Lighten up the festival of lights. Clever pun, eh?
I love latkes, also known as potato pancakes. Well, I should re-phrase. I love my grandmother’s latkes. In fact, I grew up scarfing hers down that I don’t really like anyone else’s (apologies to the public). And because my grandma is awesome, she used to make them specially for me all year round so I never had to wait until December to eat these bad boys.
We all know those latkes and jelly donuts are going down, and maybe even some of the chocolate gelt (coins). But, there are ways to enjoy goods without feeling guilty. Follow the same guidelines outlined in the Turkey Day Survivor’s Guide. Some include – work out that AM, go for a lot of greens and salads instead of heavier, cheese-filled pasta dishes, try lighter dressings, drink water before diving in for seconds, offer fruit along side the jelly donuts and give up soda, juice, iced tea and other sweetened drinks and save the calories for the good stuff.
Latkes
First, watch what goes on your latkes. They are so good by themselves, I am not one to add on the toppings. But if you must, go for low-fat sour cream or unsweetened apple sauce. The small sacrifices add up, I promise!
A traditional latke recipe, which yields about 1 dozen latkes, calls for: 2 cups potatoes, 1 tablespoon grated onion, 3 eggs, 2 tbsp flour, 1 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 cup canola oil. Help yourself to 1 or 2 (or maybe 3 or 4) of the traditional guys and then snack on some healthier alternatives as your 4th and 5ths, etc. I found this really good recipe on Wholefoods.com that replaces some of the potato with carrots and green onions. Plus, it has a lot less oil and eggs than traditional latkes. I made these a while back for a non-hannukah event – my man-friend’s B-day. They were really good.
Mine didn’t look as good as the ones pictured, and a few of them fell apart until I got the hang of it, but nonetheless they are worth re-making.
Mini Potato-Carrot Pancakes
Adapted from WholeFoods.Com
Makes 2 dozen
Ingredients
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 small yellow onion, grated
2 large carrots (about 1/2 pound), peeled and grated
1 large russet potato (about 3/4 pound), peeled, grated and squeezed to remove excess water
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 small chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced ** the recipe calls for a spiced sour cream dip, but I served them plain and they were great.
Directions:
In a large bowl, fold together onions, carrots, potatoes, egg, flour, salt and pepper until well combined. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, form each pancake by dropping about 2 tablespoons of the potato mixture into the skillet. Space pancakes about an inch apart, flatten and cook, flipping once, until deep golden brown and cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes total. (Add remaining 3 tablespoons oil to skillet halfway through.) Transfer to a paper-towel lined baking sheet to drain briefly. Serve with a teaspoon of flavored sour cream on each.
Nutrition: per serving (1 each): 60 calories, 4 gm fat, 1 gm saturated fat, 10 mg cholesterol, 125 mg sodium, 4 gm carbohydrate, 1 gm protein
Jelly Donuts (AKA Sufganyot)
Good news, baked donuts taste really good. But whether you go for fried or baked, be mindful of the size. Make donuts holes injected with jelly or mini donuts instead of humongously large donuts. Check out this mini donut pan from Norporo. It sells on Amazon.com for $9.00.
Jelly donuts and latkes are easy and perfect to make with kids. If you don’t want to buy a pan just for the occasion, improvise with what you have. I found this creative recipe on Bakinwithmykid.com. It is a donut recipe that calls for using a cupcake/muffin tin instead of a donut pan. The donuts come out looking like a mix of a muffin and a donut hole.
Baked Jelly Donuts for Hanukkah
Adapted from Bakinwithmykid.com
Prep Time: 10 mins Cooking Time: 8 to 10 mins
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1 6 oz container of non fat organic vanilla bean yogurt
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon+ 1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter (melted)
1 jar of your favorite jelly
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the cinnamon and 1/2 cup sugar together and set aside. In a large bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients. In another bowl stir together oil, lemon juice, sugar, egg and yogurt. Make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the hole. Gently fold everything together until combined. Place batter in a plastic baggie, seal and cut off the corner then pipe dollops of batter into a greased muffin tin OR donut pan. Each muffin cup should only be 1/3 to 1/2 full. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for a few moments and then flip over onto a cooling rack while still warm. Dip the tops of the donuts into butter and then sprinkle the tops with cinnamon sugar. Let cool slightly. Fit a pastry bag with the 1/2 round tip and fill the bag with jelly. Insert the tip into the end of each donut and pipe a squirt into each donut. Makes 12.
Happy Hannukah!
And to those who celebrate Christmas…
Merry Christmas!
I hope you make these with your kids because these are fun, healthy and freakin’ cute!
Little Bites Nutrition 