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Prep time
45 minutes
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Cook time
30 minutes
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Makes
19 doughnuts
Author Notes
As someone who grew up in a household that wasn’t Jewish or Christian, I was surprised to discover how lonely I felt and how much I longed to celebrate something at this time of year. Now that I am part of the Jewish fold, I can’t get enough of the holiday celebrations–especially the food. To symbolize the miracle of the oil that lasted for eight days instead of one, Hanukkah foods are fried in oil. Fried foods can often taste really heavy, so I like to swap out all purpose flour with mochi flour (Japanese glutenous rice flour). I’ve never had much of a sweet tooth, so I never really cared for doughnuts of any kind. However, when I lived in Japan, I discovered a doughnut I couldn’t stop eating: Mr. Donut Pon de Ring. Instead of the classic pon de ring shape, I’ve left them deconstructed as doughnut holes and served them alongside various jams for dipping. This recipe is my dairy-free, gluten-free, Jewish interpretation of this mochi doughnut recipe.
Recipe originally created for 18Doors. —Kristin Eriko Posner
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Ingredients
- Starter Dough Ingredients
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1/4 cup
sticky rice flour (I like Koda Farms' mochiko flour)
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1 3/4 cups
mochiko
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1/2 cup
coconut milk
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2-1/2 tablespoons
unsalted butter, melted
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1/3 cup
white sugar
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1
egg, at room temperature
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1 teaspoon
baking powder
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6 cups
vegetable oil
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3 tablespoons
coconut milk (I used Thai Kitchen organic, unseated coconut milk in a 13.6 oz. can) plus one extra tbsp. if needed
- Doughnut Ingredients
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1 3/4 cups
mochiko
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1/2 cup
coconut milk
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2-1/2 tablespoons
unsalted butter, melted
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1/3 cup
white sugar
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1
egg, at room temperature
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1 teaspoon
baking powder
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6 cups
vegetable oil
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For dipping jams: An assortment of your favorite jams, about 3/4 cup each. I recommend using jams of varying colors for presentation. I also recommend using two classic jam flavors and one unexpected jam.
Directions
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For the jams, if you can purchase good quality jams, go with that. I receive homemade jam from family and friends throughout the year and always have a few bottle already in my fridge. To make a jam for dipping, I just put about a cup of jam into a blender or food processor and pulse until smooth. The smoother consistency makes it easier to eat when you dip the donuts later.
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Make the starter dough: Add the mochiko to a small pot along with the coconut milk over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until the dough feels spring-y and looks similar to the photo above. Set it aside to cool for 5 minutes.
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To make the doughnut dough: Add the cooled starter dough and all of the doughnut ingredients to a stand mixer bowl with the dough hook. Mix everything on low until it looks like the dough is starting to come together. Turn up the speed to medium and mix until everything has come together. It will still appear a bit sticky. Touch it lightly to test it- if it doesn’t stick to your finger, it’s ready.
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Add about 3 inches of vegetable oil to your frying pan and turn the heat to medium-low. To test if the oil is hot enough, insert the end of a wooden spoon or uncoated wooden chopstick into the oil. If the oil starts to steadily bubble around it, it’s ready. If the oil is bubbling really vigorously, it’s too hot. If you want to be super precise, around 350◦F is ideal.
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Rub a thin coat of vegetable oil onto your hands. Roll the dough out into .75 oz balls and drop them carefully into the oil. When they start to brown (about 2 minutes on each side), use heat-safe tongs or chopsticks to turn them over. Transfer to a paper towel-lined cooling rack to cool.
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Dust with powdered sugar and serve alongside an assortment of jams.
Note: this recipe is made much easier with a few special tools:
stand mixer with a dough hook (you can mix by hand if you don’t have this, but it’s a bit messy),
large frying pan,
cooking thermometer,
cooling rack,
food processor or blender for the jam (if you decide to do this step),
digital baking scale
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