Chanukah - Hanukkah Fritters

Chanukah - Hanukkah Fritters are a nice alternative to Potato Latkes for the Chanukah Jewish holiday party. These are a popular tradition for Sephardic Jews around the Mediterranean and are called many names in other cultures from the Greek "loukoumades" to the Spanish "buñuelos."

Recipe Instructions:

Serving Size:

4 dozen fritters

Ingredients:

Dough

• 1 package dry yeast
• 1-1/3 cups warm water
• 3 cups white flour (unsifted)
• 2 well beaten eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Syrup

• 3 cups honey
• 1/4 cup water

Topping

• Powdered sugar
• Cinnamon

Frying

• Approx. 1 inch layer of oil in deep fryer

Preparation:

Dough

• Dissolve yeast in 1/3 cup of warm water. Set aside for approx 10 minutes.
• Place flour into a medium-sized bowl and simultaneously stir in all of the following: the yeast water (that you had set aside) with salt, beaten eggs and olive oil.
• Gradually add in the remainder of water (1 cup) until you get dough that is slightly tacky.
• Cover mixture and let is rise in a warm place until it doubles in bulk (roughly 1 hour).

Syrup

In a medium saucepan, mix honey and water and bring to a hard boil.
Simmer for 5 minutes on a low heat setting. Next, reduce heat to the lowest setting to keep it warm.

Frying

• In a deep fryer or very deep skillet, heat olive oil to 375° The depth of oil in your fryer/skillet should be approx 1 inch.
• Coat a tablespoon by dipping it in the oil and then scoop a teaspoon of the dough and drop it into the oil.
• Several of these can be fried at the same time but overload or they will mix together.
• Turn them a few times while frying them until they become a golden color and look like puffs (approx 7-8 minutes).
• Remove each ball as it is ready (don't take the oil with it) and place on paper towels to drain.

Serving:

Photo is for sample only and is not exact representative of the final recipe.

Serve fritters with a drizzle of your syrup and sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Or...serve your toppings and hot syrup on the side, put toothpicks in the fritters and let people dip them in the toppings.

Tip: Best when served fresh.