Time to make — or eat — the doughnuts, and other Hanukkah treats
During this 8-day Festival of Lights, olive oil and fried sweet pastries are the order of the holiday

Hanukkah, oh Hanukkah — eight days of wonder, and six days of school vacation. It’s the perfect opportunity to get out and wander around, or take some time to curl up at home with long-awaited projects followed by a good film.
We’ve assembled some worthy adventures, as well as some more sedentary pleasures back at home base. Whatever you do, wishing you a happy Hanukkah from The Times of Israel.
1) If you’ve been looking for a good opportunity to stroll around Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda Market, self-touring app Bitemojo has a great offer this Hanukkah. For NIS 55 per person, Bitemojo tastings include two types of mini sufganiyot, fresh juice and half a falafel. But that’s not all; the price includes tickets to a children’s production being performed December 5-7 at the nearby Beit Avi Chai. Head to the Bitemojo website for more information.
2) Take a drive down south to support the Gaza border communities that are hosting a Chanukah Israeli Olive Oil festival, December 2-10, at each of their individual olive oil presses. The various communities — Ein Habesor, Tekuma, Nir Akiva, Mivtachim and others — are offering chef workshops, tips about how to best use olive oil, games for kids, short films and tours around their presses. It’s also, of course, a great opportunity to pick up some freshly harvested EVOO, extra virgin olive oil. Get more information at the Olive Oil Board’s Facebook page or website.

3) Looking for the perfect gift? Check out this sleek version from Hazorfim, Israel’s high-end silversmithing Judaica chain. Their chanukiyat hasevivon‘ is a combination dreidel and traveling menorah in one, created by artist Yaakov Mardinger, and sells for a cool NIS 18,000 (around $5,000).
4) Screen some movies down south, in Yeruham, the indie capital of the Negev. Yeruham, home to the “other” crater, is hosting the fifth DocAviv Yeruham, December 9-11. The documentary film festival will also be screening films in Arad, Mizpe Ramon, Dimona and Hura.
Besides the screenings for adults and kids, there are discussions with filmmakers, live shows and kids’ activities. The opening film is “Mirror on Yeruham and the Negev: A Local Portrait,” five shorts created by locals during a recent filmmaking workshop, another project of DocAviv and other local filmmaking institutions. For a full listing of flicks and events, go to the DocAviv website.
5) Time to make the doughnuts! Jerusalem foodie blogger Danielle Renov of Peas, Love & Carrots posted this delightful treat just in time for Hanukkah, two-ingredient doughnuts, and one of those items is ice cream. What could be bad?
2 INGREDIENT DONUTS Yup. You heard me. two!!!!!!!!•1 PINT MELTED ICE CREAM ???? ???????????????????????????????? •2&3/4 CUPS SELF RISING FLOUR (flour w/yeast)????????That’s it. ????????????????????????????????????????????Every once in a while, lying in bed, staring at the ceiling in the middle of the night watching the clock as the minutes go by one slow second at a time, you are rewarded with the ultimate lightbulb moment. An idea so big you remember it even when you wake up! Well, that’s what this was. After weeks of working on something similar and failing a ridiculous amount of times, I had given up. Then this happened. And I am sooooo excited it did. It will make your Chanukah easier, yummier and waaaay more fun. So, stock up on your ice cream ASAP, before the freezer section is emptied out by everyone else! You can fill em, stuff, glaze em, frost em or dectorate em any way you like. You can also do what we did and watch em straight up bc the dough is that good. Did I mention they’re made with ice cream!?!!????????????????????????????????????????????????????Click the link ☝????in the profile to get to the blog and see the full written out recipe, tips and techniques! HUGE HUGE shout out to TGIS Challah whose parchment paper frying technique I borrowed bc it’s genius and I love her! ????????????????????????????????????????????????????HAPPY CHANUKAH INSTALAND,✌????????&????,Danielle#doughnuts #donut #donuts #chanukah #hanukkah Photo cred – @daniellailah
Posted by Peas Love & Carrots on Friday, November 30, 2018
Ingredients:
- 1 pint (2 cups) melted vanilla ice cream
- 2¾ – 3¼ cups self rising flour (yeast-based as opposed to baking powder/soda). (The flour amount will be somewhere between these two amounts depending which brand ice cream and self-rising flour used. She recommends starting with 2¾ cups and adding as needed.)
Directions:
- Place melted ice cream and self-rising flour in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.
- Wipe dough off hook and mix again on high speed for another 3 minutes.
- Remove bowl from mixer.
- Weigh out 60 gram balls of dough and place on individual parchment squares.
- Spray the top of the dough with non-stick spray and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
- Set dough aside for 1.5 – 2 hours to allow to rise.
- Depending on the temperature of the kitchen, the brand of ice cream and which flour you use, rising times may differ. The best rule of thumb is to wait until they almost double in size. (Rising time for regular flour plus yeast will take closer to two hours.)
- Meanwhile, heat a large pot over medium-high heat and add 3-4 inches of oil to the pot.
- Use a thermometer and once the oil registers 345°F (173°C), place dough with parchment paper into the oil.
- Once parchment falls off, use tongs to remove the parchment from the oil.
- Cook doughnuts until they are golden on both sides.
- Remove from oil and place on a cooling rack.
- Once doughnuts are cool, they can be stuffed, filled, glazed and decorated any way you like.
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