If a jelly doughnut and a snack pie had a baby....gluten free Sufganiyot

     The other day Udi's sent out a link with some recipes for Hanukkah. In their list was this recipe for Sufganiyot (Jelly Doughnuts). I do not celebrate Hanukkah, but I DO love jelly doughnuts. I knew I would have to give this recipe a try for sure!!  The original recipe comes from a blog called Gluten Free Bay.
      I looked over the recipe and decided that I couldn't shell out 5 cups of my expensive gluten free flour for a first try on a recipe. So I cut the recipe in half. Boy I am glad that I did. The 1/2 recipe made 30 little jelly doughnut pies!! I would have been frying pies all day with a full recipe! OY! I also made a couple other little tweaks (as always ha).
     After trying a couple of the Sufganiyot I decided they are not really a jelly doughnut. They are sort of like a snack pie, but not exactly. I decided that Sufganiyot are the result of if a snack pie and a jelly doughnut had a baby. They are yummy!
      The original recipe called for them to be rolled in sugar. However, I thought they needed a glaze, so I found a glaze recipe by Alton Brown and gave it a whirl.
     Here is the recipe:

Gluten Free Sufganiyot (the baby of a jelly doughnut and a snack pie)

1egg, beaten

1cup buttermilk

2 T. Butter, melted

2 1/2 C. Gluten Free Flour Mix

1/2 C. Sugar

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

3/4 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Xantham Gum

1/2 tsp. Pie Spice

1/4 tsp. Cinnamon

1 beaten egg (set aside in a bowl)

Raspberry or strawberry jelly (seedless)

Glaze:

1/4 cup whole milk (or evaporated milk if you don't have whole)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups confectioners' sugar

Beat egg, buttermilk, and melted butter in a large bowl with a whisk.

Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Fold slowly into the wet ingredients, mixing by hand with a wooden spoon. When the ingredients are mostly combined, use your hands to knead a few times to make sure the ingredients are fully incorporated.

Let the dough rest for 15 minutes. Sprinkle extra rice flour mix on your countertop or a large cutting board. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick. If dough is sticky, work in more rice flour blend.

Heat 2 inches of canola oil until very hot (375 degrees F).

Use a glass, biscuit cutter or jar with approximately 3-inch diameter to cut disks out of the dough. Place 1/2 teaspoon of jelly in the center of one disk. Brush the beaten egg you've set aside around the outer edge of the dough. Place a second disk of dough on top, and use your fingers to crimp the edges until they are sealed. Repeat until you've used up all the dough. Remaining dough scraps can be rolled into balls ("donut holes") and fried.

Carefully place sufganiyot in hot oil with a slotted spatula. Cook until very brown on one side. If necessary, turn the donut over and brown on the second side. Remove from oil and place on a plate lined with two layers of paper towel or brown paper. While warm, roll sufganiyot in the bowl of sugar to coat or prepare glaze and dip warm doughnuts into the glaze. Let dry slightly on wax paper. Best served warm.

Glaze Instructions:
Combine milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan and heat over low heat until warm. Sift confectioners' sugar into milk mixture. Whisk slowly, until well combined. Remove the glaze from the heat and set over a bowl of warm water. Dip doughnuts into the glaze, 1 at a time, and set on a waxed paper for 5 minutes before serving

If you are like me, you don't keep buttermilk in the fridge. However you can make it by adding about 1T of lemon juice to a cup of regular milk. Wait a few min. for it to "work" and you have buttermilk.

Using your wooden spoon, work the wet and dry ingredients together. I had to add probably about 1/2 cup of extra flour to my mixture. It was VERY sticky when I added the 2 1/2 cups.

When working with gf dough I always lay down plastic wrap. I cover the dough with plastic wrap too. GF dough is always so sticky and sticks to EVERYTHING! :) It will save you alot of headache if you use plastic wrap.

I used a drinking glass to cut my circles.

Drop your jam/jelly onto the middle of the dough circle. Brush with beaten egg and top with a second circle.

Use your fingers to press the edges and seal in the jelly filling.

Very carefully slide the doughnut into the hot oil.

Flip the doughnut over after it is golden brown.

I may have possibly eaten a doughnut before it was glazed....shhh ;)

I hope you enjoy the Sufganiyot. Even if you don't celebrate Hanukkah, these are still a yummy treat.

-Jessica