It may seem like it’s taking forever for Hanukkah to arrive this year. But the holiday is finally around the corner — the first night of Hanukkah is on Wednesday, Dec. 25.
That means Israeli-style donuts known as sufganiyot are getting cranked out in large numbers around New York City. Like latkes, donuts are fried in oil, echoing the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days in the rededicated Temple in Jerusalem in the Hanukkah story.
“Real sufganiyot are not Dunkin Donuts donuts,” said Rafi Shaul, the owner of Taste of Israel bakery in Midwood, Brooklyn, who makes his Hanukkah donuts by hand, one by one.
“Israeli donuts are usually pretty light and fluffy in texture,” said Adir Michaeli, owner of Michaeli Bakery, which has locations on the Upper East Side and the Lower East Side. “To make [them] you need to use a bread flour and develop a strong structured dough to hold the air during proofing and frying.”
The exact history and etymology of sufganiyot is debated. Some sources say the name, sufganiyot, originates from the Hebrew word sfogi, which means “spongy,” and refers to the donut’s soft and spongy texture; others refer to the Greek word sufgan, which means “puffy and fried,” as Jewish food maven Joan Nathan writes in her classic cookbook, “The Jewish Holiday Kitchen.” Either way, today’s sufganiyot are typically puffy, have no holes and are filled with jelly or other flavorings.
Israeli bakeries have tended to lead the way when it comes to innovative sufganiyot styles and flavors — bakeries there sell a reported 20 million sufganiyot during the holiday. But New York City bakeries are quickly catching up, turning out inventive sufganiyot in flavors like dulce de leche, Dubai chocolate, lemon cardamom and more.
From traditional jelly sufganiyot dusted with powdered sugar to healthier options that are baked, not fried, keep reading for our roundup of top spots to buy sufganiyot in the city this year.
Cafe Motek Bakery (left) is baking inventive sufganiyot like like pistachio and black cherry with red Bamba; the offerings at Orwashers (right), a Manhattan bakery since 1916, leans more traditional. (Courtesy)
Breads Bakery
1294 Third Ave., Upper East Side
18 East 16th St., Union Square
1890 Broadway, Upper West Side
1230 Sixth Ave., Rockefeller Center
Bryant Park kiosk
Israeli-inspired Breads Bakery, perhaps best known for its viral babkas hot out of the oven, is serving a selection of strawberry, chocolate, vanilla and pistachio-filled sufganiyot this Hanukkah. The donuts, $3.95 each, are available at all locations, and are also available for preorder from Dec. 23 until Dec. 31. Get details here.
By The Way Bakery
2440 Broadway, Upper West Side
1236 Lexington Ave., Upper East Side
Helene Godin founded By The Way Bakery 2011 in Hastings-on-Hudson, and later expanded to Manhattan to provide New Yorkers with high-quality dairy-free and gluten-free baked goods. For a healthier holiday option, By the Way’s Hanukkah donuts are baked, not fried, and also on the smaller side. Their self-proclaimed “diminutive” jelly donuts, filled with raspberry jam ($3.75 each or $30 for a box of nine), “are larger than a Dunkin Donuts Munchkin, and smaller than a traditional sufganiyah,” Godin said. They are available by preorder, 24 hours in advance, for in-store pickup, as store quantities can be limited. Visit their website for details. Kosher supervision by OK-Kosher.
Cafe Motek Bakery
176-19 Union Turnpike, Fresh Meadows, Queens
Natanel Shabbat brought all his sufganiyot fillings from Israel for his brand-new bakery tucked inside the Q Kosher Supermarket in Fresh Meadows, Queens. The variety of flavors include Dubai chocolate, black cherry with red Bamba, pistachio ganache, dulce de leche and candy flavors such as Kinder Bueno and Klick, an Israeli chocolate. Prices range from $2.50 for mini donuts to $7.99 for speciality flavors. Preorder by phone at (929) 944-8900. Kosher certification by Vaad Harabonim of Queens.
