sometimes I make the cake kind, that doesn’t need yeast — I’ll post a recipe here for that.

But my favorite Hanukkah doughnut is a very easy recipe that is actually a variation on profiteroles (choux pastry). Only instead of baking the dough, I fry it. I also add lemon peel to give it a refreshing edge. They come out more like doughnut holes.

When you eat them still warm, the cinnamon-sugar clinging to the surface and almost melting into it, it’s a delicious reminder of of the fact that on Hanukkah, we are celebrating.

And while I wish I hadn’t lost my Mom’s raised doughnut recipe, these Lemony Doughnut Holes are sensational. 

Lemony Doughnut Holes

• 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 pound unsalted butter cut into chunks
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, measure, then sift
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon peel
• 4 large eggs
• vegetable oil for deep frying
• cinnamon sugar

Cook the water and butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted, add the flour and salt all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture is blended and comes away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat. Let it cool for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the lemon peel. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition and blending ingredients throughly. The dough will be slightly sticky. Heat about 2 inches of vegetable oil in a deep pan or fryer. When the oil reaches about 365 degrees (a small crumb of dough will sizzle immediately) drop small blobs of dough by the tablespoonful into the hot oil, leaving ample space between each. Cook the dough blobs, turning the pieces occasionally, for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes or until browned. Drain on paper towels. repeat with remaining dough until all is used. Roll the puffs in cinnamon sugar.

Makes about 60

Beignets from Cameroons for World Cup

Japan and the Cameroons play each other June 14th in the World Cup. To celebrate, start your day (or afternoon snack or dessert after dinner) with Japanese Green Tea and Beignets, which are delicious little easy-to-make doughnuts that are popular in the Cameroons.

Cameroons Beignets

1 cup water

1 stick butter (1/4 pound)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

vegetable oil for frying

sifted confectioner’s sugar

Heat the water and butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted, add the flour and salt and immediately stir vigorously until all the flour has been mixed in and comes away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the eggs one at a time blending each in completely. Stir in the vanilla extract. Heat enough vegetable oil in a deep pan to come up 1-1/2 inches of the sides of the pan. Heat the oil to about 360 degrees or until a crumb of bread sizzles when put in. Spoon blobs of dough (about 1-1/2 inches in diameter) to the hot oil, making only a few at a time (do not crowd the pan so the oil stays hot). Fry until all sides are crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle the beignets with sifted confectioner’s sugar. Makes 8-10 servings

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Churros for World Cup

Argentina plays Nigeria in the World Cup today. If your friends come over to watch with you, maybe you’ll grill some meat, Argentinian style (meaning lots of beef and chorizo).

For an easy Nigerian side dish, make coconut rice (add a hot chopped up habanero pepper and use coconut milk instead of water to make the rice).

Whatever you serve, here’s a recipe for Argentinian Churros to go after the meal.

Churros

1 cup water

1 stick butter (1/4 pound)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

vegetable oil for frying

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Heat the water and butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted, add the flour and salt and immediately stir vigorously until all the flour has been mixed in and comes away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the eggs one at a time blending each in completely. Optional: spoon the mixture into a pastry tube fitted with a star disk (alternately, scoop lumps of dough about the size of a rounded tablespoon). Heat enough vegetable oil in a deep pan to come up 1-1/2 inches of the sides of the pan. Heat the oil to about 360 degrees or until a crumb of bread sizzles when put in. Squeeze out strips of dough (or add lumps of dough) to the hot oil, making only a few at a time (do not crowd the pan so the oil stays hot). Fry until all sides are crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together. Roll the churros in the seasoned sugar. Makes 6-8 servings

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