Chanukah Desserts

Recipes, Tips

Chanukah is celebrated with lots of fried foods and dairy dishes. Needless to say, these don't rank very high on the healthy scale. However, you can at least sneak in nutrition with whole wheat flour, lowering the fat of dairy products used, or substituting soy milk, tofu, or goats milk products in many recipes. Below are a few favorite Chanukah Dessert Recipes I use a lot:

Soofganiot -- Jelly filled donuts

Make them with 1/2 whole wheat flour! I'd use all whole wheat, but then a lot of people seem to not like their heaviness. 1/2 whole wheat leaves them light enough for the crowds to enjoy. Use an all fruit jam, or for an extra tasty, but less healthy treat, dulce de leche, butterscotch filling. These soofganiot are dairy. To make them parve, substitute oil instead of the butter.

Ingredients:

Combine the yeast, 1/2 cup of the water, and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Let sit 5 minutes, or until foamy. Add remaining 1/2 cup of water, 1/3 cup sugar, melted butter, egg, egg yolk, salt, and 2 1/2 cups of flour. Beat for 3 minutes. Then stir remaining 1 cup flour to make soft dough. Let dough rise 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled. Knead for 2 minutes, rest the dough for another 10 minutes.

Then divide the dough in 1/2 and roll out each 1/2 to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut 12 13-inch diamter circles from each 1/2 (or make smaller doughnuts and have more of them). Beat egg white until frothy. Then brush some over one circle. Place jam in the center of the circle. Make sandwiches of one filled circle and one plain circle, pinch closed at edges. Cover on floured board for about 1 hour or until doubled.

Fry the soofganiyot in oil. You can use a deep fryer, but a couple of inches in a good cast iron skillet work just as well. Allow to brown on one side, flip the doughnuts to brown on the other side, remove to drain from oil. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

You can also use a good carob spread inside.

Sphinge -- Moroccan Fried Dough Delights

I adapted this recipe from Moroccan neighbors. You can use the same recipe to make "Fricasse", a fried bread that you form into bun or roll like forms and cut open to fill with vegetables and tuna for sandwiches. I prefer that, and we joke that my 1/2 whole wheat Fricasse is the "American Fricasse"

Ingredients:

Proof yeast for 5 minutes in warm water with sweetener. Add salt and enough flour to make a soft dough (for Sphinge, leave very, very soft, for Fricasse, make slightly firmer). Oil your hands and knead briefly. Let the dough rise until doubled, about an hour. Knead again. Heat oil for frying. Oil your hands and take dough and roll it into tube like shapes, and drop them into the hot oil carefully. Fry until golden. Remove from oil and drain.

If you want Sphinge, you sprinkle with powdered sugar for a dessert. If you want Fricasse, you cut open the tube like roll, and fill with chopped onions, tomatoes, and tuna.

Microwave Cheesecake

10 minutes using the microwave and a blender. You can reduce fat by using a thick yogurt instead of sour cream, and sour cream instead of cream cheese. Still high in fat, but you've reduced it.

Crust ingredients:

Filling ingredients:

Topping ingredients:

Place graham crackers, flour, and cinnamon in a blender. Blend until all is powdered, then pour in the melted butter and blend until mixed. Empty pie crust ingredients into a 9 inch glass pie plate. Spread evenly and press onto the bottom and sides to form a firm, even crust.

Place eggs, vanilla, cream cheese or sour cream and honey into blender. Blend for about a minute until all is smooth.

Pour filling into prepared crust and place in microwave for 5 minutes on medium power.

Place sour cream and vanilla in blender. Blend 5 to 10 seconds until totally blended. Pour over top of cheese cake and place back in microwave for 2 minutes on medium power.

Cool before serving for best cutting.

• Kosher Healthy Tofu Recipes
• Using Brewer's Yeast
• Cake recipes
• Chanukah Desserts