Try cookies for dessert

(photo from etsy.com/ca/shop/MaaminShop)

We in Israel are already seeing bakeries displaying sufganiyot for Hanukkah. No doubt the situation is the same in Vancouver and you’ll have plenty of jelly doughnut options, so here are some other sweets for the holiday.

HANUKKAH PUFFS
(makes 3 dozen)

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk or nondairy substitute
1 egg
oil
cinnamon sugar or confectioner’s sugar

1. Warm a substantial amount of oil in a deep pot.
2. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and nutmeg. Mix well. Add oil, milk or nondairy substitute and egg. Mix thoroughly.
3. Drop by small teaspoonfuls into deep hot oil. Fry three minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
4. Roll in cinnamon sugar or confectioner’s sugar.

COOKIE DREIDELS
(makes 5 dozen)

1 cup butter or margarine
8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
2 1/4 cups flour
2 cups finely ground walnuts
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg
1 tsp grated orange rind

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two cookie sheets.
2. In a bowl, beat butter or margarine and cream cheese with electric mixer. Beat in sour cream. Stir in flour until dough forms. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill overnight.
3. In a bowl, combine nuts, sugar, cinnamon, egg and orange rind.
4. The next day, divide dough in half, flour a surface, roll out to an eight-inch square, a quarter-inch thick. Spread half of filling on square, roll up jelly-roll style. Wrap in foil, chill for at least one hour. Repeat with other half of dough.
5. Cut rolls in quarter-inch thick slices. Place half-inch apart on cookie sheets. Reshape into rounds. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until firm and brown.

CUT-OUT HANUKKAH COOKIES
(makes 6 dozen)

2/3 cup margarine
2 cups flour
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Cream margarine. Add half the flour, egg, sugar, milk, baking powder and vanilla. Beat in remaining flour.
3. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill three hours.
4. Roll out half dough on a floured surface. Cut in Hanukkah shapes with cookie cutters. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Add coloured sugar on top. Bake for seven to eight minutes.

Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, lecturer, book reviewer and food writer in Jerusalem. She created and leads the weekly English-language Shuk Walks in Machane Yehuda, she has compiled and edited nine kosher cookbooks, and is the author of Witness to History: Ten Years as a Woman Journalist in Israel.