Pull apart the soft, fluffy, cinnamon scented balls of sweet donut challah, and bite into a centre of deliciously fruity strawberry jam. A Chanukah Shabbat treat!
Do you ever use the recipe for one thing to make something else?
Last year I made doughnuts for Chanukah and wondered whether the smooth, pliable dough would make good challah if it was baked instead of deep fried. This thought has been fermenting in the back of my mind all year, awaiting its moment of destiny.
Now, that moment has arrived, and so has the pull-apart jam donut challah!
Looking for ideas to help make Chanukah extra special? My Ultimate Family Chanukah ebook is available now! It’s packed with resources, recipes, family activities, information and printables for every night of the festival.
Donut challah – a beautiful fusion
This Chanukah donut challah really is a beautiful hybrid of two wonderful things – soft, sweet, doughy balls with a fruity jam filling, arranged into a cinnamon-sugar-crusted loaf of challah-licious perfection. Yum.
Best of both worlds
Sufganiyot – doughnuts – are all very well, but deep frying anything is a bit of a chore. Plus, they aren’t exactly the healthiest things, either.
Meanwhile, challah is lovely, but it does get a bit samey, week-in, week-out. I like to ring the changes a bit as the seasons go by, and create unique festive challot for different occasions. Spiced apple challah for Rosh Hashanah, or fruity tree-shaped challah for Tu B’Shevat, for instance.
Combining classic sufganiyot – jam doughnuts – with challah produces a wonderful festive bread that’s just the thing to serve on Shabbat Chanukah.
Donut challah – ingredients
If you already have the ingredients for making challah, the only extra thing you’ll need is the jam filling. To make a delicious pull-apart jam donut challah, all you will need is:
- Strong flour – I used a mixture of white and wholewheat but you can easily use all white flour, see below.
- Dry active yeast – to ensure a fluffy, well-risen loaf.
- Sugar – I use golden caster sugar which is slightly less refined than regular sugar, but ordinary white sugar works just fine.
- A pinch of salt
- Margarine – or butter if you don’t mind it being dairy
- Vegetable oil
- Cinnamon – for the lovely cinnamon-sugar crust
- Strawberry jam for the filling – or your favourite flavour!
Added wholewheat
I like my challah to have a touch of whole-wheat flour, as I love the flavour as well as the added fibre and nutrients. Consequently this doughnut challah recipe has the same white:whole-wheat ratio as my regular challah. However, if you prefer an all-white challah, just substitute white flour for the wholewheat, and I’m sure that will work perfectly too.
Delicious combination
My daughter Kipper was pretty much giddy with excitement at the thought of a donut challah, combining as it does two of her most favourite things to eat. She wasn’t disappointed.
Soft, warm, fluffy, cinnamon scented balls of sweet challah, with a centre of deliciously fruity strawberry jam. What’s not to love?!
As well as a fabulous addition to your Chanukah Shabbat table, I think this bread would be a wonderful breakfast treat on any day of the year. Fresh from the oven, who could resist? Not me, that’s for sure! Chanukah pull-apart jam donut challah. Magnificent. I must clear out the back of my mind more often…
Want deliciously easy, family-friendly recipes like this one delivered straight to your inbox? Click here to sign up. (Of course, I’ll never pass on your email address to anyone.)
📖 Recipe
Jam doughnut pull-apart challah
Equipment
- 20cm (8 inch) round baking tin
Ingredients
- 165 g strong white flour
- 85 g strong wholemeal flour (or substitute more white flour)
- 30 g golden caster sugar or use regular white sugar
- Pinch salt
- 30 g margarine or butter
- 1 tablespoon dry yeast
- 125 ml warm water
- 3-4 tablespoon strawberry jam or your favourite flavour
- 3-4 tablespoon vegetable oil
For the cinnamon sugar
- 4 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ¼-½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- 165 g (1 ⅓ cups) strong white flour, 85 g (¾ cup) strong wholemeal flour (or substitute more white flour), 30 g (2 ½ tbsp) golden caster sugar, Pinch salt, 30 g (2 tbsp) margarine or butterUsing a stand mixer with the dough hook fitted, mix the flours, sugar, salt, and margarine (or butter). Set aside.
- 1 tablespoon dry yeast, 125 ml (½ cup) warm waterMix the dry yeast with the warm water and stand for 5-10 minutes until foaming. Add to the dry ingredients and mix until smooth – about 10 minutes with the motor at a medium setting.