Claudette’s
190 Beach 69th St., Arverne, Queens
157-02 Cross Bay Blvd., Howard Beach, Queens
108-10 Rockaway Beach, Queens (at Rockaway Hotel Café; donuts available on Saturdays or Sundays)
Specializing in Moroccan-Israeli cuisine in Queens, Claudette’s prides itself on frying its sufganiyot in 100% avocado oil. Their prices range from $5 for a single donut to $45 for a dozen donuts filled with rosewater raspberry jam, halva cream, lemon cardamom, cappuccino or pistachio rose. Only about 50 donuts are made each day during the holiday season; preorders (2 days in advance) suggested. Visit their website for more information.
Doughnut Plant
245 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn
89 East 42nd St. Midtown
379 Grand St. Lower East Side
3100 47th Ave., Long Island City, Queens
196-198 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn
Doughnut Plant was founded in 1994 by Mark Isreal as a little shop on the Lower East Side, well before the proliferation of over-the-top donuts across the city. For Hanukkah this year the chain is offering blackberry jam-filled sufganiyot topped with marzipan glaze and strawberry jam-filled sufganiyot dipped in vanilla bean glaze, priced at $4.75 each, or boxes of six for $30. It’s also selling a large menorah-shaped donut, with a cream-cheese glaze and blackberry jam, for $55. For now, advance sufganiyot orders are only available with 72 hours notice; some Hanukkah treats will be available for walk-ins during the holiday. See their website for more information. Kosher supervision by the International Kosher Council.
Michaeli Bakery, with locations on the Lower East Side and the Upper East Side, will bake sufganiyot daily throughout the holiday. (Courtesy)
Fan-Fan Doughnuts
448 Lafayette Ave., Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
At her Brooklyn donut bakery Fan-Fan, owner/operator Fany Gerson is well known for her creative donuts that draw inspiration from her Jewish and Mexican roots as well as unique flavors from around the world. For Hanukkah this year, she’s offering a holiday box ($27) with half a dozen inventive sufganiyot, including a latke flavor, containing apple butter and topped with sour cream glaze and potato chips; as well as passionfruit meringue, dulce de leche-mocha praline and raspberry cheesecake. She is also accepting orders for traditional sufganiyot filled with strawberry or raspberry jam; $40 a dozen or $22 for a half dozen. Other sampler boxes as well as limited quantities of individual donuts are available in-store ($3.65 to $4.50). Visit Fan-Fan’s website for pre-orders and more information; pickup available at the Brooklyn bakery or in Manhattan at Mijo at Pier 57.
Kith Treats
337 Lafayette St., NoHo
55 Water St., Dumbo, Brooklyn
25 Kent Ave., Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Beginning Dec. 20, this hip apparel brand — which features in-house ice cream parlors known as Kith Treats at many of its locations — will debut a limited-time jelly doughnut ice cream sandwich in collaboration with Doughnut Plant (see above). This Hanukkah treat, featuring a split donut filled with strawberry jam and vanilla ice cream infused with Frosted Flakes, toffee crunch and strawberries, retails for $9 and will be available through Jan. 5.
Kubeh
464 Sixth Ave., Greenwich Village
Chef Melanie Shurka’s Greenwich Village restaurant Kubeh may specialize in the Middle Eastern dumplings of the same name, but during Hanukkah, she’ll also serve sufganiyot as part of Kubeh’s menu from now through the end of holiday. Diners can choose from raspberry jam or Nutella as part of a price-fixed holiday dinner, or order the pair a la carte for $11. Get more information here.
Michaeli Bakery
115A Division St., Lower East Side
401 East 90th St., Upper East Side
After high-profile stints at Tel Aviv’s Lehamim bakery and its New York City spinoff, Breads, babka maestro Adir Michaeli opened his very own bakery on the Lower East Side in 2019. This year, for the Festival of Lights, he’ll be baking a limited amount of sufganiyot daily, filled with strawberry jam, dulce de leche, pistachio, hazelnut, vanilla, chocolate or halva ($4-$5). Advance orders not available. Kosher certification by the International Kosher Council.
