Tahini Coffee Sufganiyot are the Hanukkah doughnuts you didn’t know you needed!!!
Happy Hanukkah! I can’t wait to hear what you’re baking and cooking up. I’m back teaming up with Kroger to talk about one of my top two Hanukkah staples- sufganiyot!!! While latkes are popular in the US, in Israel, it’s all about the Hanukkah doughnuts. A few bites of savory latkes, a few bites of sweet sufganiyot, and repeat. And what goes better with doughnuts than coffee (and tahini and rainbow sprinkles)??
Tahini is one of my favorite ingredients because it is just so darn versatile. Make dressings, sauces, cookies, cakes, frostings, toppings, hummus or just eat with a spoon. It feels fancy, elevates your meals but easily adds flavor. One of my favorites is to make a tahini mayo to dip shawarma chicken in! Okay, enough drooling over here and back to the doughnuts.
I’ve partnered with Kroger’s Simple Truth line again (remember this brisket??) to make these Tahini Coffee Sufganiyot! I love how you can get their quality organic products without spending all your Hanukkah gelt. When I saw they had a tahini that was made from just organic sesame seeds and salt and was kosher and under $6, I knew my Hanukkah recipe had to use it. And ever since my Israel trip right before Hanukkah last year, I have been all about the gorgeous sufganiyot. Inspiration!
I stocked up on their organic sugar, cold brew, sesame seeds, and canola oil and got to work. Check out Kroger.com for lots more Hanukkah recipe ideas. 
Sufganiyot seem intimidating, but once you get the hang of it, they aren’t so hard at all! Make sure your yeast is activated, and be careful with the hot oil.
Does anyone else find kneading dough so soothing?
Eat a few spoonfuls of the filling for quality control. Trust me.
These are fun to make with the kids too, after the doughnuts have cooled a bit, they can help fill and decorate (and eat of course).
These look good enough to eat already.
But of course, I had to go over the top with more tahini drizzle and rainbow sprinkles and sesame seeds!
Best enjoyed fresh, but I totally noshed on one of these the next day for breakfast (I kept them refrigerated) and still good!
This Hanukkah is going to be LIT!
Tahini Coffee Sufganiyot
Ingredients
- For Coffee Doughnuts:
- For doughnuts:
- 2¼ teaspoons 1 packet active dry
 yeast
- 1/2 cup warm whole milk 110 degrees
- 1/4 cup Simple Truth Organic Cold Brew
- ½ cup plus 2 teaspoons Simple Truth Granulated Sugar divided
- 3¼ –4 cups all-purpose flour plus more for rolling dough
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ stick or ¼ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 4 cups Simple Truth Organic Canola Oil for frying plus more as needed (use an oil with a high smoke point such as canola, grape-seed or vegetable oil)
- For Tahini Filling and Drizzle:
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 1/3 cup Simple Truth Organic Tahini
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups Simple Truth Organic Powdered Sugar
- Pinch salt
- Simple Truth Organic Sesame Seeds and Sprinkles for garnish
Instructions
- Let's make doughnuts! Combine yeast, warm milk, and 2 teaspoons sugar in a large bowl of a stand mixer and stir to dissolve. Wait 10 minutes, the mixture should get foamy. If it doesn’t the milk was probably too hot, too cold or the yeast is dead. Try again!
- To the yeast mixture, add coffee, 3¼ cups flour, remaining sugar and cinnamon and stir to combine. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix with the dough hook until the dough starts to come together. Then add salt and combine.
- With the mixer on low, add butter, a little at a time, until it’s incorporated into the dough. Then, mix on medium speed for about 5 to 10 minutes until dough is completely smooth and shiny. Make sure to scrape down the sides as you mix so everything gets incorporated.
- Knead dough for about 5 minutes on a floured surface until slightly tacky but no longer sticky, adding more flour if needed, careful not to add too much. Coat a large bowl with oil and place dough inside. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours. You can also slow rise in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.
- When the dough is ready, punch it down and transfer to a lightly floured surface. (Bring to room temperature if doing the slow rise. Roll dough out to ¾-inch thick and cut out doughnuts using a 3-inch round cutter. Roll out scraps to make more doughnuts.
- Place doughnuts on parchment paper–lined baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a towel and let rise in a warm place until they puff up, about 1 hour. At this point, you can refrigerate them for up to 2 hours if you’re not ready to fry them. Bring to room temperature before frying.
- Time to make the filling!
- In a medium bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese and with an electric beater until light and fluffy. Then add tahini and beat until smooth. Add in just enough powdered sugar (stir carefully at first so you don't get powdered sugar everywhere like I did) so it's thick but pourable. If you add too much, add a little water or milk to help thin it out. Place in a piping bag.
- When ready to fry, heat 2 inches of oil in a heavy-bottomed pot until it reaches 350 degrees. Working in batches and being careful not to overcrowd the pan, fry the doughnuts. Flip them halfway through until both sides are golden brown, about 1–2 minutes per side. Let cool on cooling rack.
- When doughnuts are cool enough to touch, poke a hole in the top using the tip of the pastry bag. Fill with tahini filling until doughnut has some heft to it and drizzle with drizzle with more and garnish with sesame seeds and sprinkles. Eat!
- Tip: Doughnuts require deep-frying. Don’t freak out! Invest in a deep-fry thermometer to keep track of the temperature and make sure you oil isn’t getting too hot. Keep your frying station clean and dry—you don’t want any rogue kitchen tools or ingredients falling in the oil.
Notes
This post is sponsored by Kroger. Thank you for supporting brands that support WJWE! Jew rock.
What can the cold brew coffee can be replaced with?
You could use room temp strong coffee!
I want to make these for kids, could I leave out the coffee? What could I replace it with for max flavor.
I would just use all milk instead!