- Cover the bowl and place somewhere warm for around 45 minutes or until the dough has risen in size.
- 3-4 tablespoon strawberry jamKnock back the dough and tip out onto a lightly floured surface. Cut into 16 pieces. Flatten a piece between your hands, then place about half a teaspoon of jam onto it and gather the edges of the dough around the jam. Pinch and squeeze the edges to seal in the jam, then roll between your hands to form a ball.
- Set aside and repeat with the remaining pieces of dough until you have 16 jam filled balls.
- 3-4 tablespoon vegetable oil, 4 tablespoon granulated sugar, ¼-½ teaspoon ground cinnamonPlace the vegetable oil in a shallow bowl, and mix the cinnamon sugar in another bowl.
- Roll each ball of dough in the oil, allow the excess to drip off, and then roll in the cinnamon sugar to coat. Arrange the balls in a 20cm (8 inch) round baking tin.
- Allow the dough to rise again, for around 30 minutes, or until the balls are doubled in size and there are no gaps between them.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Bake the challah for around 25 minutes until it is risen and golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before removing from the tin.
- Pull apart, eat and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
More fabulous Chanukah recipes!
If you like this, why not check out some of my other Chanukah recipes?
- Oven-fried delicious potato latkes
- Sweet potato latkes in the waffle maker
- Chanukah gelt hot chocolate
- Crispy Chanukah chocolate bark
- Gingerbread Chanukah gelt
- Spiced olive oil cupcakes
- Menorah waffles – fast and easy Chanukah breakfast
- Chanukah mince pies with kiddush wine mincemeat
- Mulled apple juice with little apple dreidels
Happy Chanukah everyone!
Faith
Can you serve this as a dessert
Helen
Hi Faith. You could certainly serve this as a dessert, but be aware that the dough part is not as sweet as some donuts or cakes. I hope you enjoy it!
Rachel
I can’t wait to try this! Do you think you could freeze it?
Helen
Thanks Rachel. I think it would freeze ok. Maybe warm it a little in the oven after thawing? Let me know how it works if you try it!
Lucy @ BakingQueen74
I love the sound of the jam in the loaf, what a great combination. Pulling off a piece of the bread and finding the jam inside sounds so tempting! I would like to try making challah one day so now I know where to come for tips. 🙂
Isabelle @ Crumb
This is such an amazing idea. I love making jam doughnuts for Chanukah, but deep frying is such a hassle that most of the time I just end up going with store-bought instead… so a baked loaf that takes way less effort? Yes please!
Shadow
I made this recently. It is so delicious! I filled some with strawberry jam, a few with cherry and apricot, and some with chocolate. It will definitely become a staple for my Shabbat table.
Helen
Thanks for letting me know – I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I love the idea of putting different things inside. You never know which one you’re going to get 🙂
Patricia @ Grab a Plate
I love this, and love how you changed up a traditional dish! Such a great treat with the jam tucked away inside!
Helen
Thanks Patricia. Traditions are there to have fun with, aren’t they?!
Deb
This looks amazing. Can I use a bread oven for making the dough?
Helen
Thanks Deb! I assume you mean a bread maker/bread machine rather than a bread oven? If so, then yes, you can certainly make the dough in a bread maker if that’s how you normally prepare your dough. However you will of course need to do the shaping by hand, and the second rise in a warm place rather than the machine. I hope you enjoy the challah!
Noel
I love using “typical” ingredients in a new method! This sounds like a wonderful treat
Helen
Thanks Noel. I agree, it’s fun to mix things up a bit sometimes.
Carolyn
Oh my, that looks delicious, so much more fun than a jam doughnut.
Helen
Thanks Carolyn. We had a lot of fun eating it 🙂
HedgeComber
Never had a traditional Challah so nothing to judge this against but I bet this version tastes divine!
Janie x
Helen
Thanks Janie. It’s pretty good, if I do say so myself!
Heidi Roberts
What a great adaptation of a traditional recipe!
Helen
Thanks Heidi. I think describing this as ‘traditional’ at this point is generous, but I’ll take the compliment!
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy
Now this is my kind of treat! Anything with bread and jam and I am very happy 🙂
Helen
Thanks Dannii 🙂
It’s perfect with a big mug of tea.