Modern Bread & Bagel
472 Columbus Ave., Upper West Side
1427 Third Ave., Upper East Side
After training at Le Cordon Bleu, Orly Gottesman experimented with gluten-free baking and opened the fully gluten-free Modern Bread & Bagel, whose bagels have made many “best of NYC” lists. This Hanukkah, Modern Bread & Bagel are offering sweet, gluten-free brioche sufganiyot in the following flavors: blue and white Boston cream, Samoa cookie, affogato, blueberry pie, cookies and cream, as well as chocolate and raspberry. The chocolate and raspberry flavors are $6.95 each; the others are $7.50. Preorders available; visit their website for more information. Kosher certification by the International Kosher Council.
Like all their offerings, the sufganiyot at Modern Bread & Bagel are gluten-free. (Courtesy)
My Most Favorite Food
37-22 13th St., Long Island City, Queens
This longtime kosher bakery has gone through several iterations since Doris Schechter first opened her own bakery in Great Neck more than 40 years ago, incorporating her culinary memories from Austria-Hungary. This year, the Long Island City bakery is making raspberry or apricot sufganiyot available in full size or mini. Get four full-size donuts for $20 or twelve minis for $39. Preorders required; both pickup and delivery are available. See their website for more information. Kosher supervision by K-ID under Rabbi Don Yoel Levy.
Orwashers
308 East 78th St., Upper East Side
440 Amsterdam Ave., Upper West Side
Orwashers offers traditional sufganiyot with fillings from the Hudson Valley-based Beth’s Farm Kitchen: raspberry, strawberry, sour cherry, chocolate-raspberry, chocolate-sour cherry or chocolate-strawberry. Half a dozen are $27.50; individual filled donuts are $5. To order, visit their website. The preordering deadline is Dec. 23.
Queens Pita
68-38 Main St., Flushing, Queens
Queens Pita, a neighborhood go-to for kosher breads, pita and baked goods in Flushing, offers 15 flavors of sufganiyot this year — including raspberry, vanilla, halva, Oreo, lemon, grape, chocolate, caramel and strawberry mousse — for $3.50 each. Customers can self-select their favorite flavors from large trays that line the tables. Kosher supervision by Vaad Harabonim of Queens and CRC of Brooklyn.
Sesame
5024 13th Ave., Boro Park, Brooklyn
1540 Coney Island Ave., Flatbush, Brooklyn
Known as the sufganiyot supplier to much of the observant Jewish community in Brooklyn, Sesame is offering 17 varieties of sufganiyot this year, including blueberry, lemon meringue, peanut butter, custard, cheese, Swiss chocolate, caramel (dairy or parve), chocolate hazelnut, raspberry and pistachio. Prices range from $2.75 to $5.25 each. Pre-order online will be available for large quantities only; check Sesame’s website for details. Kosher Supervision by CRC.
Taste of Israel
1322 Ave. M, Midwood, Brooklyn
Rafi Shaul makes all of his bakery’s small-batch sufganiyot by hand himself, the old-fashioned way, without any machinery. This year, Taste of Israel is serving halva, caramel, custard, Lotus, jelly, Rosemarie chocolate and cookies & cream donuts (from $4 to $6 each). Preorders suggested; call (347) 554-8133. Kosher supervision by Rabbi Yisroel P. Gornish.
Urban Pops
518 Kings Highway, Brooklyn
Urban Pops, purveyors of inventive dairy-free gelato sold in popsicle form, is now in the donut business. Sophie Cohen opened her Brooklyn shop in 2012, and this Hanukkah she’s creating hot donut sammies: A split donut filled with gelato, in flavors like s’mores donut filled with chocolate gelato, torched marshmallow cream, and crushed graham cracker ($8.25). Customers at the Brooklyn store can choose among flavors that change daily; Urban Pops also delivers in Brooklyn and parts of New Jersey and Long Island, with pre-orders available for pickup in Queens, Rockland County, New Jersey and Long Island. Visit their website for more information. Kosher supervision by OK Parve.
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